Education Core Competency Specialist at the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC)

The Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) is a non-governmental, humanitarian organization with 60 years of experience in helping to create a safer and more dignified life for refugees and internally displaced people. NRC advocates for the rights of displaced populations and offers assistance within the shelter, emergency food security, and water, sanitation and hygiene sectors.

We are recruiting to fill the position below:

Job Title: Education Core Competency Specialist

Job Identification: 3938
Location: Maiduguri, Borno
Job Category: Education

Role and Responsibilities

• The Education Specialist will provide technical oversight and strategic direction to Country and Area offices to further the development of the Education Core Competency (CC).
• The Specialist will provide quality assurance for all projects, develop a collaborative country strategy, capacity build staff through mentoring and training to increase the technical capacity of the staff, and develop a donor strategy to further grow the program.

Generic Responsibilities:

• Develop Education CC strategy, technical guidance and Macro LFAs
• Compliance with and adherence to NRC policies, guidance and procedures
• Contribute to fundraising, develop and revise funding proposals, budgets and donor reports
• Identify trends technical standards and donor priorities
• Follow up on compliance with contractual commitments within CC, ensure high technical quality and synergies in project implementation
• Provide technical direction and project implementation support to the implementation team
• Ensure that key learnings are extracted from CC implementation, and incorporate them in CC and staff development processes
• Provide systematic training and build the capacity of Education staff
• Represent NRC in relevant forums/clusters, including with national authorities and donors
• Promote the rights of IDPs/returnees in line with the advocacy strategy

Specific Responsibilities:

• Responsible for leading technical innovative programme development (including approaches such as Accelerated Education) and quality of CC in-country (including through the use of Quality Assessment Tools)  to ensure the relevance of NRC education programmes in-country
• Support and promote holistic programming (with other CCs) ensuring harmonisation and consistency across CC projects in line with NRC Global Education Strategy and Programme Policy
• Provide technical lead and support on the integration of the Better Learning Programme across the education response
• Lead the process on proposals, budgets, modifications, project reviews and reporting and ensure high technical quality
• Take the lead on quality project deliverables to ensure high technical outputs
• Provide strategic leadership on the development of programming that recognizes the challenges and wellbeing needs faced by conflict-affected youth
• Support programmatic M&E and indicator tracking in conjunction with project teams and the M&E department
• Ensure work plans and spending plans in line with donor budgets are developed and maintained by supporting Project Coordinators, Managers and Area Managers
• Lead on the transition of program teams regarding the split of Area Officer and the transition from leadership by a PDM to technical supervision by a Specialist in compliance with co-op
• Develop and lead on conducting needs assessments (in collaboration with Area Program teams, Protection team and M&E team), baseline, mid-and end-evaluations
• Represent NRC with relevant donors, government ministries, and in relevant humanitarian coordination meetings in-country
• Create strong linkages with other Education and Child Protection actors, and ensure strong referral pathways are in place
• Actively promote and operationalize synergies between Education and other NRC programmes to move toward integrated programming (focus on WASH, LFS and ICLA)
• Provide support and input to the recruitment processes for all Education staff
• Accountable for organisational learning from programme implementation, sharing of best practices and capacity building

Qualifications / Competencies
Generic professional competencies for this position:

• Post Bachelor’s Degree qualification
• Minimum of 4 years of Education experience within a humanitarian/recovery context
• Experience working in complex and volatile contexts
• Education expertise (as Specialist/TA or Project Manager)
• Documented results related to the position’s responsibilities
• Knowledge about own leadership skills/profile
• Fluency in English, both written and verbal.

Context / Specific Skills, Knowledge and Experience:

• Knowledge of the Lake Chad Basin region and north-eastern Nigeria context specifically
• Experience with start-up or expansion of new programmes
• Experience in team capacity building
• Advanced computer skills, especially in Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook
• Experience with youth/adolescent programming, particularly vocational training is desired
• Experience with alternative education in a humanitarian context is an asset
• Understanding of INEE Minimum Standards is required
• Candidates with an advanced degree preferred; significant experience in the field of Education, PSS or Child Protection considered in lieu.

What We Offer

• At NRC we think outside the box. We encourage ideas and give responsibility to all employees at all levels, to help solve the complex issues that we face.
• You will have many opportunities to be heard and take the initiative12 months fixed term contract with the possibility of extension
• Grade 9 on the NRC scale
• Duty Station: Maiduguri with 40% travelling
• An opportunity to match your career to a compelling cause
• A chance to meet and work with people who are the best in their fields.

Application Closing Date
12th December, 2021 (13:27)