Education in Emergency Working Group Coordinator (Co-lead) at Save the Children Nigeria

Save the Children is the leading independent organization for children in need, with programs in over 120 countries. We save children’s lives. We fight for their rights. We help them fulfil their potential. Save the Children is working in Nigeria because one in five children in Nigeria dies before their fifth birthday. About 40% of children miss out on school and have to work to survive while nearly 2 million children have lost one or both parents to an AIDS-related disease.

We are recruiting to fill the position below:

Job Title: Education in Emergency Working Group Coordinator (Co-lead)

Job ID: 2100005A
Location: Maiduguri
Employee Status: Fixed Term

Child Safeguarding

• Level 3: The responsibilities of this post may require the post holder to have regular contact with children and young people. In the overseas context, all posts are considered to be level 3. As part of these responsibilities, the post holder will support the establishment of child safeguarding systems, promote a culture of keeping children safe, and ensure that potential harm to children (by our own staff and / or as a result of how we do our work) is identified and addressed on an ongoing basis.
• The post holder should report and respond to interventions as determined by position related responsibilities identified in the Child Safeguarding Policy.

Role Purpose

• The Education in Emergency Working Group (EIE WG) approach ensures clear leadership, predictability and accountability of humanitarian response to multiple emergencies by clarifying the division of labour among organizations and better defining their roles and responsibilities within Education sector of the response.
• It aims to make the humanitarian response is better organised and more accountable and professional, so that it can be a better partner for the affected people, civil society, host governments, local authorities and resourcing partners.
• The EIE Working Group co-lead is a core Working Group Coordination team member.  The purpose of this post is to co-lead the Working Group team and ensure that the Working Group performs. The post holder will provide dedicated surge support for all categories of humanitarian response efforts, interim cover for critical roles and capacity building to country and regional office staff and SCI partners within humanitarian contexts around the country.
• The EIE WG Co-Lead is to ensure a coherent and effective response to education needs being addressed by agencies engaging in Education interventions, as required by the activation of the United Nations Cluster System. The Education Cluster Coordinator will lead this initiative by working closely with the education stakeholders (children, families, communities, authorities, education institutions and INGOs and UN agencies) to provide an effective, timely and strategic collective response to the current situation.
• The EIE WG Co-Lead will work impartially, serving the needs of all members of the Education Working Group, and should work closely with coordination staff from our lead (UNICEF), UN OCHA, and co-leads in other states of Nigeria. The education in emergency working group is accountable to the Humanitarian Country Team and Humanitarian Coordinators through the lead agencies (Save the Children and UNICEF).
• Depending on the scale of the emergency it may be necessary to facilitate the set-up of clusters at sub-national level and to work with/supervise dedicated information management staff in other States like Yobe, Adamawa, Ogoja and Abuja level.

Main Responsibilities
Programme Support (typically will be for large / complex emergencies working with limited support):

Cluster / Working group Coordination:

• Assume overall responsibility for (co-)leadership of the Education in Emergencies (EiE) Working Group (Cluster).
• Ensure the EIE WG is guided by a coherent and needs-based strategy updated with emerging needs through consultation with relevant Working Group partners.
• Coordinate partners (through meetings and other communications channels) in the implementation of the EIE WG strategy to ensure response activities are harmonized and that overlap and duplication are prevented.
• Ensure a continuity plan is in place for the maintenance of EIE WG functions following the end of the deployment.
• Facilitate key activities within the Humanitarian Programme Cycle including the development of the Humanitarian Needs Overview (HNO), development and revision of the Humanitarian Response Plan (HRP) and, peer review processes for pooled-funding opportunities including Common Humanitarian Fund (CHF) and Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF).
• Track and monitor cluster members fundraising for Education specific interventions.
• Ensure that inter-agency response strategy for Education reflects key findings from needs assessments, identifying gaps, and formulating a sector-wide interagency response plan, taking into account the cross-cutting areas from other sectors or clusters.
• Ensure that information is shared amongst cluster members, and that information from other sectors and clusters is made available to cluster members in order to improve planning, integration and implementation.
• Support multi-sector and coordinate education specific needs assessments and utilise existing secondary data to inform sector response planning including consideration for inclusion of children with disabilities and gender-equal access to education. Upcoming and ongoing assessments include:
  • Joint Education Needs Assessments(JENA)
  • Humanitarian Response Plan
• Ensure clear and effective communication occurs between sub-national clusters and the national cluster.
• Ensure education is explicitly included and prioritized in all multi-sector assessments and reports, including OCHA Sitreps and take an active part in OCHA coordination meetings.
• Lead on fundraising for Education (and integrated programming), including the development of high-quality concept notes and proposals, and engagement with donors’ technical advisers. Pipeline opportunities include:
  • ECW- MYRP
  • GEP Accelerated funding
  • CERF
  • NHF

Capacity Building:

• Where appropriate, ensure that capacity building of education staff in sub-offices occurs in order to ensure on-going sustainability and quality of the response
• Identify learning and training opportunities for Education Working Group  members and work to increase both technical and institutional capacity in preparedness and response within the EiE Working Group

Representation & Advocacy & Organisational Learning:

• Help shape broader sector strategies through the influence of and leadership within inter-agency coordination forums, ensuring the specific needs of children are being addressed.  This may involve taking on a co-chairing role where needs demand.

General:

• Display neutrality and act as the representative of all education cluster members.
• Develop and maintain a strong and positive relationship with UNICEF, our education cluster co-leads
• Develop and maintain a strong and positive relationship with colleagues at regional and global levels

Behaviours (Values in Practice)
Accountability:

• holds self-accountable for making decisions, managing resources efficiently, achieving and role modelling Save the Children values
• holds the team and partners accountable to deliver on their responsibilities – giving them the freedom to deliver in the best way they see fit, providing the necessary development to improve performance and applying appropriate consequences when results are not achieved

Demonstrates commitment to the cluster and independence from employing organisation

Ambition:

• Sets ambitious and challenging goals for themselves and their team, takes responsibility for their own personal development and encourages their team to do the same
• Widely shares their personal vision for Save the Children, engages and motivates others
• Future orientated, thinks strategically and on a global scale.

Collaboration:

• Builds and maintains effective relationships, with their team, colleagues, Members and external partners and supporters
• Values diversity, sees it as a source of competitive strength
• Approachable, good listener, easy to talk to.

Creativity:

• Develops and encourages new and innovative solutions
• Willing to take disciplined risks.

Integrity:

• Honest, encourages openness and transparency; demonstrates highest levels of integrity

Qualification and Experience

• Education to MSc / MA / M.Eng level in Education (or a related field) or equivalent field experience with EiE
• Excellent communication skills, including ability to facilitate diverse groups
• Politically and culturally sensitive with qualities of patience, tact and diplomacy
• At least 8 years progressively responsible work experience with UN, government and / or NGO, including in a humanitarian context. Extensive work experience outside the humanitarian sector which is relevant to this post may be considered as a replacement for humanitarian experience.
• Prior experience of working within a senior management role or cluster coordination within a complex country programme in an emergency response or fragile state
• Experience applying relevant interagency humanitarian frameworks and standards in education in emergencies (for example INEE Minimum Standards)
• Demonstrable ability to work and represent views across different stakeholders taking part in the Education Cluster
• Understanding of the Humanitarian Program Cycle including experience with Humanitarian Response Planning and / or Humanitarian Needs Overview
• Experience of high level co-ordination and chairing of meetings
• Demonstrable understanding of international humanitarian response and coordination mechanisms
• Understanding of opportunities to provide integrated or cross-cutting humanitarian interventions with other sectors and Clusters
• The capacity and willingness to be extremely flexible and accommodating in difficult and sometimes insecure working circumstances.
• Understanding of the National and State Ministries of Education (MoEs) and State Universal Basic Education Boards (SUBEBs) ways of working

Application Closing Date
22nd January, 2021.