Technical Lead – Safe Schools at International Rescue Committee

Requisition ID: req22229

Job Title: Technical Lead– Safe Schools, Shule Bora

Sector: Education

Employment Category: Fixed Term

Employment Type: Full-Time

Open to Expatriates: Yes

Location: Tanzania

Job Description

Background/IRC Summary:    

The International Rescue Committee responds to the world’s worst humanitarian crises and helps people whose lives and livelihoods are shattered by conflict and disaster to survive, recover, and gain control of their future.

IRC has been present in Tanzania since 1993 and initially focused its response on meeting the needs of refugees from Rwanda, Burundi, and the Democratic Republic of Congo. Since the initial influx, IRC Tanzania has continued to tirelessly serve the needs of both refugees and host communities. In 2020, IRC Tanzania reached 250,000 people across three refugee camps and within the broader population. Our work focuses across Protection (including GBV, Women’s Empowerment, Child Protection and Protection and Rule of Law), Education and Health (including mental health and sexual reproductive health).

IRC in Tanzania is funded by a range of high profile institutional and voluntary donors, including governments, international organizations, corporations, and foundations.

Job Overview/Summary: 

The UK aid funded Shule Bora programme aims to improve the quality of pre-primary and primary schools in Tanzania. The programme’s Impact Statement is: Shule Bora will deliver improved quality, inclusiveness, and safety of learning for boys and girls. There are four outcomes:

Learning: All children* are learning in school.

Teaching: UKAID supports the strengthening of Tanzania’s teaching workforce.

Inclusion: All children are in schools that are safe, offer an environment conducive to learning and that this enables children to complete primary education and progress to secondary education.

Systems building: UKAID supports government in strengthening the value for money** of education provision at school, local and national level.

The term ‘all children’ infers particular attention to the most disadvantaged: girls, the disabled and those living deprived areas **Value for money is defined as a composite of economy, efficiency, effectiveness, and equity

The programme will:

Work with Ministry of Education, Science and Technology (MOEST) and the President’s Office Regional Administration and Local Government (PO-RALG) to test, adapt and implement at scale quality, gender-transformative, disability-inclusive, and safe to learn education approaches in 9 regions, generating learning and evidence on how to achieve these outcomes affordably and at scale.

Support GoT with the timely and effective implementation of the Payment for Results (PforR) mechanism through technical assistance and capacity building, with a strong focus on data verification, financial management and risk management. Support lesson learning processes from PforR so that these can be embedded into government processes and shared with development partners and other key stakeholders. Ensure that lessons and best practice from (1) are used to inform the PforR mechanism.

Manage and coordinate programme activities, with a strong focus on (i) ensuring a high-quality programme and financial and risk management oversight, (ii) working with an independent Learning and Evidence (L&E) provider on establishing regular, rigorous and community-driven monitoring and evaluation activities, and (iii) developing and implementing a strategy for effective communication of Shule Bora objectives, results, and lessons learned to a range of target audiences.

The Safe Schools Lead will function as part of the Core Team. S/he will be required to work closely with the senior management team to achieve results in support of improving safety in and around schools for all children. The Safe Schools Lead will oversee design, implementation, monitoring and adaptation of activities to improve safety of learning for all children in primary schools and pre-primary settings in line with the programme strategy and log frame targets. She/he will work collaboratively with other Outcome Leads to ensure activities are well-coordinated and offer best VFM. She/he will also work closely with government counterparts at national, regional and district levels. She/he will also provide support where required in support of Education Performance for Results 2 activities and results related to school safety and safeguarding. The Safe Schools Lead will ensure all interventions follow the Shule Bora operating principles and ultimately support government-led education sector reform and system strengthening through the Managing for Learning (M4L) approach.

Major Responsibilities: 

The Safe Schools Lead will:

General 

• Implement project activities according to approved TORs and agreed budget. Ensure quality contributions to project deliverables and reports as per the project workplan and log frame.
• Provide inputs into mainstreaming minimum standards in safeguarding across all project activities, in close collaboration with the Core Team (including partners with responsibility for delivery in other outcome areas).
• Support development and implementation of the Shule Bora Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning framework as needed.
• Provide inputs into community-based interventions across relevant outcome areas and across regions as jointly agreed with the senior management team and association partners during project development and through inception.
• Assess risk of activities, monitor risk, and proactively raise any concerns with the senior management team
• Manage specialists and short-term technical assistance in support of Safe Schools activities
• Contribute to programme reporting internal and to FCDO and Government
• Represent Shule Bora at relevant meetings and conferences as required and share updates
• Work in line with Shule Bora Programme policies and manuals at all times.
• Communicate success, lessons learnt, programme best practice and evidence of impact

Technical 

• Contribute to the design of the programme during the inception period, through situational analyses, consultations, fieldwork, and Managing for Learning activities.
• Together with key advisers provide technical advice on what works in terms of improving safety in and around schools.
• Lead on the design, implementation, monitoring and adaptation of quality interventions relating to improving safety of learning for all children
• Develop budgets for programme activities and manage costs to achieve best VFM. Forecasts spend on a monthly basis within programme targets and communicate this promptly to enable compliance with FCDO’s monthly forecasting cycle.
• Develop timely reports of programme activities and input to formal reports such as quarterly reports and annual reports
• Utilize the Managing for Learning Approach and other programme strategies as developed
• Ensure all programme activities and materials include an inclusive approach, use inclusive language and disaggregated data, and promote diversity in educational institutions
• Work closely with other Leads, MEL and EPforR teams to ensure harmonization across the programme
• Provide input on design, approach and content of materials and quality assure where relevant
• Provide training and support to all staff towards an inclusive and safe working environment

 Planning and institutional coordination 

• Ensure harmonization of approaches across programme activities
• Coordinate Shule Bora activities with PO-RALG, MOEST, TIE and other organisations as required
• Generate synergies and ensure lesson learning between Shule Bora and other efforts to improve safety of learning for all children in Tanzania

Build capacity

• Support the institutionalization of programme activities within PO-RALG, LGAs and Regions
• Support capacity development activities of programme staff and government counterparts

Qualifications

Skills

• Ability to prioritize and work under pressure
• Ability to work in a collaborative team setting
• Understanding of and sensitivity to cultural differences
• Proficient in using MS packages, particularly Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Teams, SharePoint
• Strong organizational skills, reliability, and adherence to ethical standards
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills
• Strong leadership and influencing skills
• Fluency in written and spoken English, Kiswahili preferred

Experience

• Managing and leading technical specialists
• Experience in planning, coordinating, implementing, and monitoring activities to improve safety in and around schools
• Experience in capacity development
• Experience in large-scale, international development projects
• Experience with stakeholder engagement from schools to government levels

Knowledge

• Educated to a degree level, Masters preferred in education, community development, social development or related subject
• Good understanding of the Tanzanian education system.

Women and People with disability are highly encouraged to apply.

Submission deadline for application is November 21st 2021.

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