United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland: Education in Emergencies Adviser

Overview:

War Child’s mission is to support and improve the care and protection of children and young people who live with a combination of insecurity, poverty and exclusion in some of the worse conflict-affected places. We look forward to a world in which the lives of children are no longer torn apart by war. This is a vision that can only be realised through the collective actions of children themselves, communities and their leaders, organisations like War Child, governments and key decision makers.

Purpose of Post:

We are ambitious about programme quality and we are in need of this role to support the team to deliver on its 3 key pillars:

· Technical advice and support for War Child staff and partners’ programmes on child protection, education (formal and informal) and livelihoods;

· Accountability and Transparency to all stakeholders, particularly children; and

· Learning and knowledge management through research, evaluations and sharing through web-based applications for global reach.

The EiE Adviser will provide critical support and coach field teams in designing and implementing quality EiE projects that are inclusive, gender- and conflict-sensitive, using participatory approaches, in both emergency and post-conflict settings. They will advise and support country offices and partners in designing programmes, reviewing educational curriculum, improving approaches and ensuring high quality technical input based on international standards in current and future educational programmes:

· Early Childhood Community-based Development (ECCD)

· E-learning programmes for primary education utilizing innovative technological solutions

· Formal and informal education and learning for children

· Inclusive education those with disabilities

· Accelerated Learning for those reintegrated or rehabilitated of children affected by conflict

· Education as a child protection measure with the provision of psychosocial support

The EiE Adviser will contribute to developing concept notes and proposals, supporting country teams in engaging with the inter-agency cluster coordination, utilise their experience and learning to inform advocacy and policy development and improve knowledge management systems at the global level. You will have experience in undertaking rapid emergency assessments, lead on the development of a clear strategy for the overall education response in complex humanitarian setting, considering the immediate and longer term needs of all children, including those with disabilities and support the evaluations of education in emergencies programmes. This role is UK-based although the Adviser will be expected to travel up to 30% of the time to WCUK’s country offices (subject to security considerations).

A) Job Specification: Task and responsibilites:

1)Education in Emergencies Programme Development (40% of the time)

• Supporting country teams to research potential international and in-country funding opportunities with a focus on Education-in-Emergencies
• Leading participatory Education project design processes (remotely and in-country), with WCUK staff, partners, local stakeholders and beneficiary representatives, including: (rapid) assessments, stakeholder analysis, and logical framework development
• Providing technical input into proposal-writing in collaboration with programmes team colleagues
• Facilitating in-country training on education with strong participatory and inclusive methods that are gender and conflict-sensitive
• Provide high quality, specialist advice and support the development of quality education-in-emergencies systems and programming activities
• Implement, disseminate and promote the Minimum Standards for Education in Emergencies, coordinated through the Interagency Network on Education in Emergencies.
• Plan activities in line with organisational emergency and education policies, as well as the relevant country programme strategy. Ensure children participate in the design, implementation, and/or monitoring of programmes.

· Support the commissioning of research and evaluations through proposal development, promote participatory methodologies and recruit consultants

· Maintaining evaluation and research repositories, communications and advocacy pieces by reviewing reports and management responses, as appropriate for quality assurance.

2)Strengthening Education in Emergencies Programming (20%)

• Strengthening EiE programming and capacity in country offices, by monitoring EiE project progress, setting minimum standards based on international standards and delivering workshops
• Provide quality oversight to and mentoring of in-country education staff and local partners to effectively implement education-in-emergencies projects

· Support the development of country programme strategies that reflect needs and programming direction based on best practices and standards in the field of education

· Keeping up to date with the major issues and solutions pertaining to educating children and young people in the countries War Child works in (Jordan, Iraq, Afghanistan, CAR, DRC, N.Uganda, Yemen)

3)Knowledge Management and Learning (20%)

• Ensuring proper dissemination of information and knowledge management among relevant stakeholders through intranet and e-learning opportunities
• Establish and lead EiE Communities of Practice, discussion fora for horizontal organisational learning and sharing to improve quality of programming
• Ensure lessons learned from deployments are effectively captured and communicated to key stakeholders
• Support the development of tools, resources and frameworks for programmatic monitoring, evaluation and child-friendly accountability mechanisms and learning

· Support the team in the delivery of learning and reflection workshops and other programmatic learning processes and products (e.g. learning papers, evaluation summaries, discussions on online Communities of Practice)

4)External/Internal Relationships, Collaborating and Partnerships (20%)

• Help identify and develop relevant partnerships and advocacy opportunities in the UK and country offices in the field of EiE
• Represent WCUK at Education Sector Working Group meetings as well as other relevant education-focussed meetings

· Liaising with all other War Child staff as appropriate (policy and advocacy, communication, fundraising, finance) to provide technical input in policy and communication materials

· Provide appropriate guidance and advice to Education Ministries and partner programmes in the design and development of education strategies that leads to inclusive, quality basic education for children affected by conflict

· Undertaking any other reasonable duty and tasks that may from time to time be requested by line manager or programmes team colleagues consistent with the nature of the job and its level of responsibility

B) Person specification – Essential Criteria:

War Child’s office is a lively and fast-paced environment made up of a team of extremely dedicated staff & volunteers. We’re looking for someone who can fit in well and bring their personality, creativity and professionalism to our communications and the wider charity.

Experience and mandatory criteria:

· Masters holder in international development, social sciences, education or similar

· Minimum 7 years of working experience in the international sector, preferably including significant time working in a humanitarian context

· Experience of successfully monitoring, planning, advising and supporting the implementation educational projects in complex or challenging environments

· Good understanding of humanitarian reform and experience of interagency coordination with the Education and inter-agency Cluster system

· Knowledge and understanding of cross-cutting approaches (eg. conflict-sensitive programming, inclusive education

· Working experience of knowledge management and sharing of learning through e-learning platforms or web-based applications

· Right to work in the UK

Technical Skills/Expertise:

· Good understanding of INEE Minimum Standards and it’s application and able to promote them throughout the programming

· Demonstrated experience of education assessments in a range of emergency contexts including rapid onset natural disasters and other complex emergencies

· Proven experience of high quality writing and report-writing skills for the documentation and dissemination of learning through the development of online resources and tools

· Strong personal commitment to learning and continuous improvement

· Ability to identify and prioritise practical solutions and tools to improve programmatic effectiveness

· Excellent writing, editing and presentation skills

· Proven experience of high quality report writing and documentation

· Experience of at least one of the other thematic areas: child protection, participation, livelihoods

· Willingness to travel 25-30% of the time, often to insecure places (depending on security situations)

Competencies (Soft Skills):

· A collaborative attitude with excellent interpersonal skills

· Politically and culturally sensitive,

· Awareness of gender and power-balance issues

· Team-player with qualities of patience, tact and diplomacy

Sub Heading 4: Desirable Criteria:

· Working knowledge of one of the following: Arabic, French, Dari or Swahili

· Download and complete War Child Application Form from www.warchild.org.uk. All completed applications must reach recruitment@warchild.org.uk by 5^th July 2016.

· Due to limited resources War Child HR will contact only the shortlisted candidates

· First round interviews will be held on w/c 11^th July 2016.

· Second round interviews for selected candidates will be held on 18^th July 2016.

· Any offer made post the second interview will be conditional on receipt of 3 favourable written references, (from your most recent employer, any other previous employer and a character reference). War Child reserves the right to call the referees, in case clarification is required post the receipt of complete reference forms.

· The successful applicant will be expected to undergo a DBS Police check and/or international police check, a medical check for overseas travel purposes, be compliant and sign up to War Child’s Child Safeguarding Policy prior to a final offer being made.