Chief of Education, P4, Fixed Term, Tegucigalpa, Honduras

Contract

This is a P-4 contract. This kind of contract is known as Professional and Director staff. It is normally internationally recruited only. It's a staff contract. It usually requires 7 years of experience, depending on education.

Salary

The salary for this job should be between 130,087 USD and 167,720 USD.

Please keep in mind that the salary displayed here is an estimation by UN Talent based on the location and the type of contract. It may vary depending on the organization. The recruiter should be able to inform you about the exact salary range. In case the job description contains another salary information, please refer to this one.

UNICEF works in some of the world’s toughest places, to reach the world’s most disadvantaged children. To save their lives. To defend their rights. To help them fulfill their potential.

Across 190 countries and territories, we work for every child, everywhere, every day, to build a better world for everyone.

And we never give up.

For every child, Education

Due to effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and hurricanes Eta and Iota, which damaged schools and caused a humanitarian crisis in November 2020, Honduras faces a critical situation in the educational field. This situation is putting at risk years of progress in educational coverage and quality, having a negative effect on the physical and emotional health of teachers and students and increasingly widening the inequality gap.

In 2021, only a small percentage of educational centers received blended or virtual classes. According to the Observatory of the National Pedagogical University (UPNFM) it is estimated that around 300,000 will have dropped out of school in 2021 and more than one million children between the ages of 3 and 17 will remain outside the national education system.

Relevant data obtained from the Ministry of Education -SEDUC- in 2021, from the Educational Centers Administration System -SACE-, reveal a reduction in the access of children to the educational system, going from 35.5% in 2019 to 32.51% in pre-basic education, from 93.1% to 81.65% in access to primary education, from 55.5% to 44.42% in access to lower secondary and from 37.7% to 25.44% in access to higher secondary education. This represents around 48% of school aged children of who are outside the educational system.

Those most affected by this whole situation are the children and adolescents of the indigenous populations, Afro-Hondurans, urban-marginal communities and rural areas; their mothers and fathers have suffered the impact of a significant reduction in purchasing power, a situation that makes socioeconomic conditions more precarious and reduces certainty in families for access to education, preventing the full cognitive and psycho-emotional performance of boys, girls and teenagers.

The complexity of the educational crisis in Honduras challenged UNICEF and its allies to seek and invest efforts and resources in support of the State and Government of Honduras, to guarantee the right of children and adolescents to an inclusive and quality education, and influence to ensure that Children who are outside the educational system have access and those who are inside the system do not drop out, remain, and have a quality education.

How can you make a difference?

Under the overall guidance of the Deputy Representative, the Chief of Education is responsible for managing and supervising all stages of education programmes/projects. This includes strategic planning and formulation, as well as delivery of results on strengthening national education systems to improve learning outcomes, universal access to quality, equitable and inclusive primary/early childhood education, and renewed involvement in secondary education, especially for children who are marginalized, disadvantaged and excluded in society. S/he leads a group of professionals and supports staff to develop and manage the education programme in the country.

The Chief of Education is responsible for establishing the plans of action and overseeing work progress to ensure the achievement of concrete and sustainable programme/project results, according to plans, allocation, results based-management approaches and methodology (RBM), as well as UNICEF’s Strategic Plans, standards of performance and accountability framework.

Key functions and accountabilities include:

1. Managerial Leadership
2. Programme development and planning
3. Programme management, monitoring and quality control of results
4. Advisory services and technical support
5. Advocacy, networking and partnership building
6. Innovation, knowledge management and capacity building

For further details on the functions and accountabilities refer to the job profile: Chief Education Level 4.pdf

To qu****alify as an advocate for every child you will have…

• An advanced university degree (Master’s or higher) in one of the following fields is required: education, economics, psychology, sociology or another relevant technical field.
• A minimum of 8 years of relevant professional experience in programme planning, management, and/or research in education at the international level is required.
• Experience working in a developing country is considered an asset
• Relevant experience in a UN system agency or organization is considered an asset.
• Familiarity/background with emergency is considered an asset.
• Developing country work experience and/or familiarity with emergency is considered an asset.
• Fluency in English and Spanish is required. Knowledge of another official UN language (Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian) or a local language is an asset.

For every Child, you demonstrate...

UNICEF's values of Care, Respect, Integrity, Trust, and Accountability (CRITA).

The UNICEF core competencies required for this post are...

• Nurtures, Leads and Manages People (2)
• Demonstrates Self Awareness and Ethical Awareness (2)
• Works Collaboratively with others (2)
• Builds and Maintains Partnerships (2)
• Innovates and Embraces Change (2)
• Thinks and Acts Strategically (2)
• Drive to achieve impactful results (2)
• Manages ambiguity and complexity (2)

To view our competency framework, please visit here.

The Technical competencies required for this post are:

• Good understanding of the overall global development context
• Good knowledge of global developments in education and international engagement strategies
• Good ability to support policy dialogue
• Good education sector planning knowledge/ability
• Good education and policy sector analysis capacity
• Good ability to support engagement with partners
• Good understanding of gender and inequity issues
• Good understanding of policies and strategies

UNICEF is committed to diversity and inclusion within its workforce, and encourages all candidates, irrespective of gender, nationality, religious and ethnic backgrounds, including persons living with disabilities, to apply to become a part of the organization.

UNICEF has a zero-tolerance policy on conduct that is incompatible with the aims and objectives of the United Nations and UNICEF, including sexual exploitation and abuse, sexual harassment, abuse of authority and discrimination. UNICEF also adheres to strict child safeguarding principles. All selected candidates will be expected to adhere to these standards and principles and will therefore undergo rigorous reference and background checks. Background checks will include the verification of academic credential(s) and employment history. Selected candidates may be required to provide additional information to conduct a background check.

Remarks:

Mobility is a condition of international professional employment with UNICEF and an underlying premise of the international civil service.

Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted and advance to the next stage of the selection process.