Education Cluster Coordinator, P-3, Fixed Term, Mekelle, Ethiopia (Tigray Response)

Contract

This is a P-3 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 5 years of experience, depending on education.

Salary

The salary for this job should be between 74,649 USD and 97,747 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, Hope

In Ethiopia, humanitarian organisations — both UN and non-UN are functioning under the cluster approach. The cluster approach ensures clear leadership, predictability and accountability in international responses to humanitarian emergencies by clarifying the division of labour among organizations and better defining their roles and responsibilities within the different sectors of the response. It aims to make the international humanitarian community better organised and more accountable and professional, so that it can be a better partner for the affected people, host governments, local authorities, local civil society and resourcing partners.

This post is critical for the scaling up of UNICEF and education cluster partners response in Northern Ethiopia after the conflict which started in November 2020 between the regional and federal government. This post will thus function under this approach, with clear responsibilities for coordination as designated by the Inter-Agency Standing Committee (IASC) Humanitarian Coordinator and on behalf of UNICEF as the co-leader with Save the Children of the IASC Education Cluster for the Internally Displaced Persons (IDP), in Tigray Region, Ethiopia. The post will also function in close collaboration with the Save the Children Cluster Co-Coordinator and the Regional Government of Tigray, Ethiopia, who have the responsibility for the overall quality of education delivery in Tigray.

The post is expected to synergize the work of the Education Cluster Partners (UN Agencies, NGO, CSOs etc.) supporting humanitarian actions in Tigray , Ethiopia, working closely with other IASC Clusters and the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) within its mandate to bring together humanitarian actors to ensure a coherent response to emergencies in Ethiopia.

How can you make a difference?

The humanitarian crisis in Tigray, Northern Ethiopia, which started in November 2020, when conflict broke out between the Regional and Federal government, has affected the lives of millions of children in Tigray. The conflict led to massive displacement with over 50,000 moving to Sudan as refugees, while others moved to the neighboring regions of Afra and Amhara and others are internally displaced. The conflict resulted in the closure of all schools and 1.4 million children of school going age are currently out of school. This proportion of children has increased the number of children out of school in Ethiopia. There is an urgent need to coordinate the cluster partners to bring back children to learning after the learning loss that they have experienced.

The main purpose of the Education Cluster Coordinator post is to provide leadership and facilitate the processes that will ensure a well-coordinated, strategic, adequate, coherent, and effective education response in Tigray through a mobilized and adequately resourced group of agencies, organizations, NGOs, local communities and to assist the regional state authorities in Education Cluster visioning, strategy formulation and the articulation of a 'Road Map' to provide adequate education responses to emergency-affected populations (both IDPs and refugees).

Under the guidance and general supervision of the Chief of Field Office (Level 5), the Cluster Coordinator will support education cluster structures at the regional level for the efficient management and delivery of humanitarian responses.

The Education Cluster Coordinator is expected to provide the following:

• Support regional and country level leadership and facilitate coordination of humanitarian education actors in Tigray
• Provide strategic guidance in the planning and implementation of the education cluster response and its technical components, in line with the Tigray/Ethiopian Humanitarian Response Plans and international humanitarian standards
• Act as an interface between the humanitarian education partners and duty bearers to ensure education related needs of the affected population are properly covered Ensure prioritisation, evidence- based actions and gap filling to enhance an accountable, predictable and effective education response to the affected population

The post holder is accountable to:

• UNICEF's Representative through the Chief of Field Office, Chief of Emergency and Field Operations, who will in turn ensure that the post holder is provided with all necessary support and guidance
• Education Cluster participants, who will in turn ensure that they deliver on their agreed minimum commitments
• Education Cluster Coordination Team members, who will in turn support the post holder in line with their terms of reference
• Education Cluster sub-national Focal Points, who will in turn support the post holder in line with their terms of reference.
• Inter-cluster coordination bodies established by the Humanitarian Country Team (HCT)/UNOCHA
• Affected populations through agreed mechanisms.

The post holder has joint responsibility with the Cluster Co-Coordinator (Save the Children Tigray) to coordinate and support partners at the regional and sub-regional levels for the efficient management and functioning of the education in emergencies' response, encompassing the following:

• Maintain an appropriate humanitarian coordination mechanism and strengthen preexisting coordination systems to increase predictability and accountability;
• Build complementarity of partner actions, avoiding duplication and addressing gaps in education programming;
• Lead on the development and implementation of an overall strategy for the regional
• Education Cluster, as well as area-specific response plans as necessary;
• Oversee partner reporting, analysis of partner data, use of data for decision-making and sharing of important information with key stakeholders;
• Oversee and harmonise education-specific and multi-sector needs assessments and secondary data reviews;
• Ensuring vital Information Management (1M) tasks and functions are carried out by the regional Cluster 1M colleagues, to support the information needs of Cluster partners' and OCHA, including monthly Dashboards, google mapping of 5W data, full reporting on Activity Info, updating the Cluster website, maintaining updated contact list, etc. Support advocacy on 'back to learning' campaigns;
• Oversee the appropriate training of partners, including on collection of data related to attacks on education, fundraising for education, teacher training topics, how to manage a temporary learning space, etc.;
• Ensure that the Ethiopian Inter-Agency Network for Education in Emergencies (INEE) Minimum Standards are implemented in Tigray;
• Participate in the mobilization of adequate resources and their equitable allocation to facilitate the effective functioning of the regional Education Cluster and its response; Maintain flexibility within the regional Education Cluster to respond to changes in the operating environment, evolving requirements, capacities and participation; Interact with other Clusters (including through inter-cluster coordination fora), humanitarian actors, donors and government counterparts for operational planning, engagement and active contribution of operational partners;

To qualify as an advocate for every child you will have…

• An advanced university degree (Master’s or higher) in a subject area relevant to the education cluster coordination's needs; education, primary education, teacher training or social sciences. *A first University Degree in a relevant field combined with 2 additional years of professional experience may be accepted in lieu of an Advanced University Degree.
• Formal training in cluster coordination required.
• A minimum of five (5) years of relevant professional experience with UN and/or NGO, including programme management and/or coordination in the first phase of a major emergency response relevant to the cluster;
• Included in the above: minimum of 5 years specific substantive and technical experience in inter-agency coordination, needs assessment, policy development, strategy formulation, programme planning and monitoring & evaluation in crisis and post-crisis settings.
• Extensive work experience outside the humanitarian sector which is relevant to this post may be considered as a replacement for humanitarian experience.
• Developing country work experience and/or familiarity with emergency is considered an asset.
• Fluency in English is required. Knowledge of another official UN language (Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian or Spanish) or a local language is an asset.

For every Child, you demonstrate…

UNICEF's values of Care, Respect, Integrity, Trust, and Accountability (CRITA) and core competencies in Communication, Working with People and Drive for Results.

The UNICEF competencies required for this post are...

• Builds and maintains partnerships
• Demonstrates self-awareness and ethical awareness
• Drive to achieve results for impact
• Innovates and embraces change
• Manages ambiguity and complexity
• Thinks and acts strategically
• Works collaboratively with others
• Nurtures, leads and manages people

Functional Competencies

• Leading and supervising [l]
• Persuading and Influencing [III]
• Formulating strategies and concepts [II]
• Planning and Organizing [II]
• Analyzing [III]
• Adapting and Responding Change [III]
• Deciding and Initiating action [II]
• Applying technical expertise [III]
• Coping with Pressure and Setbacks [III]

To view our competency framework, please visit here.

Click here to learn more about UNICEF’s values and competencies.

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.

This is a non-family/emergency duty station. Compensation packages apply accordingly.

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