Education Officer (Early Childhood Education), NO-2, Colombo, Sri Lanka (for Sri Lankan nationals only)

Contract

This is a NO-2 contract. This kind of contract is known as National Professional Officers. It is normally only for nationals. It's a staff contract. More about NO-2 contracts.

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, h****ow can you make a difference?

Under the supervision of the Chief, Education Section, the Officer provides professional technical, operational and administrative assistance throughout the programming process for education programs/projects including particularly in Early Childhood Education, within the Country Program from development planning to delivery of results, preparing, executing, managing and implementing a variety of technical and administrative program tasks to facilitate program development, implementation, program progress monitoring, evaluating and reporting.

Key functions, accountabilities and related duties/tasks:

1. Support to program development and planning

• Contribute to the preparation/update of situation analysis for the program sector/s for development, design and management of education related programs/projects. Research and report on development trends and (economic, social, health etc) data for use in program development, management, monitoring, evaluation and delivery of results.
• Contribute to the development/establishment of sectoral program goals, objectives and strategies and results-based planning through research, collection, analysis and reporting of education and other related information for development planning and priority and goal setting.

• Provide technical and operational support throughout all stages of programming processes by executing/administering a variety of technical, program, operational and administrative transactions, preparing related materials/documentations and complying with organizational processes and management systems, to support program planning, results based planning (RBM) and monitoring and evaluating results.

  2. Program management, monitoring and delivery of results.

• Work closely and collaboratively with internal and external colleagues and partners to discuss operational and implementation issues, provide solutions, recommendations and/or alert appropriate officials and stakeholders for higher-level intervention and/or decision. Keep record of reports and assessments for easy reference and/or to capture and institutionalize lessons learned.

• Participate in monitoring and evaluation exercises, program reviews and annual reviews with government and other counterparts to assess programs/projects and to report on required action/interventions at the higher level of program management.
• Monitor and report on the use of sectoral program resources (financial, administrative and other assets), verify compliance with approved allocation/goals, organizational rules, regulations/procedures and donor commitments, standards of accountability and integrity. Report on critical issues/findings to ensure timely resolution by management/stakeholders. Follow up on unresolved issues to ensure resolution.
• Draft regular/mandated sectoral program/project reports for management, donors and partners to keep them informed of program progress.

3. Technical and operational support to program implementation

• Conduct regular program field visits and surveys and/or exchange information with partners/stakeholders to assess progress and provide technical support, take appropriate action to resolve issues and/or refer to relevant officials for resolution. Report on critical issues, bottlenecks and potential problems for timely action to achieve results.
• Provide technical and operational support to government counterparts, NGO partners, UN system partners and other country office partners/donors on the application and understanding of UNICEF policies, strategies, processes and best practices on education and related issues to support program implementation, operations and delivery of results.

4. Networking and partnership building

• Build and sustain effective close working partnerships with government counterparts and national stakeholders through active sharing of information and knowledge to facilitate program implementation and build capacity of stakeholders to achieve and sustain results on education programs.
• Draft communication and information materials for CO program advocacy to promote awareness, establish partnership/alliances and support fund raising for education programs.
• Participate in appropriate inter-agency (UNCT) meetings/events on programming to collaborate with inter-agency partners/colleagues on UNDAF operational planning and preparation of education programs/projects and to integrate and harmonize UNICEF position and strategies with the UNDAF development and planning process.
• Research information on potential donors and prepare resource mobilization materials and briefs for fund raising and partnership development purposes.

5. Innovation, knowledge management and capacity building

• Contribute to identifying, capturing, synthesizing and sharing lessons learned for knowledge development and capacity development of stakeholders.
• Apply innovative approaches and promote good practice to support the implementation and delivery of concrete and sustainable program results.
• Research and report on best and cutting-edge practices for development planning of knowledge products and systems.
• Participate as resource person in capacity building initiatives to enhance the competencies of clients/stakeholders.

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

Education -

A University Degree in education, psychology, sociology or other social science field is required.

Experience -

A minimum of 2 years of professional experience in social development planning and management in education and related areas at the international and/or in a developing country is required. Relevant experience in education and related areas, program/project development and management in a UN system agency or organization is an asset, particularly in Early Childhood Education.

Language requirements –

Fluency in English required. Fluency in Sinhala and/or Tamil is required. Professional level Sinhala language skills is a strong asset.

For every Child, you demonstrate...

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

The UNICEF competencies required for this post are...

· Demonstrates Self Awareness and Ethical Awareness (1)

· Works Collaboratively with others (1)

· Builds and Maintains Partnerships (1)

· Innovates and Embraces Change (1)

· Thinks and Acts Strategically (1)

· Drive to achieve impactful results (1)

· Manages ambiguity and complexity (1)

To view our competency framework, please visit here.

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:

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

If you think this position might be for you, please take the time to review our Country Office Mutual Agreements before you apply.

If you believe you can team member that can uphold these everyday, then we look forward to receiving and reviewing your application.