Education Specialist (Adolescents), P-4, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia #116538 (For non-Ethiopian nationals)

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 146,462 USD and 188,832 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

How can you make a difference?

Under the overall guidance and direction of the Chief, Education, the Education Specialist (Adolescents) will provide technical advice in the designing and scaling up of Ethiopia’s programming on BETE (integrated education and child protection programming) with an emphasis on its pillar 3, foundational skills through alternative education modalities, promotion of girls education and skills for employment and transitions to the workplace, and ensuring the meaningful participation of adolescents in these efforts. The Specialist will play a key role in bringing innovation to the development and preparation of education and skills development programmes with a special focus on the humanitarian situation in Northern Ethiopia and other displacement affected populations (IDPs and refugees), but with also a focus on promoting skills programmes for children in the formal education system. The Specialist will provide authoritative technical guidance and operational support throughout all stages of programming to facilitate the management and delivery of results on strengthening national education systems to improve learning outcomes, skills development and to promote universal access to quality, equitable and inclusive primary/early childhood education, especially for children who are marginalized, disadvantaged and excluded in society. The Specialist will contribute to the achievement of concrete and sustainable 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.

The Specialist will bring an understanding of existing evidence and multi sectoral interventions in, girls’ education and adolescent skills development and employability, including social inclusion through civic engagement, and apply a participatory and consultative process to the development of products and programmes. The Specialist will coordinate the BETE approach in Northern Ethiopia and UNICEF’s role in the Dutch multi-agency partnership on creating “Sustainable Socio-Economic Integration of Forcibly Displaced Populations and in Host Communities” and will support the development of programming documents, with specific attention paid to joint results frameworks with partners (Including theory of Change, Results and Indicators). The specialist will ensure quality inputs on programme design from involved agencies (the World Bank, IFC, ILO, and UNHCR), the donor, the private sector, Government, beneficiary groups (including Adolescents and Young People) and other stakeholders. The Specialist will oversee UNICEF’s implementation of the Generation Unlimited interventions. The Specialist will also have a cross- cutting role supporting adolescent development through a multi-sectoral approach.

Duties and Responsibilities:

1. Programme development and planning on BETE, skills development and adolescent programmes

• Provide technical oversight for the implementation and monitoring of the BETE approach (integrated education and child protection programme), with a special focus on pillar three, skills development.
• Lead the delivery of scalable skills development and social cohesion through civic engagement programmes to better reflect the needs and rights of adolescents (especially girls), particularly within UNICEF Ethiopia’s engagement on a Government of the Netherlands multi-agency partnership on forced displacement. Emphasis will be placed on creating opportunities for meaningful and safe engagement of learners/adolescents within the design/delivery of these programmes.
• Participate in strategic discussions, meetings and other international/national meetings and workshops to provide evidence-based papers and inputs on alternative education, girls education, adolescents and skills development in forcibly displaced contexts, with relevant participation to influence policy and agenda setting across development and humanitarian contexts.
• Identify potential entry points for UNICEF to collaborate with technical agencies to equip marginalized adolescents and young people with skills to succeed in life, livelihoods and work (e.g. alternative pathways, accelerated learning, second chance education, innovative approaches to secondary, blended learning) and cross sectoral links with adolescent needs in other sectors.
• Provide technical guidance to the Ministry of Education on skills as they undertake the General Education curriculum reform.
• Advise the Chief on the preparation, design and updating of the situation analysis for the education programmes to ensure that current and comprehensive data on education issues is available to guide UNICEF’s strategic policy, advocacy, intervention and development efforts on education programmes.
• Advise the Chief in setting priorities, strategies, design and implementation plans. Keep abreast of development trends to enhance programme management, efficiency and delivery.
• Establish specific goals, objectives, strategies and implementation plans for the sector using results-based planning terminology and methodology (RBM). Prepare required documentations for programme review and approval.
• Work closely and collaboratively with internal colleagues and partners to discuss strategies and methodologies, and to determine national priorities to ensure the achievement of concrete and sustainable results.
• Provide technical and operational support throughout all stages of programming processes and to ensure integration, coherence and harmonization of programmes/projects with other UNICEF sectors and achievement of results as planned and allocated.

2. Programme management, monitoring and quality control of results

• Plan and collaborate with internal colleagues and external partners to establish monitoring benchmarks, performance indicators and other UNICEF/UN system indicators to assess/strengthen performance accountability, coherence and delivery of concrete and sustainable results for the BETE approach, with a special focus on girls’ education, adolescent development and skills development.
• Participate in monitoring and evaluation exercises, programme reviews and annual reviews with the government and other counterparts to assess progress and to determine required action/interventions to achieve results.
• Prepare and assess monitoring and evaluation reports to identify gaps, strengths and weaknesses in programme management.
• Identify lessons learned and use knowledge gained for development planning and timely intervention to achieve goals.
• Actively monitor programmes/projects through field visits and surveys, and exchange information with stakeholders to assess progress, identify bottlenecks and potential problems, and take timely decisions to resolve issues and/or refer to relevant officials for timely resolution.
• Manage the optimum and appropriate use of sectoral programme resources (financial, administrative and other assets) confirming compliance with organizational rules, regulations/procedures and donor commitments, standards of accountability and integrity, ensuring timely reporting and liquidation of resources.
• Prepare regular and mandated programme reports for management, donors and partners to keep them informed of programme progress.

3. Advisory services and technical support

• Provide technical advice to key government officials, NGO’s, UN system and other country office partners on policies, strategies, best practices and approaches on education and other related issues to support programme development planning, implementation and delivery of results.
• Coordinate and ensure the availability of technical experts (with Regional Office/HQ) to ensure timely support throughout all stages of programming.
• Lead the Adolescent and Gender Group (AGG) within UNICEF ECO and share lessons on adolescent programming.
• Participate in strategic discussions to influence policy and agenda setting for combating poverty and all forms of discrimination against women/children by advising on and advocating strategies and approaches to promote universal access to quality, equitable and inclusive education for children in the country.
• Prepare policy papers, briefs and other strategic programme materials for management use, information and consideration.
• Participate in country discussions on education emergency preparedness, programming and contingency planning to ensure proactive and appropriate responses are in place to meet the onset of emergencies nationally or other designated locations.

4. Advocacy, networking and partnership building

• Build and strengthen strategic partnerships through networking and advocacy with local/national governments, UN system agency partners, donors, internationally recognized institutions, NGOs, funding organizations, research institutes and private sector to reinforce cooperation and/or pursue opportunities to promote goals and achieve sustainable and broad results on education.
• Convene, leverage partnerships, engage various stakeholders including private partners and young people to co-create and scale up innovative or proven solutions related to alternative education and skills building.
• Build knowledge of the partnership landscape related to youth engagement and skills building amongst adolescent and youth, and position UNICEF strategically in this newer area of work.
• Support UNICEF in its partnership with other organizations to discuss potential deepening of cooperation in forcibly displaced contexts (e.g. UNICEF focusing on second decade of life and transferable skills, World Bank Group focusing on skills, learning and employment, and ILO focusing on vocational skills and employability, and relevant UN-efforts related to adolescents, young people and skills).
• Work with UNICEF colleagues both at the global, regional and country levels from various sections including education, social inclusion, child protection and adolescent development to design and improve programming on skills development and adolescent development to identify proposed strategies and interventions.
• Strengthen understanding and advocacy priorities to address the vulnerabilities of adolescents as IDPs, refugees and mixed-migrants in coordination with the refugee and migration programme specialist and work closely with education and child protection teams to support UNICEF’s engagement and leadership in this area.
• Lead UNICEF efforts on rolling out the Generations Unlimited Initiative.

5. Innovation, knowledge management and capacity building

• Promote, document and disseminate critical thinking, innovative approaches and good practices for sustainable education programme initiatives, skills development, and adolescent development through advocacy and technical advisory services.
• Facilitate learning and cross-fertilization of ideas and experiences on alternative education, skills development, girls’ education within and across sectors dealing with forced displacement.
• Undertake research on skills deployed in the informal economic sector in both rural and urban settings to inform better strategies for adolescent education and employability.
• Organize/plan/implement capacity building initiatives to enhance the competencies of a wide range of internal and external partners/stakeholders to achieve sustainable results on skills development programmes and initiatives.
• Contribute to the development of policies and procedures and introduce innovation and best practices that promote the rights of adolescents and enhances their development and participation as active members of society and their community.
• Keep abreast, research, benchmark, introduce and implement best and cutting-edge practices on adolescent skills development and participation- related issues, including UN and UNICEF specific initiatives (Generation-Unlimited, UNICEF Programme Guidance, including for the second decade etc.). Institutionalize and disseminate best practices and knowledge learned to support development, planning, implementation and scale up.

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

• An advanced university degree (Master’s or higher) in in one of the following fields is required: education, economics, psychology, sociology or another relevant technical field. *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.
• A minimum of eight (8) years of relevant professional experience in in programme planning, implementation, management, and/or evaluation of education and training programmes in a low or middle-income country context.
• Understanding of the evidence base on alternative education, girls’ education, youth employment, including skills for employability.
• Strong programme design skills, including capacity to prepare logical, coherent and consistent documents including evidence, theories of change/results frameworks, log frames and budgets.
• Evaluation and/or research skills an asset, including use of mixed methods (qualitative and quantitative).
• Ability to work efficiently and effectively with project members in various locations and from different disciplines, including remotely writing and revising proposal documents.
• Excellent communication, negotiation, and other human relation skills, as well as effective strong leadership and convening ability in an environment dealing with other UN agencies (particularly UNHCR, ILO, the World Bank and IFC), governmental officials, NGO counterparts, donors and other important partners.
• Strong organizational and networking skills is required.
• Experience working across issues of displacement, and the humanitarian and development nexus an advantage.
• Relevant experience in a UN system agency or organization is considered as an asset.
• 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...

Core Values

• Care
• Respect
• Integrity
• Trust
• Accountability

Core Competencies

• 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)
• Drives to achieve impactful results (2)
• Manages ambiguity and complexity (2)

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. Qualified female candidates who meet the requirements of the post are highly encouraged to apply.

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.