Education Specialist, P-3, Vientiane, Lao PDR

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 101,224 USD and 132,545 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

Despite progress in recent years including a reduction in prevalence of stunted children under five years of age from 44 to 33 per cent, malnutrition remains a significant challenge in Lao PD. This is resulting in an enormous human and economic costs including impairment of normal brain development, increased risk of disease and death, reduced learning outcomes, overall reduction in lifetime earnings. This is stifling of economic growth including significant reduction in GDP of 481.66 million USD or 2.66%, every year.

The overall objective of the UNICEF Education Program in Lao PDR is to ensure that more children, especially the most disadvantaged, are prepared for school and are acquiring the knowledge and skills needed for continued education and a better future. The strategic focus of the education program is to support system strengthening at national and sub-national levels, with a focus on the most marginalized and deprived girls and boys. The program works to strengthen the enabling environment and build the capacity of service providers to deliver quality, equitable and inclusive early childhood and basic education and improve learning outcomes. The program also works to improve knowledge and skills of children, including adolescents and their families to demand for and contribute to improving education quality and access.

How can you make a difference?

You will support the development and preparation of the Education programmes and be responsible for managing, implementing, monitoring, evaluating and reporting the progress of education programmes/projects within the Lao PDR country programme, with a particular focus on the roll out of Fundamental Quality Standards (FQS) and pre-primary and primary FQS based school self-assessment and development planning; activities to strengthen foundational learning, including remedial and catch-up learning and the strengthening of teacher capacity in formative assessment and teaching at the right level; and supporting smooth transition from ECE/home to primary education. You will provide technical guidance and management support throughout the programming processes to facilitate the administration and achievement of results on education programmes/projects to improve learning outcomes and equitable and inclusive education, especially for children who are marginalized, disadvantaged and excluded in society.

You will contribute to the achievement of 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 efficiency and efficacy of your support to programme preparation, planning and implementation, will contribute to the achievement of sustainable results to improve learning outcomes and universal access to quality, equitable and inclusive education. Success in education programmes and projects in turn contribute to maintaining and enhancing the credibility and ability of UNICEF to provide programme services for mothers and children that promotes greater social equality in Lao PDR.

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

• An advanced university degree (Master’s or higher) in education, economics, psychology, sociology, or another relevant technical field.
• A minimum of five years of relevant professional experience in programme planning, management, and/or research in education is required.
• Relevant experience in a UN system agency or organization is considered as an asset.
• Experience working in a developing country is considered as 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 Core Values of Care, Respect, Integrity, Trust and Accountability and Sustainability (CRITAS) underpin everything we do and how we do it. Get acquainted with Our Values Charter: UNICEF Values

UNICEF competencies required for this post are…

(1) Builds and maintains partnerships (2) Demonstrates self-awareness and ethical awareness (3) Drive to achieve results for impact (4) Innovates and embraces change (5) Manages ambiguity and complexity (6) Thinks and acts strategically (7) Works collaboratively with others.

During the recruitment process, we test candidates following the competency framework. Familiarize yourself with our competency framework and its different levels: competency framework here.

UNICEF is here to serve the world’s most disadvantaged children and our global workforce must reflect the diversity of those children. The UNICEF family is committed to include everyone, irrespective of their race/ethnicity, age, disability, gender identity, sexual orientation, religion, nationality, socio-economic background, or any other personal characteristic.

We offer a wide range of benefits to our staff, including paid parental leave, breastfeeding breaks and reasonable accommodation for persons with disabilities. UNICEF strongly encourages the use of flexible working arrangements. 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 is committed to promote the protection and safeguarding of all children. All selected candidates will, therefore, undergo rigorous reference and background checks, and will be expected to adhere to these standards and principles. 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:

UNICEF’s active commitment towards diversity and inclusion is critical to deliver the best results for children. For this position, eligible and suitable candidates are encouraged to apply.

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

UNICEF appointments are subject to medical clearance. Issuance of a visa by the host country of the duty station, which will be facilitated by UNICEF, is required for IP positions. Appointments are also subject to inoculation (vaccination) requirements, including against SARS-CoV-2 (Covid). Government employees that are considered for employment with UNICEF are normally required to resign from their government before taking up an assignment with UNICEF. UNICEF reserves the right to withdraw an offer of appointment, without compensation, if a visa or medical clearance is not obtained, or necessary inoculation requirements are not met, within a reasonable period for any reason.