Education Specialist Syria Damascus AO2

Contract

This is a Professional contract, Grade 9 (NRC) contract. More about Professional contract, Grade 9 (NRC) contracts.

Role and responsibilities

The purpose of the Education Core Competence (CC) Specialist position is technical development, strategic direction and quality assurance of education programs in Syria Country Office. The Education Specialist is responsible for mentoring, training and capacity building of staff on education technical capacity.

The following is a brief description of the role.

Generic responsibilities

• Develop CC strategy, technical guidance and Macro LFAs that are aligned with regional and global strategies and priorities
• Compliance with and adherence to NRC policies, guidance and procedures
• Contribute to fundraising, develop and revise funding proposal, budgets and donor reports
• Identify trends technical standards and donor priorities
• Follow up on compliance with contractual commitments within CC, ensure high technical quality and synergies in project implementation
• Provide technical direction and project implementation support
• Ensure that key learnings are extracted from CC implementation, and incorporate them in CC and staff development processes
• Provide systematic training and build capacity of technical staff, in approaches including cash-based interventions and market based programme
• Represent NRC in relevant forums/clusters, including with national authorities and donors
• Promote the rights of IDPs/returnees in line with the advocacy strategy

Specific responsibilities

• Identify funding opportunities and develop proposals to ensure the implementation of NRC’s strategy and objectives in the country regarding education
• Review project proposals and reports in order to ensure the technical quality and adherence to the Education Strategy and NRC Program Policy.
• Regular visits to field offices to provide technical support and to ensure that the Education strategy and quality standards are being followed
• Design and conduct the process for developing / updating the Education strategy for the Education CC
• Participate in project start up and follow up meetings according to assigned responsibilities
• In coordination with Education teams and Area Managers at field level identify training needs for the education staff
• Design and conduct training sessions with the education staff according to the identified needs
• Develop technical documents to communicate key process in the implementation of the education strategy to the education staff
• Identify the needs to conduct internal reviews and / or evaluations for Education activities / Strategy
• Ensure the proper filing of information related to the Education Strategy

Critical interfaces

By interfaces, NRC means processes and projects that are interlinked with other departments/units or persons. Relevant interfaces for this position are:

• Programme development: Core Competencies section (HO Oslo)
• Proposal development: Area Managers, Area Program Managers, Project Managers, CC Coordinators
• Quality control/ support: Area Managers, Area Program Managers
• Capacity development: Project staff, Area Managers, Area Program Managers
• Programme implementation: Programme staff, Area Managers, Area Program Managers and Support staff

Scale and scope of position

Staff:

Line management of the Education Coordinator in the Country Office and technical line for Education Staff across SCO

Stakeholders:

UN agencies, INGOs, local NGOs, Education authorities at the national level

Budgets:

No budget holder responsibility. General overview of Education budgets

Information:

The post holder will have direct use of the following information sources: GORS, Agresso, Webcruiter, Intranet

Legal or compliance:

Compliance with NRC’s internal procedures, donor requirements

Competencies

Competencies are important in order for the employee and the organisation to deliver desired results. They are relevant for all staff and are divided into the following three categories:

1. Professional competencies

These are skills, knowledge and experience that are important for effective performance.

Generic professional competencies for this position:

• Minimum 4 years of experience in designing, developing and leading education programs in multiple humanitarian/ recovery contexts
• Experience of working in complex and volatile contexts, preferably including the Middle East Region
• Educational and/or practical expertise in children and youth education
• Previous experience in leading quality assurance of education programs, including staff capacity building and mentoring.
• Strong coordination, inter-personal and management skills
• Fluency in English, both written and verbal

Context/specific skills, knowledge and experience:

• Good overview of the humanitarian and socio-political context in Middle East Region in general and in Syria in particular will be considered as an advantage;
• Arabic language skills will be an asset;

2. Behavioural competencies

These are personal qualities that influence how successful people are in their job. NRC’s Competency Framework states 12 behavioural competencies, the following are essential for this position:

• Handling insecure environments
• Strategic thinking
• Empowering and building trust
• Influencing
• Initiate action and change
• Analysing

Performance Management

The employee will be accountable for the responsibilities and the competencies, in accordance with the NRC Performance Management Manual. The following documents will be used for performance reviews:

• The Job Description
• The Work and Development Plan
• The Mid-term/End-of-trial Period Performance Review Template
• The End-term Performance Review Template
• The NRC Competency Framework