The Senior Education Technical Advisor will use an in-depth contextual understanding, technical expertise, and relationship building skills to define and deliver SC strategic ambition for education in Ethiopia. The job holder will lead education policy/strategy development; initiation and development of innovative and high quality programs; development and roll out of guidelines and tools meant to enhance quality of education programs. The role supports national advocacy and influencing efforts, while driving strategic partnerships for new business development. It supports the design and implementation of monitoring and evaluation systems to demonstrate impact, while sharing learning across our programmed teams and partners. The role will work closely with operations colleagues and with partners in Ethiopia CO, building their capacity, ownership and agency of local organizations. This role includes a focus on external representation on priority issues including: early childhood care and development: foundational learning and uninterrupted learning (education in emergencies) to ensure all children have access to education leading to learning and wellbeing outcomes.  In the event of a major humanitarian emergency, the role holder will be expected to work outside the normal role profile and be able to vary working hours accordingly.

KEY AREAS OF ACCOUNTABILITY:  

Technical Leadership:

•   Play a leading role in initiating, development and roll out of education policy, strategies, guidelines and tools within the framework of CO’s strategy direction
•  Drive the introduction and implementation of innovative and high impact approaches that can enhance the relevance, effectiveness and quality of education within the changing and varying operating context of the CO (humanitarian, development, conflict etc.). This includes but not limited to SCI’s Common Approaches.
• Build capacity of national staff and partners in key technical approaches related to education.

Ensuring Program Quality (Design & Implementation)

•  Lead the technical scoping, planning, and design and proposal writing during new program development, and ensure that we design and deliver high quality education programs for children, building on global best practice.
• Ensure that gender, disability and resilience considerations are reflected in our program design and implementation.
• Work with Child Rights Governance colleagues to ensure that a rights based approach is reflected in our program design and implementation (in line with our child rights programming approach), with a strong focus on child participation
•   Promote an Education Systems Strengthening approach as the overarching framework, that supports working in collaboration and partnership with governments and regional bodies, local partners and working towards impact, scale and sustainability.
•  Provide oversight and guidance to the program implementation teams to ensure that thematic program components are technically sound, implementation methods are consistent with national and global strategies, acknowledged good practice (e.g. Save the Children Common Approaches); and are likely to achieve scale, as well as equitable and sustainable results.
•  Promote and monitor integrated programming in a way that increases overall impact of education programs at the country level.
•  Work with Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability & Learning (MEAL) teams to carry out gender and power analysis, and conduct quality monitoring against international standards through participatory methodologies that promote gender equality and social justice (including child-friendly and gender sensitive/transformative methodologies).
•  Extract and produce high quality education technical briefs, success stories and related materials pertaining to CO’s education programs periodically and ensure the dissemination of the same internally and externally by working together with Head of Evidence and Learning
•  Initiate and lead efforts meant to test, develop and scale up new approaches that can help address the educational challenges of children in SCI CO’s operation areas with the support of Head of Evidence and Learning
• Contribute towards the creation of an organizational learning culture that promotes the use of disaggregated data, evidence and analysis (including gender and power analysis) and understands its link to quality and accountable programming;
•  Contribute to strengthening the use of equality-focused program principles and good practice across themes and sectors.
•  Undertake field visits to project sites; work with implementation teams to understand impacts, operational challenges, and continuously identify opportunities for learning and improvement.
• Support Humanitarian colleagues (as needed) to develop emergency strategy, preparedness plans, and conduct sectoral assessments (including gender analysis and disability situation analysis, using SC assessment processes and tools) and to design and deliver emergency response and recovery programs. Ensure synergies between humanitarian education thematic area teams, data and program design.
• Monitor trends in order to ensure early action; and lead technical design and implementation and technical coordination of humanitarian responses
•  Ensure the quality, clarity and consistency of technical components of internal and external reports (e.g. program reports, sit-reps, internal updates), working closely with awards, program implementation and communications colleagues as needed.

Networking & External Engagement:

•  In alignment with Country Office strategy and leadership, engage in strategic positioning with donors, partners and government in-country, and ensure that Save the Children is a partner of choice in education
• Ensure that Save the Children is influencing and learning from others through national technical coordination and networking bodies such as clusters and working groups recognizing Save the Children and UNICEF are global co-leads for the education cluster.
•  Strengthen civil society engagement in national dialogues and policy processes through working closely with advocacy and child rights governance colleagues. Ensure that the diverse voices of children, girls and boys are equitably heard and represented in our education work.
• Represent the program to National and Local government representatives, donors, partner agencies, etc. as required.
•  Leverage and liaise with technical colleagues from across Save the Children, including technical working groups and centers of excellence, ensuring that learning from the Country Office is shared with others and global lessons brought back.

SKILLS AND BEHAVIOURS (our Values in Practice)

Accountability:

• Holds self-accountable for making decisions, managing resources efficiently, achieving and role modelling Save the Children values
•  Holds suppliers accountable to deliver on their responsibilities

Ambition:

•  Sets ambitious and challenging goals for themselves and takes responsibility for their own personal development
•  Widely shares their personal vision for Save the Children, engages and motivates others
•  Future orientated, thinks strategically and on a global scale

Collaboration:

•  Approachable, good listener, easy to talk to; builds and maintains effective relationships with colleagues, Members and external partners and supporters
•  Values diversity and different people’s perspectives, able to work cross-culturally.

Creativity:

•  Develops and encourages new and innovative solutions
•  Cuts away bureaucracy and encourages an entrepreneurial approach

Integrity:

•  Honest, encourages openness and transparency, builds trust and confidence
• Displays consistent excellent judgement

Job Requirements

Education

• Master’s degree in education, BSc degree with exceptional and relevant work experience may be considered in lieu.
• Training in project or program, strategy design and ensuring quality and child right based programing is an asset. 

Experience and Skills: 

• At least 10 years’ experience of leading the design and implementation of major humanitarian and development programs in education
• Proven experience in education policy and strategy analysis work
• Through understanding of the education sector in Ethiopia
• Familiar with education systems (humanitarian/cluster systems as needed) for ex. the INEE Minimum Standards, the key issues related to Sustainable Development Goal 4 – to ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all.
• Track record in successful business development/fundraising in relation to major bilateral and multilateral donors.
• Demonstrated program design, monitoring and evaluation skills, including designing pathways to sustainable impact at scale.
• Experience of strategy development and planning
• Experience of context, capacity and policy analysis, and influencing and advocacy at regional/international level in order to hold duty bearers to account to realize children’s rights.
• Skilled at networking, representation and partnership development in order promote learning, strengthen civil society and mobilize resources.
• Able to generate and use data and evidence to innovate, deliver, learn and share what works and what doesn’t work for children
• Experience of promoting quality and impact through at least one cross-cutting area: gender equality and inclusion, adaptive and safer programming; child rights; disability; migration and displacement.
• Experience of supporting humanitarian preparedness, response and recovery
• Significant experience in training, capacity building, and mentoring
• Fluent in English and high level of English writing skills.
• Skill in using different computer application soft wares, the ability to fluently speak and write in Amharic language 

KEY COMPETENCIES

competencies:

• Ensures all children’s access to quality education
• Ensures all children’s wellbeing
• Supports all children’s learning and development

Generic Competencies

• Being the Voice of Children: Promotes evidence-based policy and public engagement that includes the voices of children and their communities
• Advancing Equality & Inclusion: Displays a commitment to ensuring everything we do considers the most deprived and marginalized children
• Building & Strengthening Partnerships: Promotes working with diverse partners as critical to delivery
• Child Rights: Promotes the rights of children in own work and in work with colleagues and peers

Additional job responsibilities

The duties and responsibilities as set out above are not exhaustive and the role holder may be required to carry out additional duties within reasonableness of their level of skills and experience.

Equal Opportunities

The role holder is required to carry out the duties in accordance with SCI’s global Diversity, Equity and Inclusion and Gender Equality Policies, supported by relevant procedures.

Child Safeguarding:

We need to keep children safe so our selection process, which includes rigorous background checks, reflects our commitment to the protection of children from abuse.

Safeguarding our Staff:

The post holder is required to carry out the duties in accordance with the SCI anti-harassment policy.

Health and Safety

The role holder is required to carry out the duties in accordance with SC Health and Safety policies and procedures.

We offer a competitive package in the context of the sector. The duty station of the position holder will be in Addis Ababa This role is offered on the basis of national terms and conditions only.

The Organization

We employ approximately 25,000 people across the globe and work on the ground in over 100 countries to help children affected by crises, or those that need better healthcare, education and child protection. We also campaign and advocate at the highest levels to realize the right of children and to ensure their voices are heard.

We are working towards three breakthroughs in how the world treats children by 2030:

• No child dies from preventable causes before their 5th birthday
• All children learn from a quality basic education and that,
• Violence against children is no longer tolerated

We know that great people make a great organization, and that our employees play a crucial role in helping us achieve our ambitions for children. We value our people and offer a meaningful and rewarding career, along with a collaborative and inclusive environment where ambition, creativity, and integrity are highly valued.

Application Information:

Please attach a copy of your CV and cover letter with your application, and include details of your current remuneration and salary expectations. A copy of the full role profile can be found here

We need to keep children safe so our selection process, which includes rigorous background checks, reflects our commitment to the protection of children from abuse.

All employees are expected to carry out their duties in accordance with our global anti-harassment policy.

How to Apply

Interested applicants who meet the MINIMUM requirements should apply using the link