Country: Lao People's Democratic Republic (the)
Closing date: 27 Jun 2016
Position Title: Education Technical Advisor I**
Dept./Country: Lao PDR (Laos)
**Region: East & South Asia**
Reports To:** Head of Programs
About CRS:
Catholic Relief Services carries out the commitment of the Bishops of the United States to assist the poor and vulnerable overseas. Our Catholic identity is at the heart of our mission and operations. We welcome as a part of our staff and as partners people of all faiths and secular traditions who share our values and our commitment to serving those in need.
Background:
Since 2006, CRS Lao PDR has grown from one USAID-funded education project to a multi-sector, multi-donor country program. In Lao PDR, CRS' strengths are based in the education sector, being a leader in inclusive education (IE) programming, focusing on children with disabilities (CWD). CRS Laos' strengths lie particularly with working at the community level, while coordinating at the Provincial and National level. This type of partnership methodology has allowed the country program to undertake additional interventions in the health and UXO sectors.
In education, CRS is currently implementing a large USDA funded McGovern Dole Food for Education project in Savannakhet Province, reaching over 300 schools and 36,000 students. This project combines school meals with capacity-building in inclusive education and literacy. CRS also works in Khammouane Province, with a project focusing on inclusive education for CWD.
Primary Functions:
The primary role of the Education Technical Advisor is to provide technical leadership and expertise for CRS/Laos' education programming in the areas of inclusive education, Early Grade Learning (EGL), and capacity-building/training. The Technical Advisor will carry out this role through five main channels:
Providing strategic direction and capacity-building for education staff (Savannakhet and Khammouane provinces);
Designing and supporting the implementation of high quality education programs aligned with national education policies and evidence-based practices;
Provide technical oversight for all education projects of CRS Laos;
Provide technical input on all education related funding opportunities;
Increasing CRS/Laos' influence in the education sector by raising awareness about CRS' work, donor engagement, advocacy, and external representation.
The Education Advisor will need to maintain excellent working relationships with the Ministry of Education, donors, UN agencies, and international and local partners. This position will collaborate with HQ and regionally based technical advisors as well as CRS/Laos staff.
SPECIFIC RESPONSIBILITIES:
Capacity-Building for education staff
- Stimulate knowledge generation, learning and sharing among CRS and partner education staff;
- Strengthen the capacity of CRS and partner staff in education, particularly in the areas of inclusive education and EGL;
- Systematically promote synergies between CRS/Laos' education programs (FFE, IE, and EGL pilot);
- Provide strategic leadership and guide CRS/Laos education staff to incorporate innovative practices into new or existing programs (when appropriate);
- Ensure strong linkages between inclusive education, disability awareness and mine risk education projects, and early grade reading activities across CRS/Laos and the sub-region, sharing technical expertise and experience across countries;
- Identify and plan ahead for technical support from Regional Technical Advisors (RTA) and Senior Technical Advisors (STA) for education and Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability, and Learning (MEAL);
- Assist and support CRS and partner staff to prepare abstracts, design and deliver presentations, and undertake other actions to share results of CRS/Laos' programming;
· Regularly travel to the field to visit education projects in Laos and support staff to implement, monitor and evaluate projects according to CRS and industry standards and using CRS tools and guidance.
High-quality education programming
- Coordinate the development of strategies, approaches, and guidelines to address education challenges, and help staff to roll these out across projects;
- Ensure that all of CRS/Laos' education projects meet national and international technical standards for EGL, IE, and education generally;
- Support documentation of project results including but not limited to drafting project briefs, project reports, developing conference and/or webinar presentations and articles for peer reviewed journals;
- Participate in baselines and evaluations of education projects, to strengthen knowledge and focus on learning what works;
- Expand the use of proven approaches and facilitate the completion of necessary resources (training of trainer guides, curricula, mobile applications, etc.) to facilitate scale-up internally and externally;
- Identify and track emerging issues within the education sector, and incorporate them into CRS' programming in Laos and the sub-region;
· Actively promote information exchange with other international and local organizations and projects working in the education sector in Laos, identifying areas for potential collaboration and joint learning.
Early Grade Literacy Pilot
- Lead efforts to design and give technical support to the EGL pilot (Khammouane province);
- Coordinate partnerships and ensure effective collaboration between local government partners, American Institutes for Research (AIR), and other relevant organizations;
- Develop relevant project tools and resources, and ensure that these are shared across CRS' education programs in Laos and globally;
- In collaboration with RTA for MEAL and Lao MEAL staff, ensure that monitoring and evaluation of pilot is completed in such a way as to produce clear results and maximize learning.
Resource Mobilization
- As indicated above, main responsibility will be to improve quality of education programming, capacity of staff, and diversity/quality of technical resources, all of which will contribute meaningfully to resource mobilization efforts;
- Support Head of Programs and education staff to target and diversify funding sources for education projects;
- Identify and track strategic priorities for growth of CRS/Laos' education portfolio;
- Develop capacity statements and other relevant documentation of CRS/Laos' education programming strengths and experience;
- Establish and maintain effective partner relations, and engage in the identification of newpotential partners, including the private sector;
- In collaboration with Business Development staff at the regional and HQ levels, undertake capture planning, donor mapping/analysis, etc., as needed.
Influence and Advocacy
- Strengthen relationships with the Ministry of Education at all levels, UN agencies, CRS peers, and donors through information sharing, representation and advocacy;
- In coordination with other CRS/Laos staff, ensure that CRS is professionally and consistently represented at relevant interagency, sector coordination, donor, government, interagency, and network meetings;
- Identify opportunities to showcase CRS/Laos' work in the education sector, including presenting on EGL pilot results and other education programming at national and international conferences and events;
- Share innovations and advocate for best practices in EGL, IE, and education generally with CRS staff as well as Government partner staff;
- In collaboration with other CRS/Laos staff, maintain good donor relationships and CRS positioning through frequent contact andstrategic networking.
Other duties: Any other duties as required to meet overall position objectives as listed in the position overview.
Agency-wide Competencies (for all CRS Staff)These are rooted in the mission, values, and principles of CRS and used by each staff member to fulfill his or her responsibilities and to achieve the desired results.
- Serves with Integrity
- Models Stewardship
- Cultivates Constructive Relationships
- Promotes Learning
Supervisory Responsibilities: none.
KEY WORKING RELATIONSHIPS:
Internal*:* Country Representative, Head of Programs, Head of Operations, Education staff (Savannakhet and Khammouane provinces); HQ-based and Regional Technical Advisors
External: Partner representatives / peer organizations; donor representatives; national /provincial /district government representatives; Technical Education Sector Working Groups; AIR technical advisor.
The Education TA will have to split his/her time proportionally between all CRS Laos education based programs.
QUALIFICATIONS:
- Advanced degree in reading instruction, education, and/or disability-related field.
- Minimum 5-7 years of experience in international education, with at least 2 years overseas.
- Understanding of technical principles, standards, and best practices in education sector, especially in the areas of EGL and/or inclusive education.
- Experience in program monitoring and evaluation tools and methodologies, including those for early grade reading (e.g., EGRA and/or ACER).
- Strong proposal development, writing, budget development and report writing required.
- Expertise in the development of curriculum, training materials, and other capacity-building tools.
- Demonstrated ability to build capacity, lead and mentor, and develop strong working relationships with senior national staff.
- Ability to represent CRS in high-level meetings and technical working groups with government officials, donors, UN agencies, and peer organizations.
- Willingness to travel and spend a minimum of 30% of time in the field.
- Fluency in oral and written English.
- Fluency of Lao language, a plus
- Expertise in early grade reading instruction, strongly preferred.
- Examples of technical and/or academic publications highly desirable.
Disclaimer Clause: This job description is not an exhaustive list of the skills, effort, duties, and responsibilities associated with the position.
CRS' talent acquisition procedures reflect our commitment to protecting children and vulnerable adults from abuse and exploitation.
EOE
How to apply:
Apply online: https://www5.apply2jobs.com/CRS/ProfExt/index.cfm?fuseaction=mExternal.showJob&RID=3026&CurrentPage=1