Deputy Education Coordinator

Yemen is the poorest country in the Arab world and has been plagued with internal conflicts in recent years. The current conflict in Yemen has created the world’s largest humanitarian crisis with 22.2 million people in need of assistance. For education, as for other basic services, the impact has been disastrous. Teachers are unpaid, school buildings are occupied or destroyed, and classrooms remain without basic materials and supplies. In short, the education system has largely collapsed, weakened as it was already by previous conflict, limited public funding and rapid population growth.As many as 4.5 million children have been out of school since the start of the school year in October 2017, with the hardest-to-reach and worst affected children from families among internally displaced populations (IDPs).

In such a context, addressing the education and protection needs of Yemen’s children calls for a local, community-centered approach that at the same time rebuilds the capacity of educational institutions from the bottom-up, bridging immediate humanitarian response with longer-term sustainable development objectives.

In this regard, IRC is implementing a three year program, Improving Access to Quality Education in Yemen (IAQY), with the goal of restoring education opportunities for out-of-school children (OOSC). This program will increase access to safe and quality education through improved service delivery at all levels and will expand equal access to education that meets the needs of crisis-affected OOSC. It will improve the quality of teaching and learning, increase the wellbeing of children and teachers, provide teacher training, ongoing school-based support and professional development, and raise the knowledge, skills and abilities for inclusive education of local and education district government officials, caregivers and community members. By the end of year 3, this program will have reached 11,680 OOSC aged 6 to 14, and bring the benefits of improved community and parental engagement, safer school environments, better trained and supported teachers to an estimated additional 14,400 children; furthermore, 1,740 School Father and Mother Councils (FMCs) members and 652 teachers will receive training and support.

Scope of Work: The Deputy Education Coordinator (DEC) is responsible for assisting and deputizing the Education Coordinator in overseeing the implementation of all Education programming provided by the IRC in Yemen. DEC will be the interface between PC and staff at operational level in governorates. S/he will provide them with technical and managerial support and ensure all activities are of high quality and respond to immediate educational needs of targeted communities. 

Responsibilities:

Programmatic Leadership

·Oversee management and implementation of IAQY projects at operational levels

·Ensure all IRC Yemen education projects are implemented in a timely and professional manner

·Help establish and foster relationships and partnership with relevant counterparts in the government of Yemen

·Support design and development IAQY’s work plan(s)

·Monitor implementation of work plans and quality of results

·Coordinate works of IAQY’s projects in different locations in Yemen

·Maintain relationships with key IAQY’s stakeholders

·Support programming and planning approaches that integrate needs of other IRC’s sectors

·Supervise effective coordination among field works and taskforces in all governorates

·Represent the IRC in sectoral and technical coordination bodies, as required

·Serve as the main Sana’a focal person in responding to the Program’s implementing staff in other areas

·Maintain respectful and constructive relations with stakeholders, and attend relevant meetings and events in Sana’a in coordination with the program’s Coordinator

Grants Management

·Actively participate in Grant Management Meetings and ensure resulting actions are followed up

·Manageexpenditures to designated levels, ensuring timely corrective action is taken to address any variances

·Monitor monthly expenditures and track budgets to ensure that all spending is in line with approved budgets and timelines

·Participate in the development of education budgets, including when required the revision and realignment of existing budgets

·Contribute to relevant project reporting and donor requirements by due deadlines.

·Review all reports prepared by Education staff, provide appropriate feedback to staff, and ensure that quality reports are written and submitted in a timely manner

Monitoring & Reporting

·Ensure quality of M&E inputs, processes and results

·Monitor and evaluate implementation of technical projects against program objectives and IRC’s Program Framework during field monitoring visits

·Evaluate field needs for technical interventions and make recommendations as needed

·Track management and implementation of Education activities at operational levels and report per the program needs

·Visit the field as required to ensure ongoing work and monitor progress

·Ensure all monitoring activities are fully documented

·Write monitoring and evaluation reports for IRC and its partners

Staff Management

·Oversee the three service delivery managers in Al Dhale’e, Hodeida and Sana’a

·Maintain open and professional relations with team members

·Provide guidance to staff for effective performance

·Ensure timely completion of work tasks and their related reports

·Observe, in collaboration with Human Resources, compliance of staff with IRC’s rules, regulations and code of conduct

·Take overall responsibility for staff timesheets, work plans, vacation schedules, and staff training/development activities

·Consistently and proactively monitor/assess the safety and security of the team

·Minimum 5 years professional experience in project management and implementation of education programming in humanitarian or development contexts and community development programs

·At least 4 years of experience in leading teams, preferably during emergency

·Proven experience building on technical and non-technical (budget, HR, reports) skills and knowledge capacity

·Prior international experience working in emergency settings or insecure environments; regional or in-country experience preferred

·Strong program/technical and budget management skills

·Good understanding and experience in managing donor funded project esp USAID

·Solid experience with planning, reporting, monitoring and evaluation skills

·Thorough understanding of gender-based violence response protocols and service provision

·Strong written and oral communication skills, effective in representation and liaison with external parties

·Must be capable of applying skills and knowledge in a range of capacities, including direct implementation, advisory functions, training and the transfer of technical knowledge and management skills to others

·Proven track record in working with teams, showing high performance in a multi-cultural environment, demonstrating flexibility, and able to handle pressure with professional grace

·Fluency in Arabic and English, written and spoken