Deputy Education Working Group Coordinator

About the role: This is initially a one-year contract, with the possibility of extension based on donor funding. This is a new role which is on unaccompanied terms, based in northern Syria with travel to Iraq and a salary Band 4 (€44,133 – €49,038).

The role will support the strengthened coordination of the Education Working Group (EWG). You will report to the Education Working Group Coordinator, and work very closely with the wide Education Working Group. The Deputy Coordinator will be liaising with Working Group Coordinators, Deputy Coordinators and appropriate Information Management Officers. As the position is hosted by Concern Worldwide, there will be a dotted line report to Concern Management.

We would like you to start by 1 November 2022.

Your purpose: The purpose of the Deputy Education Working Group Coordinator is to provide support to the Education Working Group Coordinator. The role will require you to support on coordination including chairing, attending and taking minutes, undertake field visits, support the Education Working group Coordinator with strategic direction, trainings and workshops. You will be expected to be professional, pro-active, problem-solving and outcome focused to support the EWG. The position will be supportive in the administrative tasks of the EWG, as well as the representation responsibility with and without the EWG coordinator with all the relevant stakeholders

He or she will be responsible for the entire EWG in the absence of the EWG Coordinator.

You will be responsible for:

Working Group Coordination

• To support the coordination of the Education Working Group, under the leadership of the Education Working Group Coordinator;
• Support in the definition of, with Working group Lead Agencies, in the prioritization of Education Working Group activities;
• Support the Education Working Group coordination meetings and provide high standard; representation of the Working Group and in the inter-working group coordination meetings;
• Lead a transparent and consultative process for the development of the Humanitarian Programme Cycle documents;
• Support the consultants with the Joint Education Needs Assessments, with the Education Working Group Task Force, to establish the Education Working Group strategy;
• Support on the identification of Education Working Group needs with a specific focus on the needs of marginalized children, including those with disabilities, those hard to reach and those discriminated by gender or other issues (utilizing secondary data and coordinating education specific needs assessments to inform sector response planning);
• Strenghten the quality of the response, including through the harmonisation of response activities (ensuring that activities prevent overlap and duplication) and lead on the formulation of a sector-wide interagency response plan, taking into account the cross-cutting areas from other sectors or clusters;
• Support the consultant in the process of establishing a harmonized Non-Formal Education Framework, to structure common standards and guidelines for the response, to contribute to enhance the quality of the response and ensure cluster members are aware of relevant minimum standards, policies and guidelines that apply to all agencies;
• Establish a roadmap to facilitate partners ‘engagement in the development of Humanitarian Needs Overview and Humanitarian Response Plan;
• Monitor and report on activities and needs, including measuring progress against the Working Group strategy objectives, enhancing quality as well as recommending corrective action where necessary;
• Represent the Education Working Group and undertake advocacy through/to the relevant foras, broader humanitarian community and donors to ensure education is prioritized in the humanitarian response;
• Support on the advocacy to secure funding commitments to the Education Working Group from bilateral/multilateral donors, ensure that members are aware of funding opportunities and track members fundraising for Education specific interventions;
• Identify opportunities for Humanitarian-Development Nexus entry points and alignment, move to early recovery and plan an exit strategy for the Working Group.

Education Working Group Membership Capacity Building

• Mainstream localization, by encouraging participation and representation of local partners in membership and decision-making mechanisms, and identifying and addressing their institutional capacity gaps.
• Identify capacity needs and learning and training opportunities for Education Working Group members and develop a capacity development plan drawing upon Global Education Cluster and other key stakeholder support that includes preparedness, technical and institutional capacity enhancement.
• Support on the rollout to trainings to support the strengthening of the Education responding NGOs
• Contribute to the preparedness and contingency planning, given the range of scenarios that could arise within the operating environment
• Develops and encourages new and innovative solutions to Education Working Group identified needs, by identifying individual organizations´ innovations and supporting experience sharing amongst cluster partners

Accountability

• In line with Concern’s commitments under the Core Humanitarian Standard (CHS):
• Actively promote meaningful community participation and consultation at all stages of the project cycle (planning, implementation, M&E);
• Comply with Concern Worldwide policies, practices and manuals with respect to Code of Conduct and Associated Policies
• Honest, encourages openness and transparency; demonstrates highest levels of integrity
• Ensure that children are engaged in all stages of the HPC and that the Working Group and members have systems to institutionalise this;
• Ensure that child safeguarding is addressed by the Education Working Group membership;

Other tasks

• Undertake any other reasonable duty and tasks that may from time to time be requested by your line manager.
• Regularly brief Concern as appropriate and relevant.

Your skills and experience will include:

Essential:

• At least four years of progressively responsible work experience with UN, government and/or NGO, including in a humanitarian context
• Significant experience in a senior management role/cluster coordination in an emergency response/fragile state including field operations
• Proven experience in leading strategy development and humanitarian response planning processes that focus on the needs of the hardest to reach and most marginalized children
• Experience applying relevant interagency humanitarian frameworks and standards in education in emergencies (for example INEE Minimum Standards)
• Politically and culturally sensitive with excellent interpersonal, communication and diplomatic skills
• Effective negotiator, with the ability to positively influence investments and prioritization of the education sector in the humanitarian response
• Solid project management skills related to program development cycle with a proven history of delivering results
• Demonstrable ability to work and represent views across different stakeholders taking part in the Education Cluster

We would also like:

• Draw on knowledge of EiE concepts, issues, innovations, INEE minimum standards and Global Education Cluster tools to drive strategic-level discussions and inform standards and practices
• Knowledge of the IASC Cluster System and recent humanitarian reform developments, including the Transformative Agenda and Grand Bargain
• Understanding of the various funding mechanisms for Education
• Knowledge of information management processes within the cluster system
• Arabic language skills
• Experience working in the Middle East, or similar context
• Good team player, flexible and capable of working with a multinational country team, politically and culturally sensitive
• Flexibility, adaptability, sense of humour, and patience
• Ability to motivate and develop skills of others
• Facilitation and interpersonal skills
• Analytical and problem solving skills