Education and Transferable Skills Lead (The BRIDGE PROJECT)

Position Title: Education and Transferable Skills Lead (The BRIDGE PROJECT)

Position Grade

B3

Duty Station

Kampala, Uganda, with regular field travel

Contract

24 months, Renewable

Reports to

Project Director

Management Responsibility

Direct supervision of: (I) Senior Project Officer – Secondary Education and (II) Senior Project Officer – BTVET/Tertiary.

Responsible for technical oversight to eight (8) Refugee Lead Community Based Organizations spread out in eight (8) refugee hosting districts.

Key Relationships

Regional Coordinators, Senior Project Officer – Innovation and Technology, Advocacy and Partnership Lead, Gender and Inclusion Advisor, MEAL Lead and Project Engineer

Background

War Child Canada is an internationally recognized charity organization registered in Toronto, Canada, dedicated to helping children and their communities overcome the devastating effects of war. Its vision is “Accelerating Peace by Disrupting the Cycle of Violence” and its mission is “Driving Generational Change for The Hardest Hit by Investing in The Power of Local Communities”

Since being founded in 1999, War Child Canada has worked in 20 countries across the world and we are currently operational in Afghanistan, Yemen, Sudan, South Sudan, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), and Uganda.

During the past five years, War Child Canada reached over 2,500,000 conflict-afflicted children and adults; 985,000 people benefitted from War Child’s educational initiatives; 480,000 people were helped to climb out of poverty and 1,075,000 people learned more about their rights and had better access to justice systems

War Child Canada in Uganda: Since 2014, War Child Canada has worked in 10 districts (mainly Refugee hosting) implementing integrated education, access to justice (incudes peacebuilding), opportunities/livelihoods, and programs. Our current districts of operation include: Adjumani, Obongi, Yumbe, Arua, Koboko, Isingiro, Lamwo, Kikuube, Koboko and Kamwenge districts.

Context

The BRIDGE PROJECT: War Child Canada in partnership with Mastercard Foundation, Community Empowerment for Rural Development – CEFORD, Education Local Expertise Uganda (ELECU) and eight Refugee Led Community based organizations, will be implementing the BRIDGE: From Secondary Education and Skills Development to Job Opportunities for Refugee and Host Community Youth in Uganda Project.

The BRIDGE project that will be implemented from 2022 to 2026 is designed to further the Mastercard Foundation’ Young Africa Works Strategy (2018 to 2030) and address the youth unemployment challenge focusing on refugee and host communities in Uganda’s refugee settlements in Adjumani, Obongi, Isingiro, Kamwenge, Kikuube, Yumbe, Arua and Koboko districts.

War Child Canada and project implementing partners will employ a gender sensitive and inclusive approach to programming, empower young people and recognize their potential as agents of change to ensure effective implementation and sustainability of the interventions. This will be achieved through two outcomes.

• Increased access to market relevant secondary and tertiary education and skills for refugee and host community youth
• Improved capacity of education institutions and teachers to offer quality and relevant education and skills for refugee and host community youth

The program will help to increase demand for education through a strong community engagement and strengthen education supply by strengthening the capacity of Alternative Education Program (AEP) host schools and BTVETs on gender and age sensitivity education. It will enroll: (I) 20,400 Lower Secondary AEP learners (14,280 female) and 2,168 (,518 female) Advanced level learners into 34 lower secondary AEP centers (II) 2,003 learners (1,402 female) in 15 Business, Technical, Vocational Education and (III) Training (BTVET) schools and 136 learners in different universities across the country.

The proposed program aims to improve the quality and relevance of education by placing a strong focus on teacher capacity; and formal, non-formal and alternative education and learning opportunities.

The program will further support young people in their transition to dignified work and throughout the life of the project, to thrive in their chosen form of employment or livelihood. Activities to support their success will include: conducting market analysis annually to tailor interventions to the business context at the refugee settlement; implementing an adopted UPSHIFT – business incubation “boot camps”; strengthening youth business support centres and BTVET institutions through training and infrastructure improvements; providing financial support to young people to access training programs, and; set up businesses and pairing young people with mentors from the business community.

Finally, the program approach promotes continuous learning and development to ensure project sustainability.

Position summary

This position leads the implementation and delivery of: Lower Secondary AEP in 34 Lower Secondary AEP host schools; strengthening the capacity of BTVET institutions and eight Refugee Led CBOs; scholarships award to target refugee and host community learners at BTVET, ‘A’ Levels and Tertiary/University Level; Supporting the NCDC in the production and adaptation of the Lower Secondary AEP Curriculum and represents War Child Canada in key Education in Emergencies (EiE) working groups and coordination forums.

Responsibilities:

Project Management and Delivery

• Lead the development of systems and tools for the establishment, management, and delivery of lower secondary AEP (Accelerated Education Programs) in 34 AEP centers in Adjumani, Obongi, Yumbe, Arua, Koboko, Isingiro, Lamwo, Kikuube, Koboko and Kamwenge districts.
• Facilitate and lead the institutional strengthening of fifteen identified partner Business Technical Vocational Education and Training (BTVET) Institutions especially regarding transferable skills integration into BTVET curriculums.
• Establish transparent and clear scholarship award criteria for target beneficiaries to Advanced Level Education, BTVET and university education with the involvement and consultation of key local stakeholders at the refugee settlement and district level.
• Take a lead in the development and adaptation of the War Child Canada transferable skills training manual and provide oversight and quality management of cascaded trainings .
• Provide technical support to and facilitate the National Curriculum Development Center (NCDC) on the project’s Lower Secondary AEP curriculum development.
• Provide technical oversight and manage the project’s partner refugee-led Community Based Organizations (CBOs) to deliver on agreed sub-grants that will support the implementation of Lower Secondary AEP.
• Lead War Child Canada representation in the Education in Emergencies Working Group including in the primary and lower secondary AEP – EIE sub-committees.

Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability, Reporting and Learning (MEARL):

• Working closely with the Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability and Learning (MEAL) Project Lead and the Country MEAL Manager, develop and implement a robust MEAL framework, plan and system to measure, document and disseminate progress, results and organizational learning during project implementation.
• Ensure agreed and adopted MEAL tools are consistently and effectively used throughout the project cycle.
• Work in close consultation with MEAL Project Lead and the MEAL Country Manager, to oversee the planning and implementation of a baseline survey, mid-term and final project evaluations and other MEAL activities in accordance with the project proposal and donor funding agreement.
• Ensure proper utilization of program resources within your control.
• Lead the education and skilling team and the projects refugee-led CBO partners in reviewing project performances on a regular basis.

Human Resource (HR) and Operations:

Responsible for performance-based management, supervision, and capacity development of project staff who report to you. Work closely with the Project Director and the Finance, Grants and operations, to ensure up-date-date recording and effective management, accountability, and utilization project budgets, goods, supplies and equipment within your management.

• Create and maintain proper conditions for learning. Establish a safe environment for sharing of ideas, solutions, and challenges and the capacity to detect, analyze and respond quickly to deficiencies.
• Identify performance gaps and training opportunities for supervised staff and Refugee Led CBO partner staff, and ensure the identification and design and delivery of high-quality training and technical assistance.

Requirement:

Knowledge and Experience:

• Master’s Degree in International Development, International Relations, Vocational Pedagogy , Rural Development, or equivalent demonstrable experience in relevant fields.
• Minimum Seven years senior management experience of complex development programs with project management responsibilities.
• Strong technical skills in Education programing.
• Proven track record of managing multi-site projects including through a consortium approach.
• Experience of monitoring and evaluation methodologies, tools and systems.

Skills and Abilities:

• Demonstrated ability to think strategically, prioritize, and meet deadlines in a complex and challenging environment.
• Ability to work well with diverse teams from all backgrounds and levels.
• Strong diplomacy skills: ability to establish and maintain good working relationships with partners, donors and other stakeholders in a sensitive environment.
• Excellent English writing ability and verbal skills for project proposals, reports and communications.
• Problem solving and ability to work with minimal supervision.
• Willingness and ability to travel outside Kampala.
• Ability and willingness to be extremely flexible and accommodating in a difficult and sometimes insecure working environment.

Personal Attributes:

• Affinity with War Child Canada’s mandate.
• Politically and culturally sensitive with qualities of patience, tact and diplomacy.
• Creative, energetic, adaptable, and flexible.
• Stress-resilient to be able to cope with deadlines and complex problems.

Salary and benefits

• Salary will be commensurate with experience and qualifications. Benefits include insurance as per War Child Canada contractual standards.