Education Coordinator

About JAM: Founded in 1984, Joint Aid Management (JAM) is an Africa-based international relief and development organization working to save lives, overcome poverty and create sustainable living within the continent of Africa. Today, JAM operates across seven countries running programmes in Food Security, Nutrition, Health, WASH, and Economic Recovery. In South Sudan, JAM began operations in 2002 with programming spanning across five states in Jonglei, Unity, Northern Bahr el Ghazal, Warrap, and Central Equatoria. JAM’s integrated programming focuses on three pillars: 1) Saving Lives; 2) Promoting Early Recovery and 3) Promoting Community Resilience.

Job Purpose

JAM International in South Sudan is looking for an Education Coordinator to support programme development, programme integration, deepening partnerships and quality assurance, in line with its Strategic Plan and relevant professional standards and frameworks. The JAM South Sudan’s strategic plan (2021 – 2023), among others, prioritises improved access to quality, inclusive and protective education for vulnerable girls and boys. JAM aspires to expand its education programmes to support more affected people with emergency response, recovery and resilience programmes; and deepen its working relationship with government and partners at all levels.

The Education Coordinator will provide technical leadership in designing and delivering education programmes that will achieve improved school enrolment and attendance; create an enabling learning environment and strengthen institutional and community-led educational promotion mechanisms in target locations. This role will lead efforts to coordinate with other actors, build requisite internal capacity and integrate education interventions with other sectors.

Key Responsibilities

Programme development and fundraising

• Identify trends, technical standards and donor priorities in the education sector and incorporate in the strategic and operating plans;
• Work closely with the Programme Development Coordinator in defining the funding plan for the Education strategy and identify opportunities for JAM assistance in the education sector in South Sudan;
• Lead targeted field-based vulnerabilities assessment surveys, gap analyses and studies in support of resource mobilization, and ensure systematic documentation and timely preparation of the assessment reports;
• Design innovative programme interventions and technical approaches that meet the education and development needs of all children in IDPs, returnees, host communities and refugee contexts;
• Provide technical leadership in developing project proposals, including writing and costing processes, in line with donor and organisational guidelines.

Promote programme integration and synergies

• Contribute to the development of integrated programming approaches, including adherence to safe, inclusive programming and synergies with the School Feeding Programme, WASH in schools, school construction/rehabilitation and protection actors, with clear referral pathways;
• Work with the FSL team to develop employable skills for youth and women through informal vocational work-based training, business and digital literacy and entrepreneurship mentorship.

Coordination and networking

• Develop strategic partnerships and innovations for education programmes, which includes local partnerships and collaboration with other agencies, academic institutions, research etc.
• Liaise with Ministry of General Education & Instruction and Ministry of Higher Education, Science & Technology at national and lower levels to ensure smooth programmatic implementation; develop significant relationships with key ministry staff;
• Represent JAM at the Education Cluster; regularly attend and contribute to Cluster activities, and build relationships with key UN and NGO partners. Ensure constant linkage with the Sub-national Clusters.

Programme implementation and technical backstopping

• Develop SOPs, technical guidance notes and monitoring plans in collaboration with other sector experts, develop an overall operating plan for the education programme; harmonise education approaches across Area Offices;
• Operationalize the INEE Minimum Standards within JAM programmes by providing programme audits, feedback sessions, and capacity development sessions against the relevant INEE Minimum Standards;
• Support Area Managers and programme staff to implement funded projects, paying specific attention to technical quality, cost effectiveness, efficiency, timeliness and conformity to grant agreement;
• Supervise the performance of reporting staff (including matrix or indirect reports), providing clear direction and regular monitoring and feedback on performance;
• Monitor compliance with policy and contractual commitments within education projects;
• Support education teams in the field offices with monitoring and evaluation of education programmes including the development of relevant tools;
• In collaboration with the Communications team and the field MEAL Officers, support project teams to generate lessons learned, project impact or Most Significant Change evidence in form of stories, case studies, photos and videos;
• Support MEAL in writing and/or reviewing internal and donor progress reports, and assess field reports to determine possible implications for implementation and agree on corrective action with appropriate decision-makers.

Qualification and competencies

• A minimum of a Bachelor’s Degree in education. A Diploma in education with further training in a development field may be considered
• At least 5 years of relevant professional experience in the education sector and in project management in humanitarian or recovery context. Experience/understanding of Education in Emergencies and working knowledge of INEE Minimum Standards is required.
• Strong knowledge of, and commitment to, gender and social equity issues in education;
• A strategic thinker with good writing skills and ability to develop quality concept notes, proposals, logical frameworks and reports. Familiarity with funding requirements and guidelines of major humanitarian donors, particularly UN Agencies and Foundations;
• Good written and verbal communication skills with strong proficiency in MS Office suite and presentation skills.
• Networking and external engagement skills, proven experience in networking with donors and partners, including knowledge of UN Cluster system, experience with field level coordination with UN organisations, INGOs, donors and authorities, especially in the Education sector.