Senior Education Program Manager

Senior Education Program Manager

ROLE PURPOSE:

The Senior Program Manager – Education Projects will have the overall responsibility for overseeing the implementation of early childhood education, lower, middle and high school education in Ukraine. In addition to directly managing grants in this area, the Senior Program Manager – Education will manage a team comprised of an Education Program Manager, Coordinators and Officers, building their capacity in project management and education in emergencies. The Senior Program Manager is expected to lead on education program planning, have oversight of program implementation, recruitment and procurement. The Senior Program Manager will be responsible for all aspects of project cycle management – involved implementation, but also ensuring quality, integration and delivery that is consistent with Save the Children programming principles and approaches, international sector standards and compliance with donor compliance regulations. The Senior Program Manager will also represent Save the Children with local authorities, partner organizations, and other agencies.

SCOPE OF THE ROLE:

Reports to: Director of Program Implementation with technical communication lines to the Education Technical Advisor

Staff reporting to this post: Education Program Manager and others as assigned.

Other key working contacts: Education team, Partnership Manager, Partner agencies, Logistics Manager, Finance and Awards Managers, HR manager, Director of PDQ, Proposal Development and Reporting Coordinator, other Technical Program Managers, Education Technical Advisor, Education Knowledge Management Officer, Translator, Education Consultants, MEAL team.

KEY AREAS OF ACCOUNTABILITY:

Program Management:

• Overall responsible for the timely implementation of education project activities ensuring that services are delivered on time, on budget and in compliance with donor regulations
• Ensure the education program is implemented in ways responsive to communities, partners and children in line with SC’s principles, values and strategic plan and compliant with SC’s procedures
• Ensure award/grant kick off and management tools, including implementation plans, MEAL plans, procurement plans and distribution schedules of program inputs in line with program logistics/supply chain capacity are in place, tracked and updated regularly.
• Manage program budget, including phased budgets, monthly budget forecasting and quarterly budget revisions for all grants.
• Ensure proper and effective use of program resources, ensuring that all resources/assets in project are managed in line with SC and Donor policy.
• Lead on preparing high quality program and donor reports on project activities in compliance with internal SC requirements and any relevant external donor requirements.
• Responsible for liaising with Operations/Field Management and Security on the movement planning of team and any necessary security assessments or reassessments of operational areas.
• Lead coordination with WASH and Child Protection teams on cross cutting needs and issues.

Partner management:

• Work with the Education Program Manager and Partnership team to identify appropriate partners for implementation of the education response.
• Support the Education Program Manger to work with the partners to develop their program design and proposals, ensuring they align with SC strategy and grant design.
• Review partner narrative and financial reporting as well as MEAL data, in line with CO internal deadlines for MEAL.
• With the Education team undertake ongoing capacity assessments of partner, reporting areas for development to the Director of Implementation, Partnerships, and TAs.

Needs Analysis, Program Design and Implementation:

• Scale up sector response, managing multiple grants across the sector, ensuring that projects and reports are delivered according to SC and donor contractual requirements, within the agreed timescale and budget and with risks identified and appropriately mitigated.
• Contribute to situation/response analysis, sector strategy documents and sector response plans as well as program design, working with the partner teams to ensure design is appropriate and implementable.
• Support the Technical Advisors in the development of project and donor proposals in close coordinator with logistics, finance and awards units ensuring effective integration at design phase.
• Contribute to country level contingency and emergency preparedness plans and where possible, integrate contingency planning for education in all program planning and proposal design.

Monitoring, Evaluation and Accountability:

• Oversee monthly monitoring and reporting on all award management aspects: phased budget and actual expenses analysis, work-plan progress and updating, procurement plan revision, data collection and analysis and monitoring of indicators. Collaborate with the Technical Advisors/Specialists to make adjustments to program design as necessary.
• Support Knowledge Management/MEAL to collect appropriate, timely and accurate data against agreed indicators to enable both internal and external reporting.
• Work with MEAL team to identify and incorporate project suitable accountability mechanisms.

Staff Management, Mentorship, and Development:

• Identify learning and training opportunities for Save the Children staff and partners and work as a mentor and role model for less experienced staff. Together with other sectors, identify sector-integrated capacity building opportunities.
• Ensure appropriate staffing within the education team, and ensure that all education staff understand and are able to perform their role.
• Establish performance management of all education staff through effective use of the Performance Management System including the establishment of clear, measureable objectives, on-going feedback, periodic reviews and fair and unbiased evaluations.

Coordination:

• Ensure that Save the Children’s work is coordinated with efforts of other agencies and Government, and take a leadership role within Interagency Coordination forums, ensuring the specific needs of children are being addressed.
• Take steps to document lessons learned for wider dissemination.
• Identify opportunities and material to contribute to communications and media work, acting as a spokesperson when required.

General:

• Comply with Save the Children policies and practice with respect to child protection, code of conduct, health and safety, equal opportunities and other relevant policies and procedures.
• Other duties as assigned by line manager.

SKILLS AND BEHAVIOURS (VALUES IN PRACTICE):

Accountability:

• Holds self-accountable for making decisions, managing resources efficiently, achieving and role modelling Save the Children values
• Holds the team and partners accountable to deliver on their responsibilities – giving them the freedom to deliver in the best way they see fit, providing the necessary development to improve performance and applying appropriate consequences when results are not achieved.

Ambition:

• Sets ambitious and challenging goals for themselves and their team, takes responsibility for their own personal development and encourages their team to do the same
• Widely shares their personal vision for Save the Children, engages and motivates others
• Future orientated, thinks strategically and on a global scale.

Collaboration:

• Builds and maintains effective relationships, with their team, colleagues, Members and external partners and supporters

• Values diversity, sees it as a source of competitive strength

• Approachable, good listener, easy to talk to.

Creativity:

• Develops and encourages new and innovative solutions
• Willing to take disciplined risks.

Integrity:

• honest, encourages openness and transparency; demonstrates highest levels of integrity

QUALIFICATIONS AND EXPERIENCE

Qualifications/Accreditations:

• Advanced Degree in relevant subject: Education, Social Sciences, Development, or a Bachelor’s degree with equivalent field experience

Knowledge/Experience:

• Understanding of education programming, particularly in emergency settings
• At least 4 years of project management experience in emergency programmes related to primary, secondary and/or early childhood education
• Expertise in project management and of managing large scale programmes in an NGO
• Specific experience managing ECW, Lego and other major donor projects and understanding of donor compliance
• Knowledge of effective financial and budgetary controls; proven ability to manage large and/or concurrent budgets.
• Solid experience writing comprehensive, high quality narrative reports for donors and other external constituencies; experience supporting national staff colleagues to engage in reporting by systematically collecting and compiling correct, meaningful information/data, etc.
• Understanding of remote management of programmes in complex settings
• Strong relationship building, negotiation and interpersonal skills
• Proven capacity to supervise, and coach staff and partners in program management
• Experience in representing an organisation in the coordination mechanism in emergency contexts
• Fluency in spoken and written English

Skills/Abilities:

• Ability to analyse information, evaluate options and to think and plan strategically
• Good analytical (thinking) skills with ability to produce quality analytical reports, case studies
• Ability to take initiative, independently as well as part of a team
• Strong commitment to providing high levels of service delivery (both internal and external stakeholders)
• Excellent communication skills – presentation, negotiation, analysis, reflection
• Understanding of the complex issues that affect children’s access, participation, inclusion and retention in education in Ukraine
• Excellent knowledge on the MS Word, Excel, Power Point

Attitude:

• To work in a team and able to work under pressure
• To protect children in connection to the work
• To be non-discriminatory and gender sensitive

Desirable:

• Written and spoken Ukrainian.
• Experience in any of the relevant fields, such as ECCD and/or Youth programming, teacher professional development, wellbeing and psychosocial support programmes, in emergency contexts

We offer a competitive package in the context of the sector. This Role is offered on the basis of International terms and conditions. Also, interviews will be held on ongoing basis, adverts will be closed once a person is identified.

For non- EU citizens; Visa is to be obtained.

The Organisation

We employ approximately 25,000 people across the globe and work on the ground in over 100 countries to help children affected by crises, or those that need better healthcare, education and child protection. We also campaign and advocate at the highest levels to realise the right of children and to ensure their voices are heard.

We are working towards three breakthroughs in how the world treats children by 2030:

• No child dies from preventable causes before their 5th birthday
• All children learn from a quality basic education and that,
• Violence against children is no longer tolerated

We know that great people make a great organization, and that our employees play a crucial role in helping us achieve our ambitions for children. We value our people and offer a meaningful and rewarding career, along with a collaborative and inclusive environment where ambition, creativity, and integrity are highly valued.

Application Information:

Please attach a copy of your CV and cover letter with your application, and include details of your current remuneration and salary expectations. A copy of the full role profile can be found at www.savethechildren.net/careers

We need to keep children safe so our selection process, which includes rigorous background checks, reflects our commitment to the protection of children from abuse.

All employees are expected to carry out their duties in accordance with our global anti-harassment policy.