Education Advisor Zambia Open Community Schools

JOB ADVERTISEMENT

EDUCATION ADVISOR, PROCUREMENT INTERN AND INFORMATION AND TECHNOLOGY INTERN

The Organization

Zambia Open Community Schools (ZOCS) is a registered Non-Governmental Organization under the Societies Act Section 7 (1) under the Laws of Zambia. ZOCS is a vibrant and flagship organization of Community Schools since 1992 in Zambia that empowers communities to provide quality basic education to 259,691 learners (132,459 Boys and 127,232 Girls) in 1,385 demonstration Community Schools across 97 Districts in all the 10 provinces of Zambia.

The pillars on which ZOCS builds its approach are those of enhanced educational opportunities for children through education policy engagement, increased community capacity to provide such opportunities and ensuring more and better education for more children in communities. ZOCS is about open, accessible schools for disadvantaged children and communities, and these take priority over everything else.

ZOCS is inviting applications for the following positions to be based in Lusaka:

1. EDUCATION ADVISOR

Main Purpose for the Position

The role will provide technical expertise to the ZOCS Catch Up and overall Education Programme and is expected to foster relationships with a wide range of internal and external stakeholders including ZOCS Project Managers, Programme, Advocacy, Monitoring and Evaluation, donors, academia etc. The role is also expected to engage with internal and external technical working groups and communities of practice. The role will also supervise assigned field staff while creating strong work relations with MoE and other like-minded organisations.

Main Duties and Responsibilities

Coordinate and maintain close working relationships with districts and other relevant partners for the implementation, monitoring, institutionalisation and further scaling of the programme.
Strengthen parental Involvement strategies on the Catch-Up project
Develop and implement capacity development of the operational partners on Catch Up/TaRL.
Support the implementation of frequent monitoring and learning cycles at different levels of the education system (classroom, school, zone, district and province level).
Formulate lessons learned and participate and contribute to joint learning cycles with VVOB and TaRL Africa colleagues and partners
Keep abreast with policy trends, new developments and latest research and in education.
Provide technical leadership to the ZOCS education programme and set the technical approach in relation to the Strategic Plan, Annual Workplan and Budget.
Build capacity of national staff and partners in key technical approaches related to education.
Develop new strategic partnerships and position ZOCS for securing new standalone and cross-cutting education funding opportunities.
Work closely with advocacy, resource mobilisation departments to identify and pursue funding opportunities.
Engage with technical partners especially the Ministry of General Education (MoE), donors and Project Managers to strengthen profile and opportunities to grow the education portfolio.
Work closely with Advocacy department to ensure that a rights-based approach is reflected in the education programme design and implementation, with a strong focus on child participation.
Promote an Education Systems Strengthening approach as the overarching framework, that supports working in collaboration and partnership with Governments, local partners and working towards impact, scale and sustainability.
Promote and monitor integrated programming in a way that increases overall impact of education programmes at the community level.
Work with Monitoring and Evaluation teams to carry out learner (ECE to Grade 12) and teacher assessments in Community and Secondary Schools.
Lead and ensure the use of disaggregated data and drive collection of relevant evidence and analysis of outcomes and results, and making a link to quality and accountable programming;
Ensure that ZOCS is influencing and learning from others through national technical coordination and networking bodies such as clusters and working groups (MOGE Technical Working Group, Project Coordinating Committee (PCC) etc).
Strengthen ZOCS in national dialogues and policy processes through working closely with the advocacy department.
Ensure that the diverse voices of underserved children, girls and boys including children with disabilities are equitably heard and represented in education programming.
Ensure high ethical standards and Child Protection Policies enforcement during research and data collection.
Meet organisation guidelines through reports, briefs and frequent updates.
Qualifications / Professional Experience

Education

Grade 12 Certificate or equivalent
Bachelor’s degree in education (or similar), with at least 5 years of relevant working.
A Masters in Education will be an added advantage.
Experience

5 years’ work experience leading design, implementation and monitoring of education programmes essential
Knowledge and experience with developing and implementing professional development trajectories for a wide range of education stakeholders (teachers, school leaders, and officials).
Strong time and project management skills (planning, budgeting and report writing).
Excellent computer skills in a full range of software, including MS office, Adobe photoshop and/or other graphics programs, and social tools.
Excellent communication skills in English, including writing, conversing and presenting.
Knowledge of Teaching language in the regions of operation (Bemba, Tonga, Chi Nyanja)
Excellent knowledge of the Zambian Education system
Experience with working in a multicultural team.
Able and willing to travel frequently for periods of time.
Education in emergencies programming desirable
Understanding of the Zambia Education Sector policies desirable
Familiar with global education goals i.e. Sustainable Development Goal number 4 and 5 desirable
Demonstrated education programme design, monitoring and evaluation skills, including designing pathways to sustainable impact at scale essential
Previous staff supervision experience essential
Programme management experience desirable
NGO experience essential
Donor engagement essential