Date of Publication
Application Deadline
Company
World University Service of Canada (WUSC)
Brief Description
Position title: Education Program Manager (STRONG Project)
Position location: Ottawa
Level: E
Reports to: Deputy Director, Program Strategy & Implementation
Contract term: 2 years
Application deadline: June 15, 2018
Anticipated start date: August 1, 2018
WUSC
World University Service of Canada (WUSC) is a leading Canadian international development organization focusing in three programmatic areas: Economic Opportunities, Education, and Empowerment. Our vision is a better world for youth - a world where all young people, especially women, are empowered to secure a good quality of life for stronger families and communities. WUSC currently works in 25 countries across Africa, Asia, the Middle East, and Latin America, with an annual budget of approximately CAD $45 million. We have a staff of over 90 people in our Ottawa office, and over 200 people overseas implementing 16 development projects in collaboration with donors such as Global Affairs Canada (GAC), the UK Department for International Development (DFID), the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank, and the African Development Bank. Globally, we work with a network of higher education institutions, civil society organizations, private sector partners, professionals, students, volunteers, faculty and community leaders that work with us to achieve our mission.
The STRONG Project:
World University Service of Canada (WUSC) has been preliminarily approved for the implementation of a project as part of the Girls’ Education Challenge (GEC). The availability of the position of Education Program Manager is contingent on the signing of a contract with the Department for International Development (DFID) of the Government of the United Kingdom, which is anticipated in early August 2018.
The project that has been preliminarily approved is entitled the Strengthening transition and resilience of orphaned girls (STRONG) Project. The STRONG Project is designed to support vulnerable orphaned girls in Afghanistan, including girls with disabilities, to improve their learning outcomes and transition to informal or formal schooling, as well as to strengthen the governance and coordination of key actors at the government and community level. The five-year, approximately GBP 13 million project is being delivered in partnership with two local non-governmental organizations and four key sub-contractors. The project is anticipated to begin in August 2018.
Nature and Scope:
As Education Program Manager for the STRONG Project, the individual selected for this position will support the strategic implementation of the STRONG Project. The Education Program Manager (EPM) will report to the WUSC Deputy Director of Programs, Program Strategy & Implementation, but will also work closely on a day-to-day basis with the STRONG Project Director based in Kabul. The EPM will play a critical role in: supporting the Project Director to comply with donor policies and project reporting requirements; manage the WUSC Ottawa portion of the STRONG Project Budget; foster collaboration and communication between WUSC Ottawa and WUSC Kabul teams; managing quality control processes of WUSC’s education interventions; and supporting the growth of WUSC’s education portfolio.
Duties include:
1. Program Management
- Provide support to project teams on the technical direction and implementation of the STRONG project including preparation of Workplans, Monitoring and Evaluation Plans, Gender Strategies, Teaching and Learning Plans, and other relevant documents required by the donor;
- Effectively manage relationships with STRONG partners in collaboration with the Project Director, including developing Memoranda of Understanding, supporting the Project Steering Committee and day-to-day operations;
- Act as a coordinator with various functional units within WUSC’s HQ (e.g. communications, IT, human resources, etc.) to deliver support to WUSC Kabul team;
- Support project reporting in collaboration with the WUSC Kabul team;
- Provide general troubleshooting and facilitation support to requests from the WUSC Kabul team;
- Oversee logistics for project personnel missions to and from the field;
- Ensure WUSC’s Gender Equality Policy is applied and support gender mainstreaming in projects, including participating in the development of project-specific gender strategies and providing coaching to staff in gender equality;
- Exercise budget control and manage project procurement for international contracts in accordance with contractual obligations and in consultation with the Financial Analyst, the Project Director; and
- Work with the Financial Analysts assigned to the STRONG project to monitor budgets, prepare financial reports and provide financial analysis.
2. Networking, Thought Leadership, and Positioning
- Participate in GEC Learning Clusters in order to share learnings in between GEC grantees;
- Collaborate with the STRONG Gender and Education Advisor (Canada based) and Education Advisor (Kabul based) in order to ensure a robust approach to teaching and learning, drawing from international best practices, within the STRONG project;
- Collaborate with WUSC’s current network of education technical experts in multiple project countries in order to develop WUSC’s toolbox and approaches to relevant issues within the education sector;
- Identify potential international, Canadian and local partners for new education initiatives in Afghanistan or the region;
- Seek opportunities for WUSC to convene and collaborate with peers and thought leaders in the education sector, especially on issues related to girls’ education in fragile and conflict affected states;
- Represent WUSC at relevant conferences, fora, working groups and meetings and maintain close working relationships with counterparts in other relevant international NGOs, donors, partners, and academia;
- Prepare and deliver presentations about WUSC’s education programs as required;
- Seek opportunities to increase the awareness, commitment and involvement of WUSC’s University and College members, private sector partners and other key stakeholders; and
- Participate in WUSC’s communications work by providing data, information and other material for use with WUSC’s Canadian and international constituency and assist in implementing constituency building, communication strategies, and fundraising activities.
3. Quality Assurance and Capacity Development
- Ensure the consistent identification and application of internal quality standards, lessons learned and external best practices in the STRONG Project;
- Support program staff in the development or revision of program/project-specific education strategies, plans and activities;
- Assist program staff in project planning and management approaches (including results based management tools) and propose strategies to increase project/program impact in Education;
- Collaborate with existing WUSC technical resources to identify strengths and weaknesses in existing education practices, leading the development of improved systems, processes, and tools for improving our results;
- Collaborate with existing WUSC technical resources to create resources and tools (i.e. tipsheets, webinars, etc.) that to assist staff in effectively prioritizing and integrating best practices in Education in their work; and
- Support capacity building efforts related to education programming for WUSC Ottawa and field staff, including training and coaching to WUSC staff and partners.
Any other duties as assigned.
Qualifications and Competencies:
• A minimum of 7 years of experience working for international development organizations, preferably in developing countries and in Canada;
• Bachelor’s degree in a related field (social sciences, education international development)
• Master’s degree in a related field an asset;
• Knowledge of education sector, including specialization in education in fragile and conflict-affected contexts and girls’ education;
• Excellent working knowledge of Results Based Management approaches including Logic Models and monitoring and evaluation tools;
• Experience with a range of institutional donors, ideally with DFID.
Competencies:
• Strong capacity for strategic analysis and research skills;
• Excellent administration and organizational skills, including ability to prioritize tasks and handle multiple initiatives under tight deadlines;
• Preference for working in teams;
• Proven ability to work productively with a variety of stakeholders to run participatory processes and meet tight deadlines with an emphasis on producing quality products;
• Effective interpersonal and influencing skills, including the ability to build relationships, network, communicate and represent at a senior level are essential;
• Flexibility, with a strong work ethic and an entrepreneurial spirit to accommodate high levels of responsibility and multiple priorities;
• Excellent capacity building skills, with demonstrated experience in effective training, coaching and facilitation;
• Passion and commitment to gender equality and youth empowerment.
Languages and Other:
• Complete fluency, oral and written in English essential;
• Ability to travel internationally to Afghanistan;
• Ability to work a flexible schedule.
Applications:
WUSC offers a dynamic international work environment with a diverse intercultural workforce. We offer employees exciting opportunities to apply their skills and gain experience all while making a difference for youth around the world. We believe youth have the potential to provide for their families, build strong communities, and create positive social change for future generations. Employees at WUSC work hard to create lasting change in education, employment and empowerment.
WUSC is an equal opportunity employer. We welcome and encourage applications from people with disabilities. Accommodations are available on request for candidates taking part in all aspects of the selection process.
Only those candidates selected for an interview will be contacted. No telephone calls please.
If you wish to apply for this position, please follow this link to register on WUSC’s candidate database.
Keli Villoz
Human Resources Officer
Agente des ressources humaines
t: 1.613.761.3685 | e: kvilloz@wusc.ca
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World University Service of Canada (WUSC) |
