Education Advisor 62 views0 applications

POSITION TITLE: Education Advisor

POSITION LOCATION: Juba, South Sudan

REPORTS TO: Project Director

CONTRACT TERM: 1 Year, Renewable, Full Time

LANGUAGES REQUIRED: Fluency in English is required

APPLICATION DEADLINE: April 6, 2025

BACKGROUND:

World University Service of Canada (WUSC) is a leading Canadian international development organization focusing on three programmatic areas: Economic Opportunities, Education, and Empowerment. Our vision is a better world for all young people. It is a more inclusive, equitable, and sustainable world in which all young people, especially women and refugees, are empowered to secure a good quality of life for themselves, their families, and their communities. WUSC currently works in over 25 countries across Africa, Asia, the Middle East, and Latin America, with an annual budget of approximately CAD $45 million. Globally, we partner 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.

WUSC is launching its new 5-year project, Strengthening Collection Action and Learning for Education (SCALE), that is designed to enhance the empowerment of adolescent girls to access educational pathways in border zones of South Sudan (Yei River, Kajo Keji and Magwi). The project will support key actors in the education ecosystem to test, adapt, expand, and sustain innovative models and practical approaches to improve learning opportunities for girls and other vulnerable groups. This 10 million canadian dollar project is funded by Global Affairs Canada.

In its approach, WUSC will use a system’s strengthening approach which includes localization; capacity strengthening; innovation; a strong learning agenda; support for collective, collaborative, and complementary action; and focused implementation in geographies where solutions can also be tested for their broader relevance and impact. The project will work with local implementing partners, women rights organisations, training institutions and state actors, as well as international development actors to create an enabling environment for girls’ education.

RESPONSIBILITIES

The Education Advisoris responsible for improving access, attendance and retention in schools in South Sudan. Moreover, the Education Advisor will focus on coordinating professional development for in-service teachers and accelerated learning/catch up education for learners, especially adolescent girls and female youth (AGFY), to improve the quality of teaching and learning levels. The Education Advisor will provide technical excellence and leadership across all components of the SCALE programme, ensuring strong impact and learning.

This strategic role, responsible for providing direction and guidance to a team of technical experts, developing and implementing innovative and effective solutions to improve learning, especially for girls, for conflict affected and displaced populations. This programme will have a particular focus on supporting returnee girls to South Sudan and supporting local organisations to enable AGFY to fulfil their potential. The ideal candidate will have a deep understanding of Education in Emergency (EiE) approaches, education for refugee populations, gender equality in and through education and will have a proven track record in leading the technical design and implementation of large scale education programmes.

The role will involve working closely with the Government (national and regional level), donors, the education sector and other stakeholders to ensure SCALE in South Sudan is aligned with national and international standards and priorities, while ensuring an ongoing system strengthening approach. The Education Advisor will develop tools, resources and conduct training and coaching to government officials and educators as part of programme implementation, with an ongoing focus on sustainability and scalability. The advisor will also be responsible for forging strong working relationships with local civil society counterparts, as well as providing technical support where needed. The advisor will contribute to creating a positive, inclusive and collaborative team environment that motivates everyone to deliver a high standard. This role will be reporting to the WUSC SCALE Project Director, in close collaboration with the Education Advisor on the Global Team.

KEY AREAS OF RESPONSIBILITY

• In collaboration with other relevant technical staff, lead, and strengthen and oversee the development and delivery of a high quality, inclusive, conflict-sensitive, and gender-responsive education program which puts Adolescent Girls and Female Youth at the centre of the process. This will result in increased learning opportunities for children and youth, particularly girls and returnees and other at risk groups in safe and respectful learning environments.
• Ensure the technical and methodological soundness of activities, and in collaboration with the project team and partners, support the design and rollout of education activities that take conflict and/or crisis and emergency situations into account, are flexible in scale and sequencing, holistic in meeting the needs of children, resilient and responsive to contextual uncertainties, and achieve the principle of ‘Do No Harm.’
• Work closely with the Project Director to translate the programme objectives into a clear direction for delivery and to design key approaches and strategies for achieving these objectives. Use your networks and expertise to identify risks and opportunities to ensure effective implementation with a focus on sustainability and scalability.
• Contribute to developing the project’s monitoring, evaluation and learning (MEL) framework and guide, with the development of tools and capacity, the monitoring of programme activities. Guide the ongoing analysis of results and use these findings to ensure an adaptive and responsive technical approach.
• Collect and document lessons learned and propose adaptations based on stakeholder feedback from monitoring exercises as well as developing case studies for learning and project communications;
• Lead technical meetings with the client and will contribute to reporting. Represent the programme externally, where requested, translating learning into appropriate external products.
• Coordinate and guide training provided to multiple actors within the education ecosystem covering topics such as delivery of Comprehensive Sexuality Education and life skills to improve teacher capacity and support their ongoing professional development
• Lead on updates to teacher training curricula ensuring a strong focus on gender equality and inclusion throughout this process
• Ensure that information is provided for Annual and Semi Annual Reports to report against the SCALE project expected results and pillars, as well as the performance measurement framework (PMF) indicators. Lead on writing key sections of these reports and input into the final inception report in partnership with the Project Director.
• Participate in Education Sector Working Groups and maintain close working relationships with counterparts in other relevant international NGOs;
• Support the identification and development of strategic partnerships with women’s rights, girls’ rights, girls education, gender equality, disability and Gender Based Violence (GBV) organisations relevant to programme implementation, in partnership with the GEDSI Advisor.
• Guide the design of processes for grant selection of national organisations, as well as due diligence processes, to ensure that the selection of organisations will achieve maximum impact for AGFY in line with project outcomes.
• Conduct periodic monitoring of any partner organisations to better understand needs and to design capacity building support in response, as well as to ensure compliance with minimum standards.
• Participate in WUSC’s communications work by providing data, information and other material for use with WUSC’s Canadian and International constituency and assists in implementing constituency building, communication strategies;

Qualifications and Competencies:

• Master’s Degree or equivalent qualification in Social Science, Education, Gender Development, Community Development, Youth Learning, or other relevant field;
• At least 7 years of practical experience in the field of education work, including a strong background in gender equality and safeguarding. Experience working with migration populations would be considered an asset. Thorough understanding of the education context in South Sudan, and experience working with government institutions and international or non-governmental organizations supporting education, gender and development work in the specific area of intervention;
• Experience in the design and delivery of training to teachers and teacher educators, including curricula design and improvement
• Proven leadership, initiative, interpersonal, cross-cultural, coordination, facilitation skills, and ability to motivate and work as a key member of a diverse country team;
• Knowledge of Results Based Management (RBM) policies and reporting requirements preferred;
• Diplomatic skills and the knowledge of cross-cultural, interpersonal communication;
• Proven experience of adaptability to a challenging and constantly changing environment requiring iterative planning on a regular basis;
• Proven knowledge of and commitment to the concepts of Gender Equality;
• Experience in capacity building with local partner organizations and a commitment to a participatory partnership approach to development.
• Complete fluency in English is required.

WHY WORK WITH WUSC?

Join Us. Our work is important, cutting-edge, and fast-paced. We encourage curiosity, innovation, and flexibility, and we provide a phenomenal learning experience.

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 in the lives of youth around the world. Employees at WUSC work hard to create lasting change in education, economic opportunities, and empowerment.

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.

Candidates must be legally authorized to work in South Sudan. WUSC will not facilitate any work authorization process or relocation.

The SCALE Project is implemented by World University Service of Canada (WUSC) with funding support from the Government of Canada through Global Affairs Canada (GAC)