Education Adviser – Early Childhood Care and Development

Competitive Salary

The location is flexible as we may be able to consider remote working from outside the UK for this role if it is in a country with an SCI or SC Member office

Permanent

Start date: 26th May 2017

End date: 26th June 2017

We are looking for an experienced specialist and a team player to join us as Education Advisor and contribute to our international education work in Early Childhood Development and Early Learning, helping us to achieve our ambition that all children benefit from good quality childhood care and development and have access to a good quality education.

Working in more than 120 countries, we do whatever it takes to create breakthroughs in the way the world treats children. Our UK and Global Programmes department delivers humanitarian and development programmes, builds partnerships with institutional donors – including governments, multi-laterals and trusts – and drives lasting change. Together, we save children’s lives, fight for their rights and help them fulfil their potential.

As Education Advisor you will provide technical support for the design and delivery of projects within our education portfolio, focusing on Early Childhood Development (ECD), from conception through to entry to primary school, but with scope for work in early primary and basic education. You will support the development of new programmes, provide quality assurance for existing work and strengthen the capacity of the country office teams and partner organisations, through both remote assistance and work in-country. Making a significant contribution to both Save the Children UK and Save the Children’s Movement wide priorities, you will support the delivery of SCUK’s 2016-18 education strategy for international work and strengthen ties with our UK focused early learning work. In addition you will:

• Provide Technical Assistance (TA) to the design and development of high quality concept notes and programme proposals in collaboration with Country Offices (mainly but not exclusively focusing on ECD and Early Learning).
• Contribute to the development of SCUK education ‘approaches’, with a focus on those relating to ECD, with a view to improving their quality and potential to have an impact for children at greater scale.
• Contribute to the creation of robust Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning (MEAL) frameworks at proposal stage and when funding is secured.
• Mobilise relevant sections of Save the Children to support strategic fundraising and secure financial support for our education work.
• Represent SCUK to potential funders.
• Provide Technical Assistance (TA) to country office teams for the delivery of funded programmes, ensuring cost recovery targets are met.
• Contribute to the identification and management of risk and underperformance in ongoing programmes.
• Provide support and act as a focal point for strengthening the capacity of education staff in country.
• Contribute to Country Office education strategies in collaboration with other Save the Children Members with a focus on improving the effectiveness and impact of programming and policy.
• Contribute to the delivery of SCUK education approaches especially those focusing on ECD and Early Learning, improving quality, learning and the scale of their impact for children.
• Contribute to the review of Save the Children’s programme implementation and the documentation of best practices, learning and innovation, particularly in ECD.
• Be up to date on relevant global education policy, programming and new developments in ECD within and beyond the SC movement.
• Facilitate the sharing of experience and learning about education, between programmes and team, across the SC movement and the wider sector including publishing in journals and presentations and conferences with a focus on basic education.
• Contribute to the development SCUK’s education strategy and relevant polices and positions.
• Contribute to the delivery of the SCUK’s education plan and particularly the delivery of our sub-thematic work in ECD and global commitment to Early Learning (from conception through to grade 3 primary school).
• Mobilise relevant sections of Save the Children to support strategic fundraising and secure financial support for our education work.
• Represent SCUK in relevant Save the Children Global technical working groups as appropriate.
• Represent SCUK on other relevant education networks with a focus on ECD and early learning.
• Collaborate effectively with key colleagues in SCUK, teams in other thematic areas and in: humanitarian; advocacy; programme partnerships, marketing and communications.
• Carry out the responsibilities of the role in a way which reflects Save the Children's commitment to safeguarding children in accordance with the Child Safeguarding Policy.

To be successful in this role you will have an internationally recognised Master’s degree in Early Childhood Education or related subjects or relevant alternative experience along with significant experience in the design, implementation and management of education programmes in an international context. Computer proficient with the ability to operate within an administratively self-servicing environment, you will have well developed negotiation and communication skills, including spoken and written English. You will also have:

• An understanding of child rights principles
• A commitment to Save the Children’s vision, mission, values and approach.
• Experience in developing materials to support ECD programming and knowledge of theory and practice in the field of ECD
• The ability to analyse complex data in a technical area and to summarise and communicate this in ways that are accessible to a range of audiences and cultures
• Experience providing technical assistance and individual mentoring to NGO programmes teams in education
• Experience and knowledge of education-related monitoring and evaluation approaches, particularly of global or regional evaluation tools relevant for ECD

The ability to travel up to 40% of the time is also essential.

The location is flexible as we may be able to consider remote working from outside the UK for this role if it is in a country with an SCI or SC Member office).

At Save the Children we are committed to the safeguarding and protection of children in our work. We will do everything possible to ensure that only those who are suitable to work with children are recruited to work for us. This post is subject to a range of vetting checks including a criminal records disclosure.

Our mission is to inspire breakthroughs in the way the world treats children and to achieve immediate and lasting change in their lives. If you share our mission, are passionate about making it happen and strongly believe you can contribute then join us and we'll give you every opportunity to succeed. We look forward to hearing from you.

To apply, please visit our website.

Closing date: 26th June 2017