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Job Title:  Early Childhood Development (ECD) Senior Officer

Organisation: International Rescue Committee (IRC)

Duty Station:  Lamwo, Uganda

About US:

The International Rescue Committee (IRC) responds to the world’s worst humanitarian crises and helps people whose lives and livelihoods are shattered by conflict and disaster to survive, recover, and gain control of their lives. Founded in 1933 at the request of Albert Einstein, the IRC works with people forced to flee from war, conflict and disaster and the host communities which support them, as well as those who remain within their homes and communities. At work today in over 40 countries and 25 U.S. cities, we improve outcomes in the areas of health, safety, economic wellbeing, education, and power.

Job Summary:  The Early Childhood Development (ECD) Senior Officer will be based in IRC Terego field Office. The ECD Senior Officer will coordinate field level project implementation and provide technical oversight and technical support to the field-based project team. The role will closely work and collaborate with the Education, Gender and Inclusion Manager (who will also be coordinating the project implementation) and other project staff to ensure that ‘Watoto Wasome’ project is smoothly implemented. The role will ensure that there is coordination of implementation of project activities between the locations of implementation (Lamwo and Terego districts).

The Senior Officer will work closely and liaise with the Education, Gender and Inclusion Manager as well as the Education Sector Coordinator to ensure close collaboration in the implementation of the project. The ECD Senior Officer will work closely with MEAL teams to ensure quality program data collection, analysis and reporting. The ECD Senior Officer will play a key role in documenting and reporting on the learning and impact of the Watoto Wasome project to the Consortium Management Unit and donors and government stakeholders especially at the field (district) level. Given that the ECD Senior Officer will be based at the field, they will be expected to conduct frequent visits to field operations (Imvepi and Palabek settlements and the respective host communities supported) and be able to provide feedback on the quality of the project implementation, what could be improved or maintained to ensure that the project implementation is dynamic and building on context realities.

Key Duties and Responsibilities:

Technical implementation of project activities:

• Work in collaboration with the Education, Gender and Inclusion Manager to prepare, maintain, and update detailed work-plan, also in collaboration with project partner/s.
• Provide technical guidance in relation to the implementation of ECD approaches of the work-plan and quality of activities, share relevant information and direction to improve quality and ensure timely implementation of activities.
• Collaborate with internal (Education Coordinator and Education , Gender and Inclusion Manager) and external partners (Save the Children, UNHCR, Street Child, Uganda Education Consortium among others) in the planning and implementation of all ‘Watoto Wasome’ activities within project implementation locations.
• Work collaboratively and very closely with the Education, Gender and Inclusion Manager to prepare, maintain, and update detailed work-plan, in close consultations (as needed) with project partner/s (Save the Children, UNHCR and Street Child).
• Foster a cohesive ‘Watoto Wasome’ project identity at the field level and across sectors and the consortium.
• Work with the Education, Gender & Inclusion Manager for the Watoto Wasome project to develop procurement plans, monthly project spending plan and cash forecasts.
• Support MEAL team/staff in conducting data collection in line with Watoto Wasome project MEAL plan.
• Collaborate with the Education, Gender and Inclusion Manager to ensure that activity implementation is in accordance with the budget and track budget expenditure.

Project Monitoring & Reporting responsibilities

• Conduct regular field monitoring visits to assess progress and identify technical quality issues and/or other implementation issues, provide solutions and implement modifications as required.
• Work closely with MEAL in the collection of data, assessments and contribute to proposal development in close collaboration with the project coordinator.
• Develop project reports as per set schedules (monthly and or quarterly) on project implementation progress and grant activities, indicators and achievements.
• Ensure all monitoring activities are fully documented, including systematic and timely data collection as required under the grant and for IRC MEAL purposes.
• Ensure proper documentation and maintain an archive of Watoto Wasome project activities and related procurements.
• Support in the development of the MEAL framework and tools related to the Watoto Wasome project
• Work very closely with the field Coordinators and proactively monitor/assess the safety and security of the team; promptly reporting concerns or incidents to IRC management and liaising
• Consistently and proactively monitor/assess the safety and security of beneficiaries during the promptly reporting concerns or incidents to IRC management and liaising with community leaders and other external parties as required to maintain/enhance the security environment.

Coordination, representation, and partner/stakeholder relationships:

• Work closely and coordinate with IRC supply chain, finance and other program staff at the field level to ensure timely and compliant project activities and expenditures, including active participation in grant opening/closing and review meetings.
• Represent IRC in different platforms at the field level and in coordination with the Education, Gender and Inclusion Manager attend any meetings, working groups relevant for the project.
• Attend and actively participate in sector related working group meetings and represent the interests of the IRC especially at the field level.
• Coordinate closely with partners implementing the Education Cannot Wait grant in Terego, Lamwo and other locations (as possible).
• Work with the Project Manager (Education, Gender and Inclusion Manager), to coordinate the Partnership Project Opening, Review, Monitoring and Closing Meetings, together with the project teams, and ensure partner participation in all project cycle meetings accordingly.
• Coordinate and participate in timely and effective partner program, finance, and compliance review and reflection (monitoring), and work with the project team (partner teams) to address any project performance issues accordingly.
• Work in collaboration with the Consortium Management Unit in refining the technical approaches, reporting tools and templates to ensure achievement of desired outcomes.

Monitoring, reporting and communication responsibilities:

• Monitoring ECD performance/progress and documenting best practices, lessons learned and success stories in line with the agreed templates and formats.
• Prepare weekly and monthly program reports, and compile lessons learnt to inform continuous project implementation.
• Collect relevant data (in collaboration with the MEAL Officer) during project implementation and provide regular reports.
• Monitor client payment processes at participating Money Transfer Agents’ locations accordingly.
• Participate in the collection of data, during assessments and post-distribution surveys as and when required including design of required tools by providing technical input.
• Participate in the verification exercise, research or MEAL whenever needed

Other duties:

• Perform any other duties as may be assigned by the supervisor.

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Qualifications, Skills and Experience:

• The applicant must hold a Bachelor’s degree in Education, Early Childhood Education, Social Work, Community Development, Project Planning and Management, Public Health or related field.
• At least five years of experience leading teams, implementing ECD projects.
• Experience working in humanitarian settings required
• Experience in community based ECD programming, and/or child nutrition programming, coordination, and stakeholder analysis.
• Experience in working closely with partners
• Proven abilities in coordination within teams and with other stakeholders.
• Prior experience in developing project implementation work-plans and project reporting
• Works well in the refugee contexts and promotes teamwork, comfortable in a multi-cultural environment, flexible and able to handle pressure well.
• Demonstratable ability to engage and build excellent working relationships with local partner organizations, create synergies while implementing the project is vital.
• Language Skills: Fluency in English Language both written and spoken is required. Knowledge of the local language is an added advantage

How to Apply:

All suitably qualified and interested applicants should apply online at the link below.

Click Here

Deadline: 29^th May 2023

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