Country: Democratic Republic of the Congo
Closing date: 28 Aug 2015
Position Title:PM II - Education Program Coordinator - Kinshasa, DRC
Region/Location: CARO/DRC - Kinshasa
Position Type: Full Time
Band: D
FLSA: Exempt
Reports To: Deputy Country Representative/Programs
Length of Assignment: 2 years
About CRS:Catholic Relief Services carries out the commitment of the Bishops of the United States to assist the poor and vulnerable overseas. Our Catholic identity is at the heart of our mission and operations. We welcome as a part of our staff and as partners people of all faiths and secular traditions who share our values and our commitment to serving those in need.
Background: CRS has operated in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) since 1961, successfully implementing programs in health; agriculture livelihoods; emergency; water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH); education; protection; and peacebuilding directly and through local partners. CRS DRC currently has over 160 national and 23 international staff operating out of a national office in Kinshasa, three sub-offices in Goma, North Kivu; Bukavu, South Kivu; and Lubumbashi Katanga; and satellite offices in Kasai Oriental, Kasai Occidental, Equateur, Bandundu and Orientale Provinces. With a program value of over 20 million a year, CRS/DRC strives to achieve quality program outcomes within an extremely challenging and ever changing operating environment.
In 2013, CRS DRC began implementing the Valorisation de la Scolarisation de la Fille (VAS-Y Fille!) program in consortium with the International Rescue Committee (prime recipient) and Save the Children as part of UKAID’s global Girl’s Education Challenge program. The project aims to ensure that 56,026 marginalized girls across DRC’s targeted provinces of Bandundu, Equateur, Kasai Oriental, Katanga and Orientale stay in school and demonstrate improved learning outcomes. CRS has the technical lead on the community mobilization component of the program and is implementing the full package of program activities in the two provinces of Equateur and Bandundu.
Key Duties and Responsibilities: Under the leadership and supervision of DRC’s Deputy Country Representative for Programs, the Education Program Coordinator will lead in the overall management of Vas-Y Fille! program activities, ensuring timely, high quality implementation and adherence to CRS and donor strategies and policies and procedures. S/he will oversee and support the four local Caritas partners in the implementation of program activities. As the technical lead for the community mobilization aspects of the program, the Education Program Coordinator will also provide leadership in the design of community mobilization strategies as well as behavior change and capacity building materials to improve childrens’, and particular girls’, access to quality education, while documenting effectiveness and impact.
Education is one of the four key signature program areas of DRC per the 2014-2018 Country Program strategy, and Vas-Y Fille! a flagship program in Education. As such, the Education Program Coordinator will also drive the CP’s education sector strategy and lead the CP in the development of new business opportunities in education and in forging strategic alliances and partnerships with stakeholders and service providers.
A. Program Quality
• Oversee the management and implementation of Vas-Y Fille! program activities, ensuring adherence to technical standards of high quality, best practices and CRS and donor rules and regulations.
• Use appropriate project management tools to plan, review and track progress on project implementation as well as on the utilization of project resources.
• Monitor indicators and overall impact, and work with management team to adjust activities and targets as needed.
• Lead the technical design and implementation of the community mobilization and advocacy strategies, ensuring its effectiveness and impact on girls’ access to quality education.
• Support ongoing analysis of gender dynamics and protection considerations and promote integration and mainstreaming of best practices.
• Support continuous learning and building linkages with other CRS education and non-education programming in order to document and share lessons learned and best practices and promote complementary, holistic programming.
• Ensure adherence to CRS monitoring, evaluation, accountability and learning (MEAL) policies and procedures and promote the integration of information communication technology (ICT) where ICT can improve program efficiency and quality.
B. Management and Administration• Ensure grant management compliance with donor, prime and CRS rules and regulations with support from the Country Program support and compliance departments.
• Work closely with local partners to ensure good planning and timely and quality advance tracking and liquidation as per CRS, prime and donor guidelines.
• In collaboration with finance and compliance departments, review and analyze budget comparison reports and take necessary steps to ensure proper management and utilization of budgets.
• With support from CRS finance and compliance departments, prepare forecasts and finance reports and recommend budget adjustments as justifiable and necessary.
• Coordinate with support departments for inventory control and annual financial audits as per CRS, prime and donor requirements.
• Ensure timely and accurate submission of programmatic & financial reporting.
• Document challenges and lessons learned and utilize as contextual justification for implementation challenges/delays and programmatic adjustments.
• Maintain up-to-date documentation related to project approvals, monitoring and implementation.
• Maintain up-to-date program record on Gateway, including uploading final, key documentation for knowledge management and audit purposes.
C. Representation, Visibility and Communication• Strategically represent CRS in education cluster and other coordination forums as appropriate.
• Develop and maintain strong working relationships with consortium members, peer agencies and national and local government agencies (Ministry of Education and others).
• Proactively prepare success stories and other briefs on innovative and best practices for marketing and other promotional/publication purposes.
• Seek and participate in/contribute to education technical working groups, conferences and workshops to exchange on lessons learned and best practices in the sector while building alliances with other like-minded stakeholders.
D. Partner Capacity Building• Accompany implementing partners in program coordination and management, ensuring activity implementation according to standards of quality.
• Maintain CRS standards of partnership principles, ensuring transparent and fluid communication with partners; utilize CRS relationship management tools, such as partnership scorecard, to monitor and dialogue on health of relationship as needed.
• Support partners in identifying capacity development needs, whether technical or institution, utilizing CRS institutional assessment tools where appropriate (HOCAI); help identify appropriate capacity development opportunities and financial support.
E. Human resources Management
• Supervise a diverse program team in accordance with CRS performance management system; manage and mentor staff to ensure high levels of motivation, commitment, capacity and teamwork.
• Identify professional development needs of staff in accordance with capacity and ambition and support capacity development opportunities: CRS and outside trainings, exchange visits/TDYs, shadowing assignments and other.
• Provide quality supervision to staff through clear orientation, ongoing communication and punctual feedback.
• Mentor partner staff in the management and supervision of field staff responsible for the implementation of program activities.
F. Strategy and Growth• Drive CRS DRC’s education sector strategy, maintaining a live document that is adapted according to trends and learning; ensure strong identity branding among staff and stakeholders.
• Help identify new business opportunities in education as well as strategic partnerships and alliances within non-profit, private and academic circles.
• Lead technical components of new business development opportunities in education, adhering to CRS principles of project design and program quality (Propack I).
Supervisory Responsibilities: Direct supervision of six program staff and indirect supervision of four local partner organizations.
Key Working Relationships:
Internal: Deputy Country Representative DRC/Programs, Country Representative DRC, Head of Programs Eastern DRC, MEAL Coordinator, Education Senior Technical Advisors, Support Department Staff.
External: International Rescue Committee, Save the Children, Caritas partners, government institutions, and representatives of UN and peer agencies operating in the project areas.
Qualifications and Skills:
• Master’s Degree in Education, Social Sciences, International Development or a related field.
• Minimum 5 years of experience managing complex basic education or girls’ education programs in developing countries; experience in Central Africa preferred.
• Strong technical capacity in educational quality and access improvement activities.
• Strong technical capacity in participatory community approaches.
• Demonstrated experience in addressing gender equity in education.
• Demonstrated ability in project design and management, including budget preparation, expenditure tracking, monitoring and evaluation, and reporting.
• Demonstrated ability to lead and work effectively with partners, and transfer knowledge to diverse audiences through workshops, training, meetings, and participatory methods.
• Proficiency in Microsoft Office, including Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook.
• Demonstrated leadership and inter-personal skills and ability to build and motivate diverse and talented teams.
• Proficiency in English and French oral and written communication skills.
• Willingness and ability to travel approximately 25% of time within country.
Personal Competencies:\*Program Manager Competencies:* These are rooted in the mission, values, and principles of CRS and used by each program manager to fulfill his or her responsibilities and to achieve the desired results.
• Sets clear goals and manages toward them
• Collaborates effectively with staff and stakeholders
• Manages financial resources with integrity
• Applies program quality standards to project design and organizational learning
Agency-wide Competencies (for all CRS Staff):
These are rooted in the mission, values, and guiding principles of CRS and used by each staff member to fulfill his or her responsibilities and achieve the desired results.
• Serves with Integrity
• Models Stewardship
• Cultivates Constructive Relationships
• Promotes Learning
Disclaimer: This job description is not an exhaustive list of the skill, effort, duties, and responsibilities associated with the position.
CRS’ talent acquisition procedures reflect our commitment to protecting children and vulnerable adults from abuse and exploitation.
EOE/M/F/D/V
How to apply: