Senior Associate – Education Partnership Group (EPG)
Location: Freetown, Sierra Leone (relocations will be considered)
Contract: 12 months (with possible extension subject to funding and performance)
Pattern: Full-time (37.5 hours per week)
Closing date: 13 August 2021
Salary: Competitive salary package
About the role:
EPG is looking for a highly motivated candidate, with excellent analytical, communication and problem-solving skills, and knowledge of education programming and policy to support the ongoing development of policies and guidelines, as well as the implementation of policies recently promulgated.
The candidate will support EPG work alongside the MBSSE to ensure that policies are carefully and thoughtfully developed and implemented across the country. This will require the ability to oversee, and quality assure the development of policy and policy guidelines and develop templates and training tools to roll out implementation, in consultation with the MBSSE.
The right candidate will be passionate about the role education plays in transforming lives and see this role as an opportunity to support the MBSSE strengthen the policy environment to ensure the delivery of free quality education to all children in Sierra Leone. This role is based in the Ministry of Basic and Senior Secondary Education and will also require helping the Ministry coordinate with relevant Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) and development partners (World Bank, FCDO, etc).
Key Responsibilities and Duties:
Working under the guidance of an EPG Programme Manager, often with tight deadlines:
- Supports the MBSSE to develop policies and policy guidelines and costed implementation plans through quality assuring and/or drafting policy documents.
- Supports the MBSSE to develop an implementation process (timelines, templates, roles and responsibilities, etc).
- Supports the development of communication and training plans, training toolkits, etc) in close collaboration with the MBSSE and EPG team to support the implementation of policies nationally.
- Supports evidence-based research to inform policy development and implementation.
- Maintains constructive relationships with stakeholders (government counterparts, partners, etc) in close collaboration with the EPG Programme Manager.
- Contributes to the writing of programme deliverables, such as donor reporting.
- Supports EPG Programme Manager with programme management tasks including monitoring and evaluation, work planning, financial management and donor reporting.
Key Requirements:
- A Master’s Degree in Social Sciences (Law, Public Administration, Economics, Education, or related field).
- 4+ years of professional experience.
- Excellent policy analysis skills.
- Strong analytical and problem-solving skills.
- Proven ability to synthesise and analyse qualitative data.
- Experience in education policy and/or programming.
- Experience in project management including planning, monitoring and reporting.
- Exceptional organisational skills with excellent attention to detail.
- Strong stakeholder engagement skills including government counterparts, donors and implementing partners is desirable.
- Experience with the professional use of the Microsoft Office Suite (i.e. Word, PowerPoint, Excel, Outlook)
- Strong written communications and presentation skills in English.
- Strong interpersonal skills with a sense of humility and willingness to work with diverse team members, often remotely.
- A commitment to improving education quality for all children.
How to Apply:
Applicants should submit in a single document a cover letter (maximum 1 page) and CV (maximum 3 pages) on our online recruitment portal.
For a full job description click here.
Please disregard the UK based questions as they do not apply for this role.
The deadline for applications is 13 August 2021, although applications will be reviewed, and candidates interviewed on a rolling basis.
Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted on next steps