Title: Technical Lead
Save the Children has been operational in Kenya since the 1950s, providing support to children through developmental and humanitarian relief programmes delivered both directly and through local partners. Current programming focuses on child protection, child rights governance, education, health, HIV/AIDS, livelihoods, nutrition and WASH. In 2012, as part of a global reorganization process, Save the Children combined the programmes of SC UK, SC Canada and SC Finland to create a single operation in Kenya. In Feb 2014, we completed a second transition, which saw us join forces with the British INGO, Merlin, and merge their health and nutrition programmes with our own. Save the Children now has an operational presence in Bungoma, Dadaab Refugee Camp, Garissa, Mandera, Turkana and Wajir and we work through partners in many other parts of the country
ROLE PURPOSE:
Save the Children is seeking a Technical Lead for the 5 year $27 million LEGO Foundation and Grundfos Foundation funded project Inclusive Teacher Professional Development System Support in Kenya focusing on grant 2 High Quality Inclusive Teacher Professional Development in Kenya. S/he will take overall responsibility of the overall consortium’s technical deliverables in the project. The position holder will provide overall technical leadership direction for the project, ensuring smooth coordination and technical coherence across the programme. The project aims to improve children’s holistic learning and wellbeing through strengthening of the quality and equity of the teacher professional development system in refugee hosting counties in Kenya, while also being responsive to learning environments, especially catering to teachers’ and children’s needs as shocks and stressors arise.
Contract Duration: 5years
Location: Nairobi 50% & Dadaab 50%
Reports to: The Technical Steering Committee
KEY AREAS OF ACCOUNTABILITY:
Technical assistance and capacity building
- Provide overall technical leadership of the programme, setting priorities in designing and overseeing the implementation of the project’s activities in collaboration with the technical and operations team
- Facilitating the Technical Steering Group consisting of the technical staff that aims to ensure smooth coordination and technical coherence across the programme
- Working with the technical staff across the partners, ensuring shared, harmonised, and integrated technical learning approaches across the partners as well as capacity development for the local partners
- Review and analyze data for performance monitoring and utilize the data to take corrective actions.
- Ensure that adaptive learning is embedded in all technical aspects of the programme, and that programmes are able to adapt quickly to changes in context and build on continuous lessons learned.
Oversight and Management Project Operations
Responsible for overall coordination, line management and support of the Project, and ensure that:
- Project teams receive appropriate and timely support from technical advisers and programme quality teams for program technical design and strategy, MEAL, and advocacy.
- Principles of child safeguarding and ‘do no harm’ are embedded in all project planning, implementation and reporting and that staff receive regular, up to date training on it.
- Inclusion and gender are adequately mainstreamed within the programme and staff receive regular training.
- Ensure transparency in targeting beneficiaries, delivery of services and participation of beneficiaries and partners in planning and monitoring of process is reflected in programme delivery
Oversight of Grants and Finance Management:
- In close coordination with Award and Finance team, ensure that all project programmatic reporting requirements including donor reports have strong technical coherence and are completed within time, budget, and quality.
Representation and advocacy
- Represent the project in relevant internal and external fora including donor meetings (as appropriate)
- In coordination with the Project Director, support stakeholder engagement with communities, local partners, national and county Governments and foster strong relationships and collaboration of other key stakeholder groups
- Work with consortium members and relevant stakeholders to further the project’s vision.
People management, mentoring and development
- Ensure and manage appropriate staffing within the project
- Manage the team; define expectations, provide leadership and technical support, and evaluate direct reports regularly
- Incorporate staff development strategies and Performance Management Systems into team building process. Establish result based system and follow up
- Manage the performance of his direct line reports through:
- Effective use of the Performance Management System including the establishment of clear, measureable objectives, ongoing feedback, periodic reviews and fair and unbiased evaluations;
- Coaching, mentoring and other developmental opportunities;
- Recognition and rewards for outstanding performance;
- Effective and timely management of poor performance
- Ensure appropriate gender and ethnic diversity within the Project programme teams;
Assessment, monitoring, evaluation, and documentation
- Ensure technical and administrative compliance with donor requirements
- Oversee technical narrative and financial reports for donor(s), ensuring these are of a high quality and submitted for review in a timely manner
- Monitor technical results and work closely with the Monitoring, Evaluation and Research team to ensure that results are documented and reported accurately and in a timely manner
- Work with the monitoring, evaluation and research, and wider programme team to analyse programme data and identify and implement real-time iterations to programme design, including support to teachers and key stakeholders
- Facilitate appropriate documentation and dissemination of learnings, analyses, and good practices documentations in the project internally and externally to donors, governments, consortium partners and other key actors
BEHAVIOURS (Values in Practice)
Accountability:
- Holds self-accountable for making decisions, managing resources efficiently, achieving and role modelling Save the Children values.
- Holds the team and partners accountable to deliver on their responsibilities - giving them the freedom to deliver in the best way they see fit, providing the necessary development to improve performance and applying appropriate consequences when results are not achieved.
Ambition:
- Sets ambitious and challenging goals for themselves and their team, takes responsibility for their own personal development and encourages their team to do the same.
- Widely shares their personal vision for Save the Children, engages and motivates others.
- Future orientated, thinks strategically and on a global scale.
Collaboration:
- Builds and maintains effective relationships, with their team, colleagues, Members and external partners and supporters.
- Values diversity sees it as a source of competitive strength.
- Approachable, good listener, easy to talk to.
Creativity:
- Develops and encourages new and innovative solutions.
- Willing to take disciplined risks.
Integrity:
Honest, encourages openness and transparency; demonstrates highest levels of integrity.
EXPERIENCE AND SKILLS
Essential
- Bachelor’s / post graduate degree or PHD in education, public administration, development studies or any relevant qualification
- Recommend a minimum of 10 years of relevant technical experience in education, teacher professional development, refugee education, and primary/junior secondary education in Kenya including working with the Ministry of Education, Teacher Service Commission, and a strong understanding of Kenya’s Competency Based Curriculum, gender and inclusion, play based learning, WASH, humanitarian response, and MHPSS/SEL.
- Recommend a minimum of 10 years of expertise managing large and complex grants (ideally LEGO), managing multiple partners, and working in consortia
- Excellent experience in external representation with donors, local/national governments, communities, and partners
- Experience of solving complex issues through analysis, adapting and innovating where necessary, and defining a clear way forward and ensuring buy in, as well as working on agile programme management
- Ability to extensively travel for on-site technical support to field teams
- Highly developed interpersonal and communication skills including influencing, negotiation and coaching
- Highly developed cultural and political awareness and ability to work well in an international and matrix management environment with people from diverse backgrounds and cultures
- Strong results orientation, with the ability to challenge existing mindsets
- Ability to present complex information in a succinct and compelling manner
- Fluency in English, both verbal and written, required
- Commitment to Save the Children values
- Understanding of Save the Children’s vision and mission and a commitment to its objectives and values
THE ORGANIZATION
We employ approximately 25,000 people across the globe and work on the ground in over 100 countries to help children affected by crises, or those that need better healthcare, education and child protection. We also campaign and advocate at the highest levels to realise the right of children and to ensure their voices are heard.
We are working towards three breakthroughs in how the world treats children by 2030:
- No child dies from preventable causes before their 5th birthday.
- All children learn from a quality basic education and that,
- Violence against children is no longer tolerated.
Save the Children is an equal opportunity employer and seeks to employ and assign the best-qualified talent.
Female Candidates are encouraged to apply.
Disclaimer: Save the Children International does not charge any kind of fee at whichever stage of the recruitment process and does not act through recruitment agents.
Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted.