Education Systems and Policy Lead - USAID Ethiopia Primary Education Activity

Chemonics seeks an Education System and Policy Lead for the anticipated New Primary Education Activity based in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The Education System and Policy Lead will be responsible for managing and overseeing the education policy reform and systems development work at both the federal and regional levels. We are looking for individuals who have a passion for making a difference in the lives of people around the world. The anticipated USAID New Primary Education Activity will work in areas affected by crises in Ethiopia, while deepening interventions to promote holistic foundational learning for children in these areas. This activity will target primary school age children and include out-of-school children who may be suited to those grade levels. This may include overage children, based on the understanding that many children will enter primary school late. As this activity will focus on strategies to target the significant portion of children who do not gain foundational skills on time, within these grade levels and age ranges, the activity will target the lowest performing students and/or those children who have dropped out or who are at risk of dropout. The anticipated USAID New Primary Education Activity will support areas severely affected by conflict, drought and other natural disasters, and where learning outcomes are lowest. We are looking for individuals who have a passion for making a difference in the lives of people around the world.

Responsibilities Include:

• Provide technical leadership and guidance to the design, technical implementation, and monitoring of all activities to enhance the federal and regional capacity to prepare for and coordinate education service delivery during acute crisis through to recovery.
• Facilitate vertical and horizontal knowledge-sharing within the Ministry of Education.
• Facilitate federal and regional government to identify organizational capacity needs essential for coordination of emergency education and recovery tasks.
• Support and manage overall capacity development initiatives
• Work with government counterparts, school leaders, and other education stakeholders to identify evidence-based pedagogical approaches, such as accelerated learning, and develop criteria and processes for recognizing standards for said approaches, as well as for curriculum, teaching and learning materials, and the examination and transition to mainstream classes.
• Oversee the consultative process for the development of an early warning system to mitigate disruptions to learning and support educational continuity in the face of sudden crisis.
• Collaborate with other technical leaders to achieve project outcomes
• Provide technical support to the implementation of activities in close collaboration with the Technical Director
• Perform other duties as assigned by the Chief of Party/Technical Director

Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree or higher in education, emergency management, social science, or similar field required
• Seven years of experience leading capacity strengthening activities required; in-depth knowledge and demonstrated experience in at least two of the following: education system improvement, education policy, disaster risk management, or crisis recovery
• Demonstrated experience working with the Ethiopian government at different levels, particularly the Ministry of Education, especially as it relates to policy, planning, and professional development
• Experience on USAID or other international donor-funded projects in Ethiopia strongly preferred
• Excellent organizational and supervisory skills and ability to work effectively in a challenging environment
• Detail oriented, and ability to prioritize tasks
• Proficiency in English required
• Qualified applicants from Ethiopia highly encouraged to apply
• Willingness to travel within Ethiopia