(Temporary Appointment) Early Childhood Education Specialist, P-3, Education Cannot Wait (ECW), Position # 117981

UNICEF works in some of the world’s toughest places, to reach the world’s most disadvantaged children. To save their lives. To defend their rights. To help them fulfill their potential. Across 190 countries and territories, we work for every child, everywhere, every day, to build a better world for everyone.

And we never give up.

For every child, education…

ECW is hosted by UNICEF. The Fund is administered under UNICEF’s financial, human resources and administrative rules and regulations, while operations are run by the Fund’s own independent governance structure that provides strategic guidance and oversight to its investments. ECW’s day-to-day activities are carried out by a Secretariat under the direction of the Education Cannot Wait Director.

ECW’s mandate is articulated around core functions to:

• Inspire political commitment so that education is viewed by both governments and funders as a top priority during crises.
• Plan and respond collaboratively, with a particular emphasis on enabling humanitarian and development actors to work together on shared objectives.
• Generate and disburse additional funding to close the $8.5 billion funding gap needed to reach 75 million children and youth including those mobilised and allocation to early childhood education in emergencies and protracted crises (EIEPC)
• Strengthen capacity to respond to crises, nationally and globally, including the ability to coordinate emergency support.
• Improve accountability by developing and sharing knowledge, including collection of more robust data to make better-informed investment decisions, and knowledge of what works and what does not.

Job organizational context

The incumbent will work under the guidance and direct supervision of the Chief of Education, P5 in the ECW secretariat hosted within UNICEF.

How can you make a difference?

• Support planning processes to address the specific needs of children of pre-primary age including girls and persons with disabilities and minority groups  
• Support the development of guidance material on Early Childhood Education and Learning through Play in EiEPC.
• Ensure that the perspectives, capacities and needs of beneficiaries are reflected in programming under the First Emergency Response, Multi-Year Resilience Programmes and Acceleration Facility windows
• Provide technical guidance and operational support to programmes on interpretation, application and understanding of policies, strategies, processes, best practices and approaches on Early Childhood Education and Learning through Play
• Plan, internally and with external partners to establish monitoring benchmarks, performance indicators and other ECW system indicators and measurement to assess/strengthen performance accountability
• Together with the wider ECW team, drive advocacy for Early Childhood Education and Learning Through Play within ECW and with external partners.

Summary of key functions/accountabilities:

Support to programme development and planning supporting Early Childhood Education, Learning through Play

• Support country-level partners in the preparation, design and updating of analyses for the ECW-facilitated Multi-year Programmes to ensure that current and comprehensive data on education issues with regards to Early Childhood Education, Learning through Play, is available to guide the development, implementation and monitoring of these programmes.
• Help supervisor set priorities and ensure sufficient technical support for the provision of early childhood education in emergencies. Keep abreast of trends in the early childhood education in emergencies field to enhance programme management, efficiency and delivery.
• Participate in strategic programme discussions (both at HQ level and in the field) on the planning of education in emergencies and protracted crises programmes.
• Contribute to defining the ECW annual work plan in the area of early childhood education and learning through play, including proposing priorities/targets and performance measurement.  Monitor work progress in line with defined schedules and performances standards.
• Support country Task Teams to establish specific goals, objectives, strategies and implementation plans for early childhood education and learning through play in First Emergency Responses and Multi-Year Resilience Programmes using results-based planning terminology and methodology.
• Work closely and collaboratively with internal colleagues and partners to discuss strategies and methodologies, and to develop specific guidance on early childhood education and learning through play
• Provide technical and operational support throughout all stages of programming processes and to ensure integration, coherence and harmonization of programmes/projects with other actors and achievement of results as planned and allocated.

Programme management, monitoring and delivery of results

•  Plan and collaborate with internal colleagues and external partners to establish monitoring benchmarks, performance indicators and other ECW/UN system indicators to assess/strengthen performance accountability, coherence and delivery of concrete and sustainable results for early childhood education and learning through play.
• Participate in monitoring and evaluation exercises, programme reviews and annual reviews with governments, UN agencies and other counterparts to assess progress and to determine required action/interventions to achieve results.
• Contribute to the preparation and assessment of monitoring and evaluation reports to identify gaps, strengths and weaknesses in programme management with specific emphases on Early Childhood Education, Learning through Play.
• Identify lessons learned and use knowledge gained to feedback in planning and timely interventions to achieve goals.
• Actively monitor programmes/projects with a focus on early childhood education and learning through play through field visits and surveys, and exchange information with stakeholders to assess progress, identify bottlenecks and potential problems, and take timely decisions to resolve issues and/or refer to relevant officials for timely resolution.
• Monitor and verify the optimum and appropriate use of programme resources (financial, administrative and other assets) confirming compliance with organizational rules, regulations/procedures and donor commitments, standards of accountability and integrity, ensuring timely reporting and liquidation of resources.
• Prepare regular and mandated programme reports for management, donors and partners to keep them informed of progress.

Technical and operational support

•  Provide technical guidance and operational support to government counterparts, NGO partners, UN system partners and country office partners and donors on interpretation, application and understanding of ECW policies, strategies, processes and best practices and approaches on early childhood education and learning through play and related issues to support programme management, implementation and delivery of results.
• Participate in relevant early childhood education and learning through play meetings including programme development and contingency planning to provide technical and operational information, advice and support.
• Provide remote and direct field technical support, expertise and capacity building to ECW Secretariat and Country partners in programme planning and implementation, cost-effectiveness analyses, programme scale-up, and methods and tools for programming on early childhood education and learning through play, with a special focus on Education in Emergencies.
• Draft early childhood education and learning through play briefs and other strategic programme materials for management use.

Networking and partnership building

•  Build and sustain effective close working partnerships with relevant government counterparts, national stakeholders, global partners, donors, and academia through active networking, advocacy and effective communication to build capacity, exchange knowledge/expertise and to reinforce cooperation to achieve sustainable and broad results on early childhood education and learning through play in emergencies and protracted crises programmes.
• Prepare communication and information materials for ECW advocacy to promote awareness, establish partnerships and support fund raising for education in emergencies and protracted crises programmes.
• Participate and/or represent ECW in appropriate inter-agency discussions on early childhood education and learning through play issues to collaborate with inter-agency partners/colleagues on planning and preparation of programmes/projects ensuring organizational position, interests and priorities are fully considered and integrated as appropriate.
• Build partnerships with all key early childhood education and learning through play international actors with the aim of aligning programming, policy making, guidance and standard setting with ECW Strategic Plan and child rights international standards.

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Technical competencies must be demonstrated in the following areas:

• Substantive knowledge of how to support the development of effective early childhood education and learning through play programmes – preferably in emergencies and/or protracted crises settings.
• Understanding of the overall global education in emergencies context, including issues such as: protection, poverty, conflict and the impact of these factors on education and vice-versa; and inter-sectoral approaches to address such issues in collaboration with other sectors (including Social Policy, Child Protection, Nutrition, WASH, Health, and Communications).
• Knowledge of global trends in education in emergencies and international engagement strategies, including the application of the equity lens and human rights perspectives to programming with a focus on Early Childhood Education, Learning through Play
• Ability to support policy dialogue: translation of analytical findings and evidence into development programme and policy discussions around early childhood education and learning through play with partners, including government, development partners, CSOs and academia in relevant areas.
• A good understanding of gender and inequity issues in general in relation to education in emergencies and protracted crises
• Knowledge of the humanitarian programming cycle and architecture and how this relates to the development field in education – with a specific understanding of how this nexus applies to protection and mental health and psychosocial support issues at the programming level
• Education in emergencies and policy analysis capacity, including understanding of the core education in emergency data sets and indicators; the Inter-Agency Network for Education in Emergencies Minimum Standards;
• Programme management in education, including programme design, costing, monitoring and evaluation and reporting with specific experience with regards to Early Childhood Education, Learning through Play
• Ability to support engagement with partners e.g. Education in Emergency Clusters, Education in Emergencies working groups, Child Protection Clusters, Sector Wide Approaches, Global Partnership for Education, Education Provider Forums, Delivering as One, Inter-sectoral partnerships such as in ECD, as well as networking with other key partners.

The efficiency and efficacy of support provided by the Education Specialist to programme preparation, planning and implementation, contributes to the achievement of sustainable results to improve learning outcomes and universal access to quality, equitable and inclusive education in emergencies and protracted crises, including through effective early childhood education and learning through play interventions. Success in these programmes and projects in turn contributes to maintaining and enhancing the credibility and ability of ECW to support effective programmes for children and youth, girls and women, persons with disabilities and minority groups.

To qualify as an advocate for every child you will have…

• Advanced university degree in economics, social sciences, statistics, international development, psychology or other field related to the work of the ECW Fund. A first level university degree in combination with qualifying experience may be accepted in lieu of the advanced university degree. 
• A minimum of five years of professional experience in education in emergencies and/or experience of inclusive education and protection programming, Mental Health and Psychosocial support
• Experience working in having worked in emergency situations is considered as a significant asset.
• Relevant experience in a UN system agency or organization is considered as an asset.
• Fluency in English is required.  Knowledge of another official UN language or local language of the duty station is considered as an asset.

For every Child, you demonstrate…

UNICEF’s values of Care, Respect, Integrity, Trust, and Accountability (CRITA) and core competencies in Communication, Working with People and Drive for Results.

The UNICEF competencies required for this post are…

Core Competencies 

• Demonstrates Self Awareness and Ethical Awareness (1)
• Works Collaboratively with others (1)
• Builds and Maintains Partnerships (1)
• Innovates and Embraces Change (1)
• Thinks and Acts Strategically (1)
• Drive to achieve impactful results (1)
• Manages ambiguity and complexity (1)

 Functional Competencies:

• Leading and supervising (I)
• Formulating strategies and concepts (II)
• Analyzing (III)
• Relating and networking (II)
• Deciding and Initiating action (II)
• Applying technical expertise (III)

To view our competency framework, please visit here.

Click here to learn more about UNICEF’s values and competencies.

UNICEF is committed to diversity and inclusion within its workforce, and encourages all candidates, irrespective of gender, nationality, religious and ethnic backgrounds, including persons living with disabilities, to apply to become a part of the organization.

UNICEF has a zero-tolerance policy on conduct that is incompatible with the aims and objectives of the United Nations and UNICEF, including sexual exploitation and abuse, sexual harassment, abuse of authority and discrimination. UNICEF also adheres to strict child safeguarding principles. All selected candidates will be expected to adhere to these standards and principles and will therefore undergo rigorous reference and background checks. Background checks will include the verification of academic credential(s) and employment history. Selected candidates may be required to provide additional information to conduct a background check.

UNICEF is committed to promote the protection and safeguarding of all children. This position is not considered an elevated risk role. However, UNICEF reserves the right to conduct further vetting/ assessment within the scope of child safeguarding as appropriate.

Remarks: Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted and advance to the next stage of the selection process.

Your appointment is limited to Education Cannot Wait (ECW), a UNICEF hosted fund. While UN staff regulations and rules, as well as UNICEF policies and procedures, apply to you during your appointment, certain provisions therein may apply to you differently due to the limited scope of your appointment.