Consultant Strategy Education Outcomes Fund

There are few greater challenges faced by the global community than the twin crises of learning poverty and youth unemployment. In response, the Education Commission (chaired by Gordon Brown, former UK Prime Minister and UN Special Envoy for Global Education) and the Global Steering Group for Impact Investment (chaired by Sir Ronald Cohen) came together with our founding CEO (Her Excellency Dr.) Amel Karboul to create EOF. We aim to improve the education and employment outcomes of 10 million children and youth, by supporting governments to utilize a range of innovative finance instruments at scale, including outcomes funds and other results-based financing (RBF) instruments.

Since our inception in 2018, EOF has:

• Partnered with governments in Ghana and Sierra Leone to establish the two largest outcomes funds to date in developing countries, mobilising ~$50M for these programs.
• Established itself as a leading global player in RBF, and the only dedicated center of expertise for RBF in education and skills.
• Become the first outcomes fund hosted by the United Nations within UNICEF, as a scalable platform to partner with governments around the world.
• Established a major partnership with the LEGO Foundation, to develop a scale portfolio of RBF programs in early childhood across a diverse range of countries, as well as to amplify the movement and ecosystem of partners around this approach.
• Had our innovative approach featured in the Stanford Social Innovation Review, FT, Economist, Brookings, and more.
• Built our institutional capacity to contract and implement large-scale outcomes funds more efficiently and effectively than historic impact bonds.
• Established a strong culture of performance and an active focus on ongoing professional development for all our team.

The Consultant (Strategy) requires an experienced strategist who comes with a deep understanding of EOF’s operating environment. They will need to quickly surface key unanswered questions, then curate working sessions with the internal team to align on answers. After this, the consultant will ‘hold the pen’ on drafting the strategy, ensuring this process is managed to maintain alignment, engagement and support.

This strategy development exercise is envisaged to have a relatively limited scope and to focus on EOF’s direct and indirect impact as an organisation. It will need a clear articulation of how and where we focus, and how we balance competing priorities to reach shorter term milestones in a manner that enable our longer-term objectives. The resultant ‘strategy document’ must be suitable and useful for both internal and external audiences, and must clearly articulate EOF’s guiding policy over the next 5 years.

The deliverables below will serve as a starting point for this assignment; however, upon consultation and mutual agreement between EOF’s Chief Operating Officer and the successful candidate, this may be modified to best support this process.

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

• An advanced university degree is required in one of the following fields: international relations, political science, communications, international development, education, public policy, economics, or another relevant technical field.
• A minimum of 15 years of relevant professional experience, including significant tenure (5+ years) at a senior level (Executive Director, Head of Function, etc.) within the global education sector.
• Proven track record in leading strategy development processes in international education across international organizations (UN Agencies, International NGOs, Global Funds, etc.).
• Comprehensive experience and a deep understanding of the multilateral and global education financing architecture (inclusive of, but not limited to, UNICEF, Education Cannot Wait, Global Partnership for Education, EOF, the World Bank).
• Experience in 1) international education financing and 2) the application of innovative financing tools and mechanisms within international development.
• Fluency in English is required. Knowledge of another official UN language (Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian or Spanish).

Source: https://jobs.unicef.org/cw/en-us/job/571256