Education Officer STEP for Girls and Learning, NO-2, (Two Posts), Temporary Appointment (364 days), Awasa, Ethiopia, (Open to Ethiopian Nationals Only)

UNICEF works in over 190 countries and territories to save children’s lives, defend their rights, and help them fulfill their potential, from early childhood through adolescence.

At UNICEF, we are committed, passionate, and proud of what we do. Promoting the rights of every child is not just a job – it is a calling.

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Visit our website to learn more about what we do at UNICEF.

For every child, a champion

Ethiopia is situated in the Horn of Africa and is the second most populous country on the continent with an estimated population of 115 million. It borders six African countries: Djibouti, Eritrea, Kenya, Somalia, South Sudan, and Sudan, and covers 1,104,300 square kilometers. Approximately 85 percent of the population lives in rural areas. Ethiopia represents a melting pot of ancient cultures with Middle Eastern and African cultures evident in the religious, ethnic, and language composition of its people.

Over the past two years, children and their families across Ethiopia faced multiple and complex emergencies, such as the conflict in the northern Ethiopia and the drought, which resulted in millions of people in need of urgent humanitarian assistance. UNICEF has programmes in Child Protection, WASH, Health, Nutrition, Social Policy, and Education and serves over 15 million children in Ethiopia. Join UNICEF Ethiopia to contribute to improving the lives of children and women.

How can you make a difference? 

Roles and responsibilities:

1. Support the timely planning, implementation, monitoring and reporting of the STEP for Girls and Learning in the
   targeted Woredas in the assigned region.
   • Provide technical assistance and support to the regional education bureau, zone education departments, STEP target woreda education offices, school cluster resource centers and satellite schools in planning, implementing, reporting on the key strategic actions designed to promote equitable and inclusive access to quality education.
   • Collaborate closely with UNICEF Field Offices, STEP Programme Management Office and Implementing Partners including REB, STEP Target Woredas and CSOs to plan and execute key interventions agreed in the STEP for Girls and Learning programme financed by GPE’s System Transformation Grant (STG) and Girls Education Accelerator (GEA).
   • Contribute to the full integration of STEP for Girls and Learning interventions into the REBs Rolling Work Plans with clear breakdown of targets, budget, micro plans and M&E framework as well as financial oversight of STG and GEA grants, including HACT risk assurance activities and DCT management.
   • Draft clear timelines for monitoring and data compilation at the regional and district level, ensuring accurate results-based progress reporting at the different levels of STEP for Girls and Learning programme implementation.
   • Draft and supply the STEP for Girls and Learning programme with data needs for periodic donor reports.
   • Draft and refine based on inputs to field monitoring tools, methods and templates, databases, dashboards, templates etc. to facilitate more real-time tracking of implementation progress, expenditures, supplies etc. against the STEP for Girls and Learning Programme.
2. STEP for Girls and Learning Programme Management, Budgeting, Monitoring and Reporting.
   • Liaising and communicating with PMO, UNICEF Country and UNICEF Field Office staff in relation to budget breakdown by Implementing partners, cash forecasting, financial management and tracking of expenditure (such as soft and hard commitments, for example) for improved grant management, monitoring and reporting.
   • Plan, organize and participate in joint field monitoring and supportive supervision, monitoring and evaluation exercises, programme reviews and annual sectoral reviews with national and sub-national level implementing partners and CSO partners and prepare reports for the Supervisor, CFOs, PMO team and Regional Focal Points.
   • Provide inputs to set up a system to further strengthen STEP for Girls and Learning data collection and analysis, monitoring and reporting.
   • Analyses of data from multiple sources to identify child deprivations related to education indicators outlined in the STEP for Girls and Learning Programme document.
   • Draft and supply good quality review of periodic reports, programme monitoring and reviews for the STEP for Girls and Learning reports due for GPE on a timely manner.
   • Prepare and update the repository for information for field visits, repository for photo collections and human-interest stories to showcase effectiveness of education programme support and implementation.
3. Enhance overall Capacity of the REB, ZED, STEP Target Woredas and Schools in effective implementation of the
   STEP for Girls and Learning
   • Spend a minimum of 40% of working time to increase the capacity of REB, target Woreda Education Offices and Schools to improve delivery of quality education in STEP target woredas and schools.
   • Advise Regional Education Bureau and STEP Target woreda on financing/budgeting, disbursement of funds and distribution of supplies for education, ensuring they are properly administered and utilized in accordance with the Government’s financial procedures, rules and regulations.
   • Support REB and STEP Target Woredas and other Implementing partners in the preparation of quarterly budget (DCT) requests, inclusive of micro-plans and cash distribution list, verify their implementation capacity, recommend disbursement and monitor their prompt utilization and timely liquidation.
   • Follow up on procurement of supplies and activities of the regional education bureau and STEP target Woredas by consolidating list of supplies for procurement, inclusive of detailed costs and distribution plans; monitor their timely procurement and distribution to end users.
   • Support the capacity of WEOs to strengthen the function of data collection, analysis, data storage, documentation and quality reporting.
4. Innovation, knowledge management and capacity building
   • Collaborate with and support the STEP Programme Management Office (PMO), UNICEF CO and Field Office staff education specialists to initiative and implement innovative systems and solutions developed internally for better monitoring of programs, expenditure tracking etc. within all government partners at regional, woreda level and with CSOs implementing partners as needed.
   • Collaborate with regional Teacher’s Education Colleges to strengthen the school-college link for improved quality of education.
   • Strengthen the capacity of PTSAs to create demand for quality education for school aged children with a focus on Children with Disabilities (CwDs) and girls in the local communities through confidence building measures, advocacy and social mobilization.
   • Support preparation and development of Human-Interest Stories (HIS) for wider dissemination at different levels.
   • Coordinate field mission and supportive supervision visits by UNICEF Head Office and STEP PMO team and facilitate donors and media visits.
   • Perform any other tasks requested by the direct supervisor and the STEP PMO team in Addis Ababa.

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

The following minimum requirements:

• Education:
  A University degree or above in Education, Educational Planning and Management, Curriculum and Instruction, Teacher Education, Psychology, Sociology or related technical field.
• Work Experience:
  At least two years of professional work experience at the national and regional levels in curriculum and instructional materials development, pedagogy and teacher education, quality of education, social development, management, monitoring and evaluation, Familiarity with delivering results in challenging and close contexts such as quality education provision, Experience of working in
  government, UN Agencies and/ or other INGOs /NGOs programs and activities will be an added advantage.
• Language Requirements:
  Fluency in spoken and written English required, and knowledge of local language of the duty station is an added asset.

For every Child, you demonstrate…

UNICEF’s Core Values of Care, Respect, Integrity, Trust and Accountability and Sustainability (CRITAS) underpin everything we do and how we do it. Get acquainted with Our Values Charter: UNICEF Values

The UNICEF competencies required for this post are…

(1) Builds and maintains partnerships (1)

(2) Demonstrates self-awareness and ethical awareness (1)

(3) Drive to achieve results for impact (1)

(4) Innovates and embraces change (1)

(5) Manages ambiguity and complexity (1)

(6) Thinks and acts strategically (1)

(7) Works collaboratively with others (1)

Familiarize yourself with our competency framework and its different levels.

UNICEF is here to serve the world’s most disadvantaged children, and our global workforce must reflect the diversity of those children. The UNICEF family is committed to include everyone, irrespective of their race/ethnicity, age, disability, gender identity, sexual orientation, religion, nationality, socio-economic background, or any other personal characteristic.

We offer a wide range of benefits to our staff, including paid parental leave, time off for breastfeeding purposes [KR5], and reasonable accommodation for persons with disabilities. UNICEF strongly encourages the use of flexible working arrangements.

UNICEF does not hire candidates who are married to children (persons under 18). 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 is committed to promoting the protection and safeguarding of all children. All selected candidates will undergo rigorous reference and background checks and will be expected to adhere to these standards and principles. 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 appointments are subject to medical clearance.  Issuance of a visa by the host country of the duty station is required for IP positions and will be facilitated by UNICEF. Appointments may also be subject to inoculation (vaccination) requirements, including against SARS-CoV-2 (Covid). Should you be selected for a position with UNICEF, you either must be inoculated as required or receive a medical exemption from the relevant department of the UN. Otherwise, the selection will be canceled.

Remarks:

As per Article 101, paragraph 3, of the Charter of the United Nations, the paramount consideration in the employment of the staff is the necessity of securing the highest standards of efficiency, competence, and integrity.

UNICEF’s active commitment to diversity and inclusion is critical to deliver the best results for children. For this position, eligible and suitable female candidates and persons with disability are encouraged to apply.

Government employees who are considered for employment with UNICEF are normally required [LK6] to resign from their government positions before taking up an assignment with UNICEF. UNICEF reserves the right to withdraw an offer of appointment, without compensation, if a visa or medical clearance is not obtained, or necessary inoculation requirements are not met, within a reasonable period for any reason. 

UNICEF does not charge a processing fee at any stage of its recruitment, selection, and hiring processes (i.e., application stage, interview stage, validation stage, or appointment and training). UNICEF will not ask for applicants’ bank account information.

All UNICEF positions are advertised, and only shortlisted candidates will be contacted and advance to the next stage of the selection process. An internal candidate performing at the level of the post in the relevant functional area, or an internal/external candidate in the corresponding Talent Group, may be selected, if suitable for the post, without assessment of other candidates.

Additional information about working for UNICEF can be found here.