National Project Officer

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) is assisting the Ministry of Education and Technical Education of Egypt in the implementation of an initiative on the use of technologies in education to enhance the overall resilience of the education system.

The incumbent will work under the overall authority of the Head of the UNESCO Office in Cairo, the direct supervision of the Programme Specialist for Education, and in close cooperation with the Unit of Technology and Al in Education within the Future of Learning and Innovation Division at UNESCO Headquarters. She/he will coordinate implementation of and reporting on the activities of the UNESCO-Huawei Funds-in-Trust project on ‘Technology-enabled Open Schools for All’ in Egypt, maintaining regular contact with governmental and non-governmental counterparts (e.g. country project team), other stakeholders, donors and UNESCO HQ.

More specifically, the incumbent’s tasks will cover:

Provision of technical support and fostering of partnerships for project implementation:

• Provide technical advice and guidance for the implementation of the Tecnology-enabled Open Schools for All project activities, including participation in the production of technical deliverables and policy studies, provision of input to various framework documents as required, and support to the implementation of training programmes.
• Maintain regular relations with national counterparts and key stakeholders (Ministries, regional and local authorities, etc.).
• Raise awareness of potential partners and solutions to boost ICT in education initiatives in the country.
• Participate in and facilitate the establishment of strategic long-term engagements (LTAs, PCAs, MoUs) with strategic partners in the country.

Implementation of the detailed operational plan of the project in compliance with the project strategic objectives, outcomes, outputs and activities as outlined in the results framework:

• Ensure quality achievement of the Technology-enabled Open Schools for All project outputs in line with UNESCO qualitative standards and the projects’ results matrix.
• Support the design, as well as the periodic update and revision, of the detailed country project document, work plan and budget.
• Identify project implementation partners and providers of goods and services.
• Assist in the writing of terms of references for external vendors and in the recruitment of consultants, coordinators and interns.
• Monitor implementation of the contracts, assess the quality of services provided and requesting disbursement of funds.
• Plan, coordinate and organize network meetings, workshop and trainings to address specific needs and capacity gaps identified in the project.

Ensure the monitoring and evaluation of project implementation and the reporting on project activities:

• Contribute to monitoring and evaluation of project activities, report on progress and suggest updates of the project results framework.
• Regularly monitor the financial status of the project and ensure that budget execution rates are in line with agreed plans. Moreover, in case of contracting with partners where funds are to be granted for activities, ensure the Financial Reports along with original and appropriate justifications for funds granted are duly submitted on a timely basis to financially close related activities.
• Organize regular meetings of the project steering team, prepare minutes of meetings and action plans with clear responsibility and timeframe.
• Conduct periodic project reviews with government counterparts and other partners recording the results of the review meetings in minutes and action plans.
• Prepare reports on project activities for UNESCO, the donor and partners.
• Provide content on major project achievements and steps in project implementation for UNESCO’s public information services to increase the visibility of UNESCO.
• Foster exchanges of information, experiences, identifying new strategies of action to improve delivery of services and to achieve the project requirements and objectives.

Ensure communication and visibility by:

• Implement the project communication and visibility plan.
• Prepare technical briefs and status updates on the project for wider dissemination, including inputs for the periodic project newsletter.
• Organize communication events (seminars and workshops) and liaising with local and international media.
• Act as liaison between the HQ coordination team of the Technology-enabled Open Schools for All project and the national team.

REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS

Education

• Advanced university degree (Master or equivalent) in Education, ICTs in Education, Science (STEM), Instructional design, Business, or Education Technology Management, or related areas. A combination of an advanced degree and practical experience in international development work and use of technology for education work may be substituted for the particular fields mentioned. A first-level university degree in combination with two additional years of qualifying experience may be accepted in lieu of the advanced university degree.

Work Experience

• At least two years of work experience in the field of education, preferably related to ICTs.

Languages

• Excellent knowledge (written and spoken) of English and very good knowledge of Arabic.

Source: https://careers.unesco.org/job/Cairo-National-Project-Officer-Education/793373502/