Senior Project Officer

The UNESCO Regional Office in Bangkok covers Afghanistan, Cambodia, Lao PDR, Myanmar, Vietnam, Singapore and Thailand. The office represents UNESCO in the United Nations regional architecture, namely the Regional Collaborative Platform for the Asia-Pacific, co-leading the Learning and Education 2030+ network (SDG4).

The Education Section at the UNESCO Regional Office in Bangkok is dedicated to strengthening the capacities of the Member States to provide equitable, inclusive, and quality education and lifelong learning opportunities for all. Through targeted support, UNESCO Bangkok assists Member States in designing, reviewing, financing, and systematically monitoring their education sector policies and plans to develop transformative education systems aligned with SDG4.

In the lead up to the Transforming Education Summit (TES) in September 2022, five Thematic Action Tracks were identified to rethink and reimagine the purpose, content and delivery of education, and to transform education for peace, inclusion and sustainability. These Action Tracks serve as key levers to transform education systems and guide UNESCO support to member states— among them, ‘Learning and skills for life, work and sustainable development’ and ‘Digital Learning and Transformation’.

In this context, the UNESCO Regional Office in Bangkok supports Members States with projects focusing on higher education, Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) and skills for employment, as well as on digital transformation. With an approach promoting inclusion and lifelong learning, UNESCO supports Members States to develop relevant skills for the future of work. This includes for instance improving the quality of higher education and promoting mobility or supporting members states towards the digitization of TVET systems. UNESCO is also involved in Artificial Intelligence in education, including support in developing competency frameworks for students and teachers. Furthermore, UNESCO Regional Office in Bangkok is the Secretariat of the Tokyo Convention on Recognition of Qualifications, and of the Entrepreneurship Education Network.

Key Responsibilities:

In this context, UNESCO is hiring a Senior Project Officer for the implementation of these projects. Under the overall authority of the Director of the Regional Office in Bangkok and the direct supervision of the Chief of Education, the Senior Project Officer will design, plan, coordinate, implement and monitor the above mentioned projects:

Manage the implementation of the programmes in compliance with the projects specific objectives, activities and expected outputs by: 

• Ensuring quality achievement of the programme outputs;
• Regularly monitoring and updating, as relevant, of the project work plan;
• Planning and organizing procurement of goods and services and regularly monitoring its implementation;
• Identifying project implementation partners and providers of goods and services.
• Following up on the implementation of the contracts, assessing the quality of services provided and requesting disbursement of funds; and,
• Building synergies with other projects and activities of the UNESCO Regional Office in Bangkok and relevant projects of other development partners in our region.

Ensure the monitoring and evaluation of projects implementation and the reporting on activities by: 

• Contributing to monitoring and evaluation of projects activities, reporting on progress and suggesting updates to the projects timeframe;
• Regularly monitoring the financial status of the projects and promptly developing budget revision if needed;
• Regularly preparing, conducting and following up meetings   of   the   projects coordination and technical mechanisms, preparing their minutes and action plans with the clear division of responsibility and timeframe;
• Presenting aggregate strategic analysis on projects performance based on commitment of indicators and implementation of activities as well as output delivery;
• Preparing reports on projects activities for UNESCO, the donor and partners;
• Ensuring the implementation of the communication and visibility plan of the projects, in close coordination with the Communication Team;
• Fostering exchanges of information, experience, identifying new strategies of action to improve delivery of services and to achieve the projects requirements and objectives; and,
• Supervising and providing leadership, guidance and direction to the colleagues supporting these projects.

Liaise with the Government, international and national stakeholders by: 

• Ensuring projects alignment with Government reforms in education sector;
• Maintaining   regular   relations   with   national   counterparts   and   key   stakeholders (Ministries, providers, regional and local authorities, etc.), including private sector stakeholders;
• Mobilizing UNESCO’s entities in support of the Government reforms including UNESCO HQs, and UNESCO Institutes: and liaising with other UNESCO Regional Offices and Field Offices as needed;
• Sharing international experiences and facilitating access to information, knowledge and good practices; and,
• Setting-up mechanisms and actions to ensure sustainability of projects’ outputs.

Required Qualifications:

Education:

• Advanced university degree (Masters or equivalent) in the field of education, social sciences, international development or other relevant field.

Work Experience:

• Minimum 7 years of progressively responsible relevant professional experience, of which preferably 3 years acquired at international level, in technical assistance and project management in the field of education.
• Working experience in supporting educational and development agenda of governments.
• Proven experience in education related programmes/projects, including TVET, skills development, higher education or ICT in education

Skills:

• Excellent understanding of the Education system specifically experience or involvement within the public education system.
• Excellent project management skills and ability to coordinate complex projects.
• Supervisory and managerial skills, capable of leading a team of professionals.
• Ability to make technically sound decisions on all aspects of project implementation.
• Ability to provide upstream policy advice at highest levels.
• Ability to work in a multicultural environment and establish harmonious and effective working relationships, both within and outside the Organization.
• Excellent communication skills, both written and oral.
• Strong IT skills.

Languages:

• Excellent knowledge of written and spoken English.

Source: https://careers.unesco.org/job/Bangkok-SENIOR-PROJECT-OFFICER-(EDUCATION)/813769702/