Education Adviser Iraq-Iraq Nationals Only

Background:

NRC provides a wide range of assistance in the following sectors: Education; Information, Counselling and Legal Assistance (ICLA); Cash and Livelihoods; Camp Management and Urban Displacement; Shelter and Settlements; WASH and Multi-Purpose Cash Assistance. The combination of NRC’s diverse programming portfolio and geographic presence, including in hard-to-reach areas, facilitates integrated access to basic services and fundamental rights for displacement-affected people.

NRC has responded to conflict-induced displacement needs in Iraq since 2010, and has an operational presence in Kirkuk, Salah al-Din, Ninewa, Duhok, Anbar and Basrah governorates. NRC is also a prominent voice in humanitarian advocacy in Iraq, with a successful track record of engaging a diverse range of stakeholders.

NRC has extensive experience supporting formal and non-formal education for all displacement-affected children and youth in camp and out-of-camp settings, including hard-to-reach and remote areas in Iraq. Our Better Learning Programme for non-specialised psychosocial support is a core component of the education programme to support children’s wellbeing and improved learning. Since 2020, NRC’s education programme was largely adapted to meet distance learning needs compelled by Covid-19 school closures.

NRC is an active member of humanitarian coordination platforms in Iraq, including the Strategic Advisory Group for Education and the Non-Formal Education Working Group. NRC leads the Distance Education Working Group and sub-national education clusters in Ninewa, Anbar/Baghdad and Duhok.

This position will support technical capacity of the NRC Iraq Education programme. Based at the Country Office in Erbil, the selected candidate is expected to travel to areas of operation across Federal and Kurdistan Region of Iraq to facilitate trainings, monitor programme implementation quality and provide technical guidance to implementing staff. At the Country Office, the Education Advisor will support standardisation and integration of learnings and feedback from field visits in content and toolkits to contribute to improved quality and accountability to affected populations

Role and responsibilities:

The purpose of this position is to strengthen the technical quality of the Education programme in terms of delivery, monitoring and reporting by providing strategic advice and technical support for implementation at field level. The position involves travel within Iraq, and is expected to operate with a high degree of autonomy.

Generic Responsibilities:

• Responsible for: 1) technical development and quality assurance of the Education programme, 2) promoting integrated programming (within NRC’s Education and with other NRC programmes), and 3) ensuring harmonization across projects and area offices in line with NRC Global Education Strategy and other global and national standards.
• Support the development and expansion of NRC Youth Programming within the Education Core Competency (CC), with a focus on building integrated porgamming approaches together with the Livelihoods CC.
• Provide technical direction and implementation support to Education programmes in the field offices.
• Support development of assessments, baselines and evaluation tools and monitoring dashboards in collaboration with the Monitoring and Evaluation team.
• Contribute to needs assessments including protection risks and needs, in order to ensure evidence based and community driven programming.
• Build the capacity of the NRC Education field technical staff and transfer key skills as required and in line with strategy through training, mentoring and on-the-job coaching.
• Ensure that key learnings are incorporated throughout the different phases of the Education programme implementation cycle.
• Support the Education Specialist in representing NRC in relevant fora/coordination mechanisms, including with national authorities, technical partners and donors.
• Ensure adherence to NRC policies and donor requirements.
• Ensure that NRC activities are implemented within global, national and organisational safe programming and PSEA mainstreaming guidelines, and report any breaches/concerns to the line manager and/or focal point for proper action.

Specific Responsibilities:

• Develop and support systematic rollout of guidelines and procedures aimed at operationalising the Education programme expansion and technical revision.
• Build guiding frameworks and staff capacity to support integrated and holistic youth programming
• Work with Education teams in the field offices to support the development, review and adaptation of the education response, Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) and other guiding frameworks and tools ensuring they are in line with relevant global approaches, standards and procedures.
• Ensure the implementation of the Safe and Inclusive programming (SIP) action plan developed for the Education program.
• Provide technical support and foster collaboration among education staff across area offices, including regular visits, and facilitation of capacity building and mentorship opportunities.
• Lead the revision and development of content, including: non-formal curricula, guidelines on operational procedures and technical specifications of resources and teaching aids, to meet Education needs in Iraq with standard quality across the Education programme.
• Ensure harmonisation and consistent implementation quality across the Education programme, through coordination and standard training, coaching and support for Education management staff in the field.
• Ensure that best practices are shared across field teams and incorporated in building the capacity of all relevant staff.
• Conduct regular reflection sessions with field staff based on data and learning aimed at informing programme development.
• Conduct field support and monitoring missions across field offices, using participatory approaches that include children, youth and communities.
• Ensure quality controls are in place through supporting the development of output and outcome level monitoring and evaluation tools, guidelines and procedures, and focusing on regular analysis and learning documentation and communication.
• Provide support to NRC Education staff in mandatory Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) and reporting activities.
• Represent NRC in relevant inter-agency coordination platforms at the national level (Education, Protection, and Livelihoods) as delegated by the line manager and in coordination with other CCs.

Critical Interfaces:

By interfaces, NRC means processes and projects that are interlinked with other departments/units or persons. Relevant interfaces for this position are:

• Education Programming: Education Specialist (line manager); all Education (and Youth) staff at Country Office (consortium project) and Area Offices; and technical advisers at regional and global levels.
• Strategy and Programme Development: Education Managers and Coordinators; Area (Programme) Managers; MEAL staff; other Core Competency (CC) Specialists for integrated programming and synergies; Head of Programmes; and Advocacy unit.

Competencies:

Competencies are important in order for the employee and the organisation to deliver desired results. They are relevant for all staff and are divided into the following three categories:

1. Professional Competencies:

These are skills, knowledge and experience that are important for effective performance.

Generic professional competencies for this position:

• Minimum 5 years of experience in a senior-level operational management or technical support position in education
• Prior experience and proven capability in training and technical capacity development
• Bilingual fluency in English and Arabic, both written and verbal
• Experience in technology for programming solutions is a plus
• Documented results related to the position’s responsibilities
• Experience in working in complex and volatile contexts
• Knowledge about own leadership skills/profile

Context/specific skills, knowledge and experience:

• Contextual understanding of the education and youth sectors and stakeholders in Iraq
• Knowledge of methodologies related to formal and remedial education, youth programming and remote learning (technology/paper-based)
• Experience leading inter-agency collaboration and coordinating with consortium-led projects
• Experience working in a co-op/matrix management structure or similar
• Experience of collaborative working with remotely based colleagues
• Ability to multi-task and work with short deadlines
• Ability to work independently and proactively with limited daily support and supervision
• Experience working with local and/or international youth partners an advantage
• Fluency in Badini Kurdish, both written and verbal, is an advantage

2. Behavioural competencies:

These are personal qualities that influence how successful people are in their job. NRC’s Competency Framework states 12 behavioural competencies, and the following are essential for this position:

• Analysing
• Planning and delivering results
• Initiating action and change
• Strategic thinking
• Communicating with impact and respect
• Empowering and building trust

Performance Management:

The employee will be accountable for and evaluated on the responsibilities and the competencies, based on NRC’s Performance Management Framework. The following documents will be used for performance reviews:

• The Job Description
• The Work and Development Plan
• The NRC Competency Framework

What we can Offer:

• Contract period: 12 months renewable (subject to funding and performance )
• Salary/benefits: According to NRC’s salary scale and terms and conditions
• Duty station: Erbil, Iraq
• Travel : possible, up to 40% (Areas of operations)