Africa Education Specialist Job Placement - Right To Play (RTP)

Organisation: Right To Play (RTP)

Duty Station: Kampala, Uganda

Reports to: Regional Program Manager

Right

To Play (RTP) is a global organization that uses the transformative power of

play to educate and empower children facing adversity. Through playing sports

and games, RTP helps over one million children learn through play to create

better futures, while driving lasting social change in more than 20 countries

each week. Founded in 2000 by social entrepreneur and four-time Olympic gold

medallist Johann Olav Koss, RTP is headquartered in Toronto, Canada and has

national fundraising offices in Canada, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway,

Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Regional offices are in

Africa, Asia, and the Middle East.

Key Duties and Responsibilities: 

1. Programme planning,

implementation and delivery:

• Manages the design and development of
  
  education program strategies across the Africa region and coordinates with
  
  the Regional Program Manager (RPM) and program teams to ensure alignment
  
  with RTP strategies;


• Offers support and leads the delivery of
  
  technical planning and implementation of RTP’ education program(s) in line
  
  with the organizations strategic plan, the Ministry of Education plans,
  
  and donor requirements;


• Work in liaison with the Regional Program
  
  Officers, provides technical inputs into program implementation plans and
  
  ensures that annual, quarterly and monthly work plans are in place to
  
  achieve targets and expected results;


• Supports the RPM and country teams in
  
  developing education focused project proposals for new projects;


• Work in liaison with Regional Program Manager
  
  and program staff ensures that issues of gender equality, inclusion, child
  
  protection and safeguarding, accountability, risk and vulnerability are
  
  addressed and monitored throughout all education programs;


• Takes lead in developing curricula and
  
  resources for basic education programs (pre-primary and primary) as
  
  needed, working in collaboration with the Regional Training and Capacity
  
  Building Officer;


• Provides technical support to ensure
  
  linkages, synergy and cross-learning with all RTP country programs across
  
  the region;


• Provides the technical lead in researching
  
  new initiatives that lead to improved education outcomes for children;


• Provides technical leadership on the
  
  procurement and/or development of appropriate teaching and learning
  
  materials, training manuals and education resources, and ensures that
  
  distribution and monitoring plans are developed for their use in schools;


• Develops and promotes support-materials for
  
  incorporating activity based learning methods for teachers;


• Assesses the needs of teaching methodologies
  
  to design training for education departments, teachers and Education
  
  District Officers, where applicable;


• Works closely with teacher training and
  
  curriculum development institutions to integrate RTP methodology into
  
  curriculum, text books and class room teaching;


• Oversees the development of a specific
  
  resource for teachers to promote use of sport and play in academic
  
  learning practices;


• Provides quarterly updates of lessons learned
  
  and best practices to the RPM and stakeholders, ensuring that program
  
  lessons are being used to promote improved program delivery;


• Supports the budget planning processes to
  
  ensure that program funds are expended according to procedures and plans;


• Works in liaison with the Monitoring,
  
  Evaluation and Learning Officer to develop appropriate systems, tools and
  
  procedures for the monitoring and evaluation of education programs.

2. Advocacy and Policy

Engagement:

• Leads RTP’s advocacy and policy effort across
  
  the region by participating in national coordination forums as applicable,
  
  and supporting country teams in engaging in national coordination forums,
  
  national strategic planning for the education sector and curriculum
  
  development technical working groups;


• Support country teams in their efforts to
  
  engage and collaborate with government and education stakeholders at
  
  national levels to ensure that programming is jointly planned and that the
  
  sustainability of the interventions is maximized;


• Works in liaison with country teams in
  
  coordinating research and advocacy interventions related to the program at
  
  national and international level, using data from school-level
  
  interventions to advocate for national-level policy
  
  development/implementation;


• Leads and develops RTP’s analysis and best
  
  practices in education programming across the region and disseminates
  
  through documents and position papers within the Education sector as
  
  necessary in order to promote learning and sharing with wider
  
  stakeholders.

3. Representation and

Collaboration:

• Facilitates linkages, collaboration and
  
  networking with education stakeholders across the region including civil
  
  society organizations, government and other relevant institutions to
  
  enhance RTP’s visibility and its role in enhancing education quality;


• Represents RTP in various platforms and
  
  maintains positive relationships with governments and other relevant
  
  stakeholders regarding RTP activities;


• Identifies and develops new partnerships with
  
  local education-focused NGOs, Community Based Organizations (CBOs) and
  
  communities;


• Supports country teams to conduct capacity
  
  assessments and capacity building plans for local partners with a focus on
  
  quality education programming;


• Provides timely support  to ensure strong coordination between
  
  local partners in the implementation of education programs;

4. Capacity Building

Support:

• Significantly contributes to communicating
  
  the program vision to the program team and directs them toward achieving
  
  program goals and objectives;


• Ensures that country staff are properly
  
  supported with the technical knowledge and skills necessary to deliver
  
  education program interventions and devises interventions for staff who
  
  are found to be under performing;


• Conducts regular visits to the field to
  
  provide technical support to program teams.


• Performs other duties as assigned.

Key Performance Indicators:

• Problem Solving:


• The incumbent is expected to deal with
  
  variable problems using analysis, problem definition and alternative
  
  solutions development. Seeks the RPMs support when required.


• Financial Impact: Accuracy of budget is of essence and
  
  consequences of error are serious in terms of resources, ability to
  
  complete work at hand and RTP’s image. The incumbent is expected to make
  
  sure that the implementation of the program is within the approved budget.


• Information Management: The incumbent is expected to generate
  
  reports and share findings from program experiences with the RPM and
  
  higher reporting levels. The incumbent is also expected to share the
  
  experience in the region.


• Relationship Management: The incumbent is expected to enhance
  
  relationships with partners by staying in regular contact and requesting
  
  feedback on ongoing projects. He/she is also responsible for maintaining
  
  positive relationships with all staff.

Qualifications, Skills and Experience: 

• The applicant for the Education Specialist,
  
  Africa Programs should hold a Master’s Degree in Education, International
  
  Development or related fields.


• At least five years’ experience implementing
  
  and providing technical guidance on basic education programs and liaising
  
  with government officials and donors.


• Significant experience in project planning,
  
  proposal development, report writing, resource mobilization, networking,
  
  partnership-building and working with NGOs.


• Superior organizational skills and ability to
  
  multi-task on a constant basis


• Excellent interpersonal communication skills
  
  to build rapport with staff, partners, government officials, donors and
  
  community leaders.


• Proven ability to work under pressure meeting
  
  deadlines in a fast paced fluid environment.


• Creative and flexible with problem solving
  
  skills.


• Demonstrated professionalism and diplomacy.


• Proven ability to confidently represent
  
  oneself and Right To Play to high level officials.


• Strategy planning skills.


• People management particularly influence
  
  management.


• Budgetary control and financial management,
  
  including ability to read and understand financial data Knowledge and
  
  understanding of best practices in basic education programs, including
  
  technical experience in teacher training and resource and curriculum
  
  development.


• Broad knowledge and understanding of the
  
  concept of sport for development.


• Broad knowledge and understanding of community
  
  development processes


• Computer literacy i.e. proficiency in MS
  
  Office and program management tools and procedures


• Fluency in written and spoken English.
  
  Knowledge in French and/or Portuguese is desirable.


• Previous experience in quality improvement is
  
  considered and advantage


• Prior experience working in child protection
  
  is desired


• Sport and play experience is an added
  
  advantage


• Previous exposure and experience in
  
  strengthening civil society organisations is an added advantage


• Coaching background


• Child protection and gender mainstreaming and
  
  governance background


• Working knowledge of adult learning

All

suitably qualified and interested candidates are strongly encouraged to send

their updated resumes / CVs and cover letter to:

UgandaHR@righttoplay.com and kindly include “Africa Education Specialist” and your name in the subject line. 

Deadline: 6th April, 2016.