Education Coordinator

Background/IRC Summary:

The International Rescue Committee (IRC) responds to the world’s worst humanitarian crises and helps people to survive and rebuild their lives. Founded in 1933 at the request of Albert Einstein, the IRC offers lifesaving care and life-changing assistance to refugees forced to flee from war or disaster. At work today in over 40 countries and 22 U.S. cities, we restore safety, dignity and hope to millions who are uprooted and struggling to endure. The IRC leads the way from harm to home.

IRC has been working in Pakistan for over 30 years, and manages & delivers large, complex programs to meet needs in health, education, protection, environmental health and livelihoods for displaced, poor & conflict-affected communities. IRC works in partnership with local government and non-governmental organizations and currently works in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Sindh provinces.

Job Overview/Summary:

The Education Coordinator will be responsible for the strategic leadership and development of IRC’s Education Program. S/he is the overall responsible for technical design of programs, team capacity building, program quality assurance, ensuring the appropriate use of human resources, ensuring objectives are met on time and within the budget, and representation in coordination fora. S/he will act as the IRC Pakistan focal point on all education issues.

Major Responsibilities:

Business Development

• Expand Education program portfolio and profile.
• Work closely with the DDP, PDQ and the CD, lead the development of new business concepts for the expansion and strengthening of Education programming in Pakistan

Technical Quality

• Provide guidance on program design from the outset of business development to implementation phases of project life cycles;
• Provide clear technical support, supervisory guidance, training and mentoring to all Education programs, activities and teams in Pakistan and in close coordination with the Partnership Coordinator, Deputy Director Programs as well as the Country Director (CD) to ensure consistent, harmonized and quality program design and implementation across project sites and improved integration between Education and other IRC programs.
• Ensure IRC and its partners’ program staff adheres to Educational professional standards and principles, including INEE and others, through technical support and mentoring by the Education management team.

Strategic Planning

• Contribute in the Strategic Action Planning process by undertaking the sectoral context analysis and accordingly selecting the priorities for Pakistan country office against relevant outcomes.
• Provide cohesive leadership to Education programming in Pakistan, ensuring that priorities and opportunities identified are in line with IRC Pakistan’s strategic plan and goals.
• Remain abreast of ongoing trends in Pakistan and in the region as related to Education programming, and provide regular updates on these trends and how they affect programming to the Senior Management Team.

Representation & Advocacy

• Maintain strong relationships with relevant government partners involved in Education activities.
• Develop and maintain strong relationships with current and potential donors in Pakistan
• Represent IRC in cluster/sub-cluster meetings, protection cluster meetings, working groups and at other relevant meetings and task forces at provincial and national levels
• Maintain effective relationship with active Education actors in the country for effective and improved coordination and programming

Staff Supervision & Development

• Supervise Education team if and when required and work closely with partners’ staff
• Provide on-the-job training and coaching to the education team to promote holistic program approaches and strategies.
• Maintain open and professional relations with team members, promoting a strong team spirit and providing oversight and guidance to enable staff to successfully perform in their positions.
• Assist the staff in identifying professional development needs and opportunities.
• Work with the staff to ensure performance objectives are regularly reviewed and met.
• Provide continuous performance feedback to staff; identify performance issues and work with staff and Human Resources to document and address issues in a timely manner.
• Put in place a succession plan in Education to identify and develop potential leaders/project managers

Monitoring

• Work closely with the M&E unit and the Education program team to develop, adapt and implement harmonized monitoring and evaluation systems; analyze results to ensure program effectiveness and quality, with a focus on the impact of IRC Education programs throughout Pakistan.

Budget Management

• Participate in internal BvA meetings and also with partners to ensure that grant(s) is on track, and all under/over spent are handled with proper planning
• Work closely with finance and grants teams to develop budget notes for all partners, and for IRC’s direct implementation

Professional Standards

• Any other duties as assigned by the supervisor to develop Education programs.
• All IRC staff are required to adhere to the IRC Way Standards for Professional Conduct and the IRC country employment policies.