Team Leader/Senior Consortium Coordinator - Education

Scope of Work/Description

ACTED is supporting out of school boys and girls to enter into non-formal based education – through an accelerated learning programme and literacy/numeracy teaching. underpinning this is intensive community mobilisation, teacher training as well as TVET components. acted’s programming aims to improve learning, transition and sustainability outcomes – by increasing attendance, improving quality of learning, promoting retention, empowerment and acceptance. 

ACTED is commitment to zero tolerance to all forms of violence against children, beneficiaries and staff.

o    The Consortium Coordinator will report to the Deputy Country Director and support in the overall coordination and management of the project.

o    The Coordinator will ensure quality program implementation, with a particular focus on the operational side – overseeing on the ground project implementation. At the same time providing strategic guidance to consortium staff and overseeing with the Consortium Coordinator budget management, performance management, M&E, partnership management, and relationships with external actors including government authorities, working groups, and project partners.

o    This position is contingent on funding.

Responsibilities

1. Representation

a) Protect and promote the vision, mission and interests of consortium partners towards external stakeholders;

b) Represent the consortium toward the donor(s) and government authorities and therefore communicate with the donor(s) and government authorities;

c) Where relevant, expand the donor portfolio of the consortium by tracking funding opportunities;

d) Attend government, UN, NGO and donor meetings and present ongoing consortium activities;

e) Ensure the visibility of the consortium amongst humanitarian, donor and government actors throughout the project;

f) Effectively manage coordination with other actors (UN, NGOs) intervening in a similar sector;

g) Ensure the continuum of consortium PR activities, including formal presentations, engaging media for coverage on success stories, updating project-specific and regional fact sheets, and documenting publications featuring the consortium in the media;

h) Oversee the consortium’s communication activities including media visits, photographer’s mission, videos, etc.;

i) Lead the drafting and dissemination of position papers, statements, reports and releases on the consortium’s engagements and humanitarian advocacy.

2. Internal Coordination

a) Effectively manage partnerships between the different parties of the consortium to ensure smooth collaboration;

b) Ensure regular and open/transparent communication between consortium partners;

c) Regularly communicate with consortium Country Directors on project activities;

d) Convene and chair regular (e.g. monthly, quarterly) consortium steering committee meetings to discuss programme and financial issues, disseminate minutes and follow up on action points;

e) Carry out weekly catch ups with consortium key focal points;

f) Support the development and maintenance of a coherent consortium strategy across all partners;

g) Promote harmonization of approaches and methodologies across all consortium partners by developing and monitoring use of common tools, as well as creating opportunities for experience sharing and learning;

h) Coordinate the development of all technical tools related to the consortium’s project (ToRs for consultants and evaluators, ad hoc reports, capitalization reports…).

3. Project Cycle Management

3.1. Project Planning

a) Define project implementation modalities and methodologies (including, but not limited to technical specifications, identification and registration of beneficiaries, distribution and sensitization);

b) Organize project kick-off and close-out meetings;

c) Together with the ACTED Project Staff and Project Staff of consortium partners, plan the various stages of project implementation and set direction by prioritizing and organizing activities and resources to achieve project objectives.

3.2. Project Implementation Follow-up

a) Oversee and monitor the work of consortium and local implementing partner, ensuring that technical quality and standards are considered and respected during project implementation;

b) Support the Project Managers/Teams of each partner to implement all aspects of the project;

c) Conduct regular follow-up of work plans, identify and address any delays in a timely and effective manner;

d) Monitor output achievement, ‘milestone’ achievement, cash burn rates and ensure a timely completion of the project;

e) Ensure the Implementation Plan is reviewed regularly to capture the local context and views of various stakeholders (including regional Departments/Ministry of Education);

f) Improve the skills of ACTED staff and partner staff to develop their capacity to comply with the provisions of the partnership agreement.

3.3. Project Quality Control

a) Conduct periodic field visits to validate progress reports, identify problems and issues to address during Consortium Management Team meetings and make recommendations for improvement;

b) Ensure the project progress is effectively monitored through regular data collection, analysis of indicators and activities and documented with proper sources of verification;

c) Advise consortium Project Managers/Team to adapt implementation of the project according to monitoring and evaluation findings;

d) Advise on and assist with project reviews conducted by internal and external monitoring and Terms of Reference – Consortium Coordinator December 2016 evaluation team;

e) Coordinate and put in place a program capitalization system in collaboration with each focal point from each consortium partner;

f) Actively participate in different technical and working group mechanisms within Girls’ education sector in the country to contribute to and ensure compliance with ACTED’s Education Sector Strategic Plan, policies and procedures;

g) Keep abreast of the latest technical development in Girls’ Education sector either through own learning, or through technical advisers, and ensure that applicable methodologies and technical breakthroughs are incorporated in program design and delivery.

3.4. Grant Management

a) Ensure that contractual obligations are met in terms of project deliverables;

b) Ensure the activities are implemented according to the approved donor and partnership agreement;

c) Ensure that donor rules and procedures are understood and respected by all parties, sharing information and conducting training if required on proposed systems and processes for consortium management;

d) Develop a reporting schedule that is agreed by all consortium members;

e) Ensure external reporting for all the consortium members according to donor and ACTED requirements is respected by all according to agreed deadlines;

f) Collect and consolidate narrative reports from consortium members for donor reporting;

g) Prepare documentation for any project modifications, including budget revisions, amendments or extensions. Ensure such changes are made in close consultation with the consortium partners;

h) Together with the Country Finance Manager, manage and negotiate any budget changes in accordance with donor and ACTED HQ criteria

QUALIFICATIONS AND EXPERIENCE:

• Master’s Degree in Education, social work, gender, development studies or other related fields of studies.
• BA degree with proven experience on the above fields of studies and responsibilities
• At least 7 years’ experience in developing and managing Education program related consortium at a senior/national level;
• Strong technical understanding and capacity in Girls’ Education programming;
• Proven skills in leading, managing and mentoring teams;
• Experience and knowledge of national education system(s)
• Experience and understanding of Monitoring and Evaluation systems
• Excellent report writing skill.
• Proven experience in managing DFID projects
• Strong interpersonal and communication skills;
• Excellent spoken and written English
• Computer literate – Microsoft Word &Excel.

Experience in Pakistan or Asian region is preferred.