Education Director (MEC)

TITLE: Education Director (MEC)

TEAM/PROGRAMME: Myanmar Education Consortium (MEC)

CONTRACT LENGTH: Fixed Term (2 years, renewable)

ROLE PURPOSE: The Myanmar Education Consortium (MEC) partners with selected ethnic and monastic education providers to strengthen their capacity to deliver and sustain good quality learning opportunities for hard-to-reach children in Myanmar. Applying a ‘systems-strengthening’ approach, MEC provides funding, coordination, technical assistance and research across different complementary education systems to promote continuous improvement of education services. The programme works with its partners, established education providers, to place an emphasis on developing the quality and inclusivity of education in Myanmar, including improved learning outcomes; and with a broader range of diverse stakeholders to address key policy barriers for the achievement of equitable education. In line with its current 2021-25 programme strategy, the overall aim for MEC is that hard-to-reach children access education services that meet their learning and well-being needs. MEC is recruiting an Education Director to lead the Education team, ensuring that a cohesive, supportive, and productive education team is maintained to support the implementation of this goal.

The Education Director plays a key role in contributing to the strategy and direction of the MEC programme as well as in leading and managing the Education team within the MEC team structure under the overall leadership and direction of the MEC Director. The MEC Education team consists of 4 departments – Mother Tongue Based Multi-Lingual Education (MTB-MLE); Education Technical Support; Gender Equality, Disability and Social Inclusion (GEDSI) and Child Safeguarding (CSG). The Education Director’s responsibility is to lead the education team, ensuring that the education interventions and technical inputs that are provided for partners are appropriate, contextually relevant and of high quality. S/he will lead a strong, high performing education team, ensuring clear-cut roles and functions, working effectively with relevant key teams on all important education, organisational and operational matters.

The Education Director will provide a major contribution to the overall strategic direction and implementation of MEC activities in close collaboration with the rest of the Senior Leadership team (SLT), in line with the MEC Programme Strategy. S/he will take the lead in implementation of education-based ‘systems strengthening’ analysis work and review, in close collaboration with the Strategy, Policy, Planning & Learning (SPPL), Partnership & Programme Support (PPS) and Evidence & Information Management (EIM) teams, ensuring a high-quality process, and support the development and implementation of partner complementary education systems’ strategic plans and strategies. Working through cross-collaboration, s/he will ensure that GEDSI and CSG are mainstreamed across all departments at MEC.

S/he is also responsible for engaging and contributing to strategic discussions with external education stakeholders such as development partners, education cluster groups and MEC donors. S/he also ensures that all Education inputs, reports and publications, including donor reports, are prepared to a high-quality standard and submitted on time in line with agreed deadlines.

The role requires excellent skills and experience in basic education delivery as well as significant experience in people management and working across a diverse set of stakeholders in a development/humanitarian context. This role requires a person that has the skills to work collaboratively with others, who approaches all relationships through a transparent, participatory, and partnership-based approach.

SCOPE OF ROLE:

Reports to: Director, Myanmar Education Consortium

Dimensions: Technical support, management, strategy and positioning, programme development, reporting, representation, policy engagement and advocacy, capacity building, budget oversight.

Staff directly reporting to this post: Head of Education, CSG Advisor, GEDSI Specialist (50% LoE), Inclusive and Equity Advisor, MTB-MLE Lead.

KEY AREAS OF ACCOUNTABILITY:

Leadership and Representation

· Lead a high performing Education team, ensuring timely and high-quality delivery of team activities and supporting collaborative cross-team working.

· Oversee the implementation of the Broad-Based Capacity Development (BBCD) MTB-MLE programme and lead the planning for future MTB-MLE programming.

· Lead the conceptualisation, planning and implementation of best practice education interventions and their sustainability through a ‘bottom-up’ approach to partnership engagement and collaboration on ethnic and monastic education systems strengthening.

· As a member of MEC’s Senior Leadership Team (SLT) and Senior Management team (SMT) help ensure that all plans and interventions are aligned with the overall MEC’s programme strategy in support of effective and sustainable ethnic and monastic education systems strengthening in Myanmar.

· Represent MEC at national and international events and proactively advocate for sound evidence-based policies and practices in support of education systems strengthening.

· In collaboration with the MEC and SPPL Directors, support oversight and technical education leadership on commissioned research and joint studies.

· Build a network of support with a range of stakeholders including NGOs, CSOs, international development organisations and donors and leverage their support for wider coverage and impact of the MEC programme.

· Actively participate and represent MEC at education technical working groups, including co-chairing the Myanmar Teacher Education Working Group (MTEWG) and providing technical support for the Teacher Support Task Force, as needed.

· Take on technical leadership in key areas such as MTB-MLE and School Improvement Planning in building the brand of MEC as a high-quality development organisation that takes a leading role in policy debates and in influencing ethnic education policies and practices.

· Support in the identification of new MEC partners and work closely to identify the education technical support they will require.

Programme Planning, Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability and Learning

· Ensure project monitoring, learning, external analysis and insights informs and contributes to evidence-based programme planning and policy and advocacy, including shaping key documents for MEC including MEC’s Strategy, Annual Operational Plans, and Semi-Annual and Annual Reports to donors.

· Ensure that all education activities align to and contribute towards the programme’s Theory of Change and can be clearly monitored through the overarching Results Framework.

· Support the development of quality benchmarks and other monitoring tools to enhance performance monitoring, ensuring these are used and regularly updated based on programmatic needs and learning from implementation.

· Support the development and use of appropriate accountability mechanisms, ensuring the Education team provides timely responses to any feedback and associated follow up, when applicable.

· Ensure the Education teamwork plan and monthly partner engagement plans are effectively and appropriately designed, delivered, and budgeted for.

Programme Delivery and Quality

· Work closely with the 5 direct reports to ensure that education technical support, MTB-MLE, GEDSI and CSG are integral to MEC and partners’ programmes.

· Ensure that all Education staff implement programme interventions in line with programme plans and that the team works hand-in-hand with local ethnic and monastic partners to identify technical and policy challenges and opportunities for strategic interventions and follow-through with timely and high-quality implementation of activities within a conflict sensitive approach to education development.

· Ensure consistent quality in the technical assistance provided to the partners from the education team through use of appropriate monitoring, evaluation, and learning strategies.

· Participate in partners’ organisational assessment/risk analysis, capacity building planning and technical support through joint programme planning, implementation, and M&E with the PPS, EIM and SPPL teams.

· Lead MEC’s support to partners in key cross-cutting issues, including ensuring Child Safeguarding, Gender Equality, Disability and Social Inclusion actions are prioritised and implemented across all partners, providing technical support as required.

Team Management and Development

· Directly manage 5 staff, and oversee their management of the other Education staff, including supervising, motivating and supporting the team’s professional development.

· Immediately bring any significant internal and external team challenges and problems to the attention of the SLT for discussion and resolution.

· Identify and ensure that the Education team receives relevant capacity-building support for their professional development in carrying out their roles and responsibilities within the MEC programme.
Ensure that the team proactively builds and maintains technical skills and competencies required for leading and developing innovative, effective and sustainable education programming.

· Ensure the effective use of the Performance Management System including the establishment of relevant tasks and clear, measurable objectives and on-going feedback, apart from regular periodic transparent performance reviews and evaluations, including necessary corrective action if required, in line with SCI policy.

Child Safeguarding Responsibility:

· Develop specific and contextual guidance to ensure that the safeguarding of children is incorporated into MEC strategies and children are protected from exploitation, increased vulnerability, or any form of harm or indignity.

QUALIFICATIONS

· Master’s degree (or higher) in Education-related field

· Minimum of 10 years of experience with strategic design and implementation of education programming in the sector of Basic Education in Low- or Middle-Income Countries

· Proficient in spoken and written English

EXPERIENCE AND SKILLS

· Excellent technical knowledge and skills and conceptual understanding of complex basic education processes and their application from central level to the school and community level.

· Strategic thinker and planner with experience in demand-driven education planning and implementation approaches with an ability to analyse information, evaluate options and to think and plan politically and strategically.

· Experience in integrating prioritised cross-cutting issues of gender equality, disability, social inclusion and child safeguarding into all aspects of education programming.

· Proven experience with complex education programming, including in the context of fragile education systems and services in support of marginalised rural communities.

· In-depth understanding of national & international development issues related to basic education best practices programming, particularly in the context of resource-challenged economies.

· Demonstrated skills in networking and advocacy and understanding of effective policy development and advocacy approaches to facilitate change in the basic education sector.

· Proven know-how in effective monitoring and evaluation and its use in programme planning, implementation and report writing.

· Experience working in partnership with local civil society organisations.

· A team player who encourages openness, collaboration and transparency with a strong track record of motivating and developing teams, including building professional capacity.

· Strong ability to work in a participatory way with strong facilitation skills and proven ability to effectively delegate responsibilities.

· Excellent interpersonal, communication and presentation skills.

· Results focused and ability to develop and drive innovative programmatic / operational solutions.

· Commitment to and understanding of MEC’s aims, values and principles.

· Ability and willingness to travel domestically and internationally when possible.

Desirable

· Additional educational qualifications in a development-related field

· Experience as a basic education schoolteacher

· Proficiency in Myanmar language and, preferably, another ethnic Myanmar language

· Experience working within education programmes in Myanmar

· Working knowledge of leading MTB-MLE focused programming in ethnic basic education contexts.

· Know-how of overseeing and implementing basic education policy research, engagement and advocacy strategies with key NGO, CSO and policymakers.

· Experience in education in emergencies programming.