Education Development Center (EDC) is a global nonprofit that advances lasting solutions to improve education, promote health, and expand economic opportunity. Since 1958, we have been a leader in designing, implementing, and evaluating powerful and innovative programs in more than 80 countries around the world.

EDC promotes equity and access to high quality education and health services and products that contribute to thriving communities where people from diverse backgrounds learn, live, and work together. We support an inclusive workplace culture that embraces many perspectives and broadens our understanding of the communities we serve, enhancing and enriching our work.

Project Description

The purpose of the USAID/Somalia Accelerated Education Activity is to increase access to quality accelerated basic education and non-formal education for out-of-school children and youth in southern Somalia. This Activity will improve learning outcomes for children and youth, strengthen community involvement in and ownership of education, and strengthen local and federal government capacity to oversee the delivery of quality education to marginalized Somali children and youth.

The Somalia Accelerated Education Activity will have the following intermediate results:

• Increased equitable access to safe, free, relevant, quality Accelerated Basic Education and Non-Formal Education programs.
• Improved learning outcomes in foundational skills areas (literacy, numeracy and social emotional learning) and other key skills as appropriate.
• Increased community engagement and local ownership of Accelerated Basic Education (ABE) and Non-Formal Education (NFE) programming.
• Strengthened capacity of government at local and national levels to oversee the provision of quality public education.

Position Description

The Deputy Chief of Party (DCOP) works in tandem with the COP to lead the program, providing quality control for the program’s technical outputs, and representing the program in high-level working groups, in donor and Ministry meetings (at the national and sub-national levels), and in other fora where the program’s goals, aims, and investments must be developed. The DCOP supervises mid-level technical personnel collaborates closely with the MEL team and reports directly to the COP. The DCOP ensures the timely submission of all required deliverables and reports and dedicates their efforts to ensuring that the award is implemented according to the technical stipulations in the statement of work and in conformity with the agreed-upon, finalized work plan.

Illustrative responsibilities may include the following:

• Own the Activity strategy, making refinements based on opportunities and evolving needs and ensuring that the program meets quality standards
• Coordinate the intervention in a cohesive and integrated manner, both within the consortium and with other implementing partners
• Manage all activity/work plans, identifying opportunity to layer programming in a manner that maximizes impact.
• Represent the Activity in coordination groups.
• Ensure that the Activity meets contractual deliverables (reports and strategies) and work with the communications team to maintain appropriate visibility and document successes.
• Drive collaboration with operations and MEL to ensure activities are planned and executed strategically.
• Manage technical specialists and coordinate with home office short term technical assistants.

The candidate for the position of Deputy Chief of Party shall have at a minimum the following qualifications:

Education:

Bachelor’s degree plus +15 years relevant experience in leadership roles in development/humanitarian contexts OR Master’s degree plus 10+ years of relevant experience in leadership roles in development/humanitarian contexts

Skills and Experience:

• 5+ years’ experience in a management equivalent roles (as part of the 15 or 10 years’ experience not in addition to them)
• Technical expertise in one or more of the following relevant areas including: Foundational learning in literacy, numeracy and SEL, youth development, gender, accelerated or non-formal education.
• Experience with USAID programs and knowledge of USAID rules and regulations
• Strong leadership, administrative, management, presentation, reporting, and communication (both oral and written) skills and the ability to implement projects with diverse subject matter
• Demonstrated experience of successful interactions, coordination and partnerships with a variety of stakeholders (host government, US and international donors, youth, private sector, etc.) desired
• Ability to perform at a high level and apply diplomacy skills with a wide range of stakeholders
• Demonstrated ability to work in an ambiguous and rapidly evolving environment, must be comfortable with constant change of local leadership / partners, and multiple, competing priorities
• Financial management experience, including budgeting, financial management (tracking, reporting, and accounting), and procurement.
• Proven experience in project management and organizational development, and monitoring and evaluation.
• Proven capacity to manage large complex programs (including subcontracts) in a multi-cultural environment.
• Experience working in Somalia
• Experience working with USAID and familiarity with Agency processes and procedures
• Experience managing large-scale national or regional programs in crisis and conflict contexts

Language:

Fluency in English required.

Demonstrated ability to communicate in Somali, both verbally and in writing.

Due to the volume of applications submitted, only finalists will be notified.  No phone calls, please.

EDC is committed to enhancing the diversity of its workforce and ensuring an equitable and highly inclusive work environment. EDC is a smoke-free workplace, and offers a supportive work environment, competitive salary, and excellent benefits. Women, minorities, and individuals with disabilities are encouraged to apply.

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