Programme Officer Education/ECDE at Sightsavers

Purpose of the role:

The Programme Officer (ECDE) will be responsible for ensuring effective and efficient programmatic delivery of the Disability Inclusive Development (DID) Inclusive ECDE Project. The person appointed will report to the Senior Programme Officer and will be expected to work closely with partners and other members of the programme delivery team.

The post holder will work with schools and school administrations, teachers, OPDs, communities, government officials at the county and national levels to ensure that Inclusive ECDE is planned, implemented, coordinated, monitored, and evaluated to the highest possible standards.

Experience of working in ECDE will be a particular asset in this post.

Key accountabilities:

• Manage all aspects of the DID programme, ensure that all project documentation and reports are made available in a timely and accessible way, assist in the preparation of budgets and forecasts and be proactive in providing good quality information in case studies and interesting news stories relating to the programme.
• Build effective partner relationships with the DID Project consortium partners, County and National government education departments, OPDs, stakeholders, and like-minded INGOs/national NGOs
• Help partners to identify their own technical and capacity building needs and supporting them through the project cycle.
• Work closely with the Country Finance team to ensure effective financial and budgetary control of the programmes, and donor compliance according to Sightsavers’ policy and procedures
• Support the Research and MEL teams in on-going research work in Homa-Bay and Kakuma Refugee camp by gathering analysing and disseminating education outcome data and disability prevalence.
• Support the SPO in developing teacher training materials and using the developed training and learning materials to facilitate continuous professional development for ECDE teachers.

Principal Accountabilities (specific activities and results)

Programme Delivery (50% of time)

• Work with Kenya Country office and Global programme teams to coordinate implementation of activities and sharing of lessons learned
• Liaise and work with the Global Technical Lead (Education), UK, the Ministry of Education and other internal expertise as required.
• Coordinate with MERL leads for implementation of monitoring and evaluation systems for the programmes.
• Ensure that safeguarding measures are in place in line with the standards of the organisation.
• Work closely with the MERL team to undertake midterm and end term evaluation of the project

Working with Partners (25% of time)

• Build effective partner relationships and support longer-term relationships that go beyond the duration of the projects by disseminating information and advocating for programme goals and the Disability Inclusive Development consortium’s work in general.
• Support partners to identify their own technical and organizational capacity building needs and facilitate access to technical assistance resources and opportunities to support them through the programme cycle.

Financial & Resource Management (10% of time)

• Monitor expenditure of project financial resources in liaison with the Finance Officers and the Programme Manager.

Information & Communication Management (15% of time)

• Be proactive in providing good quality information on case studies and interesting news stories relating to the programme to support preparation of fundraising materials and advocacy materials.
• Ensure that the Sightsavers teams both in Kenya and Project Management team, (based in the UK) receives appropriate materials and information to support donor-reporting requirements.
• As required, represent Sightsavers in programme and education-related meetings, and advocate for Sightsavers’ philosophy and policies.

About you

• Extensive project management experience implementing programmes in developing Country contexts, including experience of the education sector.
• Demonstrable experience with inclusive ECDE and disability issues including dealing with Children with Disabilities, skills training/development, and partner engagement.
• A tertiary qualification (Bachelors or above) in education is preferred. Candidates with qualifications in social sciences, development studies or public health will also be considered.
• Extensive experience implementing programmes, including experience of the disability sector and gender mainstreaming.
• Experience of designing, managing, and carrying out advocacy work for social inclusion/disability programmes.
• Experience of working in ECDE will be a particular asset in this post.