OVERVIEW OF THE FUNCTIONS OF THE POST

UNESCO Office in Iraq, in collaboration with Ministry of Education (MOE) and UNICEF and with funding from EU, is implementing programme “Equitable Access to Quality General Education in Iraq: Improving Teaching and Learning and Education Management (ITALEEM)”. The overall objective of ITALEEM is to support all learners in Iraq, including the most disadvantaged ones, are able to access and complete high-quality, inclusive, and gender-responsive teaching and learning in General Education.
The programme aims at three specific objectives which, taken together, strengthen institutional capacity, school management and civil society engagement in the education sector, in pursuit of the overall objective:

• To strengthen an evidenced-based, gender-responsive, policy, planning, and management environment with quality assurance mechanisms and institutional and professional capacities at national, governorate and school levels, that enables all children and adolescents – especially those from disadvantaged groups such as IDPs, returnees, refugees and children with disabilities – to access and complete quality basic education.
• To improve access to, and enhance the quality of, gender-responsive, inclusive, and climate-resilient education at school level for all children, particularly the vulnerable and disadvantaged groups, raising achievement and completion.
• To enhance the capacity of CSOs, parents, local communities, teacher organisations, and private sector organisations to actively engage in policy formulation and interventions in such a way that all children and adolescents – especially those from disadvantaged groups – access and complete quality education.

Under the overall authority of the Director of UNESCO Iraq Office, overall supervision of the Chief of Education Unit and day-to-day guidance from the Programme Manager ITALEEM will be the a team lead Outcome 4 of the ITALEEM Programme.

The Associate National Project Officer will be responsible for managing and implementing ITALEEM Programme Outcome 4 activities on “Enhancing the capacity of CSOs, parents, local communities, teacher organizations, and private sector organizations to actively engage in policy formulation and interventions in such a way that all children and adolescents – especially those from disadvantaged groups—access and complete quality education.”.
Specifically, the staff will perform the following duties:

1. Liaison with national and international stakeholders in the implementation of project activities in the targeted governorates:

• Oversee and maintain strong relationships with relevant ministries, governmental departments, educational Civil Society Organizations (CSOs), UN agencies, and other key stakeholders.
• Coordinate with national and international educational organizations within the ICSEF (Iraq Civil Society Education Forum) network to ensure collaboration, resource efficiency, and avoid duplication of efforts.
• Coordinate and facilitate regular meetings and events for the ICSEF (Iraq Civil Society Education Forum), including workshops, trainings, and networking opportunities.
• Representing UNESCO in relevant meetings and coordination groups and facilitating communication by taking minutes, providing interpretation and translating relevant documents.

2. Support to project activities’ planning, implementation, and administrative follow up:

• Contributing to development and effective execution of the Project’s work plan and log frame.
• Providing the Support to educational CSOs in developing and implementing advocacy campaigns and projects related to education policy and programming.
• Oversee the organization of program events, such as workshops, training, missions, etc. including preparing agendas, documents and reach-out material, identifying venues and services, organizing travels of participants, ensuring interpretation and translation;
• Providing support in drafting the terms of reference, ensuring follow-up of the contracting and payments for implementing partners, vendors, consultants and institutions;
• Contributing to prepare budgets for activities and assisting in the monitoring of expenditures to ensure timely and cost-effective implementation of project activities.
• Coordinating with Administration Unit on timely delivery of assistance to implement activities, as well as requesting disbursement of funds;
• Drafting internal memos, official correspondence, press-notes, web site, and other outreach activities;
• Receiving and screening all internal and external communications, and providing necessary background information for review by supervisors;
• Maintaining the project/s records and reference files.

3. Support to project activities’ monitoring, evaluation and reporting:

• Conducting regular visits to project activities to monitor progress and evaluate results and impact;
• Monitor the functionality, performance and impact of the Iraq Civil Society education forum and it’s sub-technical groups by attending the organized meetings and events, also reviewing the delivered finding documents and policies.
• Monitor and evaluate the capacity building activities to the selected CSOs within ICSEF to ensure the quality of the capacity building in terms of relevancy and information.
• Monitoring closely the advocacy campaigns conducted by the ICSEF members on Right to Education and gender equality to ensure the impact of these campaigns.
• Providing technical support on monitoring project activities, as well as the development, implementation and progress tracking of the project action work plan.
• Providing appropriate administrative follow-up actions to ensure effective application of monitoring and reporting tools.
• Contributing to the periodic narrative and financial progress reports to donors on project implementation, including the development of monthly internal projects updates and reports, as well as periodic or ad-hoc analytical narrative reports.
• Contributing to the design, development and maintenance of databases and other information systems.
• Performing any other duties as required by the office.

COMPETENCIES (Core / Managerial)

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REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS

EDUCATION

• Advanced university degree (Masters or equivalent) in Education, Social Sciences, or closely related field(s). A first-level university degree in the aforementioned fields in combination with two additional years of qualifying experience may be accepted in lieu of the advanced university degree.

WORK EXPERIENCE

• Preferably 2 years of progressively responsible relevant professional experience in education program coordination, or a related role within a civil society organization or education institution.
• Experience working on education, training, or skills development projects.
• Knowledge of current educational trends and issues.

SKILLS AND COMPETENCIES

• Ability to build and maintain partnerships.
• Ability to work in a multicultural environment and establish harmonious and effective working relationships, both within and outside the Organization.
• Capable of performing well under pressure, handling heavy workloads, and meeting tight deadlines with high attention to detail and quality.
• Demonstrated project implementation skills and excellent coordination skills.
• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills, and sensitivity to the local context.
• Good knowledge of results-based and budget management tools.
• Strong IT skills including good knowledge of standard office software.
• Strong analytical, problem-solving and organizational skills.

LANGUAGES

• Excellent knowledge (written and spoken) of Arabic and English.

DESIRABLE QUALIFICATIONS

WORK EXPERIENCE

• Experience within the UN and International NGOs.

LANGUAGES

• Knowledge of the other UNESCO official languages (French, Chinese, Russian and Spanish).