1. Technical and advisory support:

• Support and advise decision-makers, including UNICEF Chief of Education, on education sector priorities and approaches, particularly related to risk mitigation and positioning for girls’ education.
• Provide technical and programmatic advice to country-level partners and coordination bodies including UNICEF Afghanistan, the humanitarian and basic human needs aid architecture, international and national non-government organisations, and civil society organisations on gender-responsive education sector planning, girls’ education, and related areas.
• Lead and participate in strategic discussions, working groups, task forces, advisory groups, etc. to support policy and agenda setting for girls’ education and gender equality in education.
• Keep UNICEF Chief of Education and senior management abreast of evolving and complex political landscape in the education sector and women’s rights in Afghanistan.
• Provide strategic advice to the Education Cluster, the Strategic Advisory Group, UNICEF staff, and Cluster partners on prioritization, planning, and response on EiE.

2. Programme development, management, and quality assurance:

• Under the direction of the Chief of Education, lead the operational management of the girls’ education and education in emergencies portfolios, including management of staff working towards these outputs.
• Manage a diverse group of national staff and international/national consultants (both in-country and remote) on a variety of outputs contributing to multi-media learning, livelihoods and skills acquisition, and education in emergencies.
• Support programme development across the Education Section focusing on generating results for adolescent girls, as aligned with the Annual Work Plan and HAC.
• Manage all projects under this output, organising and monitoring data collection for project monitoring and reporting purposes; assuring quality of reports and other documents; ensuring the effective implementation and project evaluations.
• As grant Manager be accountable for the effective and efficient use of donor funds.
• Lead on narrative and financial reporting to a portfolio of donors, following up on donor requirements, drafting donor reports, and communicating effectively with donor contacts.
• Lead on development and monitoring of institutional contracts, PCAs and consultancy contracts to deliver on UNICEF’s girls’ education and EiE programmes.
• Develop and deliver innovative approaches to address systemic barriers to secondary-aged girls’ education (access and learning) in a dynamic context and in doing so designing and implementing a comprehensive risk mitigation strategy.

3. Research, learning, and knowledge management:

• Coordinate learning and knowledge management for the girls’ education portfolio, organising and chairing the working group on alternative learning, collecting lessons learnt and good practices.
• Commission and manage research on multi-media modalities and innovations, e.g. digital learning, developing terms of reference, recruiting research partners, overseeing research implementation and consortia, reviewing and co-drafting research reports, managing risk-informed dissemination of research results amongst key stakeholders.
• Coordinate EiE assessments with Education Cluster and provide data to stakeholder groups to inform emergency response and promote nexus planning.4. Advocacy and networking:
• Lead on the delivery of high-quality advocacy outputs linked to girls’ education portfolio, including policy briefs, donor notes, reports and other products.
• Provide strategic oversight in coordination with the Chief of Education on key advocacy events, including webinars, panel discussions, high-level roundtables, and learning events.
• Collaborate with internal and external stakeholders to provide clear messaging on girls’ education, particularly to leverage UNICEF’s value-add.
• Enable a strong network of national and international partners for emergency preparedness and disaster response to enable community resilience in coordination with the Education Cluster.
• Participate and/or represent UNICEF in meetings and events as needed as a technical expert.

Requirements:

• An advanced university degree in one of the following fields is required: education, public administration, international relations, social sciences, or any other relevant studies.
• A minimum of eight years of professional experience in education program planning, management, and research. Experience of working in emergency and crisis contexts with a focus on girls’ education and demonstrate expertise in gender-responsive education program particularly related to girls’ education.
• Experience working in a developing country is considered as an asset.
• Relevant experience in a UN system agency or organization is considered as an asset.
• Relevant experience of working in emergency context is important
• Fluency in English is required, and local languages (Dari & Pashto) is an asset.