Leadership, technical advisory and quality assurance

• Under the leadership of the PDQ Director, contribute to the strategic vision and direction of SCI Ukraine Education programme and portfolio, by leading the development of and being accountable for the quality delivery of a state-of-the-art, ambitious, large-scale Education strategy, both for the ongoing emergency response and for longer-term recovery interventions.
• Provide technical expertise, quality assurance and support to Save the Children Education portfolio in line with international and best practices.
• Ensure the contextualisation of Education interventions, in collaboration with all staff.
• Closely work and create synergy with all other technical advisors to ensure high quality programmes, integration and coherence of programmes across sectors and thematic areas.
• Ensure that Education programming meets SCI and international and national standards based on approved guidelines.
• Anchor SCI Education portfolio on strengthening the national education systems and programming related to access and continuity of quality education across Ukraine, in the short- and long-term.
• In cooperation with the national Education TA, lead and be accountable for the systematic adoption and contextualisation Education Common Approaches (CA) (including building an in-depth understanding of CAs to promote their use in all relevant projects, and monitor their uptake in new awards as well as their quality implementation).
• Lead the design/revision and reporting of SCI Ukraine 2025-2027 Country Strategic Plan (CSP) In cooperation with the national Education TA, goal and milestones/indicators.
• Cooperate effectively with SCI Education regional TA and other technical (Education and non) TAs from SCI and/or SC Members.
• Mobilise, as required, SCI specialised Education technical assistance in thematic areas requiring additional support and specialisation.
• Foster innovative solutions in Education programming.
• Evaluate and oversee the technical quality of Education activities, and develop strategies to improve technical quality when needed, by providing specialised technical support.
• Maintain strong knowledge of the country context in Education, including MoES and other governmental policies and standards – and continuously explore information on needs, issues and constraints.
• In cooperation with the national Education TA, prepare timely programme and donor reports on Education project activities in compliance with SCI’s and SC Members’ requirements and donors’ requirements.

Programme design and proposal development

Under the guidance of the Director of New Business Development (NBD) Unit and in cooperation with NBD staff, as well as in cooperation with the Director of the Recovery and Resilience Initiative for long-term programming:

• With a view of ensuring the financial sustainability of the Education programme, proactively engage and represent SCI Ukraine with donors and funders (in-country, externally, in cooperation with SC Members, etc).
• Lead the technical design of and develop Education proposals (or sections of proposals) to ensure high quality Education submissions that meet donors’ expectations and secure significant funding to the Education programme, for both humanitarian response and longer-term projects.
• Ensure that technical proposals are aligned with SCI’s Country Strategic Plan, Common Approaches and SCI global priorities.
• Cooperate with field-based Education PMs and Heads of Programmes to create well-resourced budget during proposal development.
• Cooperate with field-based Education PMs and MEAL staff to design well-thought through LogFrames during proposal development.
• Ensure that proposals are evidence-based.
• Explore innovative solutions and approaches to design competitive and effective high quality programmes.
• Ensure that Education proposals and projects are informed by child rights and child participation principles.
• Ensure that safeguarding risk assessments inform proposal development to guarantee that Education projects embed safeguarding risk mitigation strategies.
• Provide technical expertise for donor engagement vis-a’-vis Education programming.
• Build relationships across SCI Members, are required, to get technical buy-in and support for new proposals.

Support to program implementation

• Support the Operations Teams in Area Offices to implement Save the Children’s strategy and individual projects in the sector of Education.
• Participate in operational plans development in the sector of Education.
• Support the Operations Teams in Area Offices to deliver activities to the highest standards, assess capacity building needs and areas for improvement.
• Conduct monitoring visits in collaboration with the Operations and MEAL teams to assess quality of implementation (including for partners).
• Work in close cooperation with Partnership team to assess, identify and support implementing and strategic partners in the Education sector.
• Contribute to the development of advocacy, campaigns, communications and media products, in collaboration with the ACCM team.

Staff management and capacity strengthening

• Create a clear plan defining roles and responsibilities of the national Education TA.
• Provide mentoring and on-the-job training and other forms of technical and professional capacitation to the national Education TA.
• In cooperation with the national Education TA, support field-based Education PMs and Coordinators in all operational areas and strengthen their capacity.
• Ensure that appropriate levels of technical assistance and capacity building are provided to partners.
• Periodically review and provide feedback to direct reports.
• Be a compassionate and motivating leader for staff under direct care and management, and support them grow in their role by implementing all HR-related processes and procedures (such as, but may not be limited to, D2P, annual goals, professional development plan).
• Develop education-specific training packages, conduct workshops, trainings and other learning events for Save the Children project teams, partners and other stakeholders.

Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability and Learning

Under the guidance of the Head of MEAL Unit and in cooperation with PDQ- and field-based MEAL staff:

• Measure achievement and progress toward programme goals and results.
• Ensure that programme experience in Ukraine contributes to regional and global learning.
• Technically lead Education components of needs assessments, whether sector-specific or multi-sectoral, from design to data analysis and reporting.
• Strengthen programme learning and documentation on education.
• Working closely with the Accountability lead, ensure that feedback from children and adults is incorporated into Education programme design and learning disseminated to the wider sector.
• Contribute to evidence generation by leading on ensuring effective documentation of interventions, of training materials, knowledge management, and support processes to capture lessons learned.
• When required, technically lead Education components of evaluations, baseline studies and any other research and/or data collection process.

Representation and inter-agency cooperation

• Contribute to external representation in Education in Ukraine and abroad, networking and relationship building with key stakeholders, including with governmental institutions.
• Actively engage with the Education Cluster, and be a SAG member.
• Network and build relationship with key external stakeholders.
• Help establish, maintain, and improve active and regular working relationships with government authorities, donors, partners, and local and international NGOs related to Education.
• Engage with education expertise available within the organization globally, including SC Members, communities of practice and networks to be well aware of thematic updates, best practices, project models, etc.
• Support the coordination of the Digital Transformation Working Group (under the Education Cluster), with a focus on Digital Learning Centres, devices for students and teachers, and other digital and EdTech priorities identified by the Cluster and MoES.
• Coordinate and collaborate with other thematic working/coordination groups or other agencies and stakeholders.

Cross-cutting

• Comply with Save the Children policies and practice with respect to safeguarding (child safeguarding and PSEA), code of conduct, health and safety, equal opportunities and other relevant policies and procedures, in order to advance SCI’s global priorities, such as (but not limited to) gender equality, disability inclusion, safe programming and safeguarding, child participation.
• Actively contribute to strengthening team spirit and cooperation within the PDQ Department Team.
• Promote accountability and high performance, encourage a culture of learning, creativity and innovation, support staff and colleagues in efforts to deliver outstanding results for children in Ukraine.
• Ensure adaptability, flexibility, and ability to work on a wide range of tasks in a wide range of contexts with impeccable attention to detail and accuracy.

Requirements:

Essential

• An Education technical expert with at least 10 years of Education experience in a variety of countries spanning emergency, transition and development contexts, both as an Education (programme) manager and advisor.
• Education to MSc/MA/MEng level in Social Work, Human rights Law, International Relations, Development Studies or similar, or equivalent field experience.
• Ability to identify the main gaps in Education in the given context to inform a holistic response for children.
• Line-management experience of large and varied teams of national and international staff.
• Experience in building relationships, fostering interagency coordination and experience of representing an organization to external stakeholders, including high-level representation experience with donors, local authorities and others.
• Excellent project management skills including planning, budgeting, coordination, evaluation and reporting.
• Proven track-record of successful funding proposals to varied donors, in English language.
• Experience in designing and facilitating training and capacity building.
• Experience in working with and supporting local partners.
• Experience in capacity building and in strengthening various duty bearers understanding of and response to Education needs.
• Ability to write clear and well-argued assessment and project reports, including data analysis, in English language.
• Excellent communication skills (in English language), based on tact, respectful attitude, cultural and gender sensitivity (a politically- and culturally-sensitive individual with qualities of patience, tact and diplomacy).
• Strong influencing skills.
• A high level of written and spoken English.
• Capacity and willingness to be extremely flexible and accommodating in difficult and sometimes insecure working circumstances.
• Ability to organize a workload comprised of complex, diverse tasks and responsibilities.
• Commitment to and understanding of child rights, the aims and principles of Save the Children, and humanitarian standards such as the Sphere Charter and the Code of Conduct. In particular, a good understanding of the SC mandate and child focus and an ability to ensure this continues to underpin our support.

Desirable

• Experience working for an INGO or other humanitarian or development organisation in Ukraine.
• Knowledge of Ukrainian language.
• In-depth knowledge of one or more specific technical areas such as Early Childhood Care and Development, Education policy, Inclusion, Accelerated Learning Programmes/Catch-up, EdTech, Teacher Professional Development.
• Master degree in education.
• Experience in advocacy.
• Specific experience of designing and managing OFCDO, OFDA, ECHO and other major donor projects.