USAID Project Management Specialist (Education), FSN-11

Job Context

• The Project Management Specialist (Education) is a recognized expert in the field of education in Bangladesh, particularly in the areas of early grade reading and education in emergencies. Education in emergencies can include regions impacted by refugee crises, flooding, earthquakes, and other shocks. Through the management of large education activities, the development of the Mission`s education approach for education emergency response, and engagement with senior education counterparts from the Government of Bangladesh (GOB) and humanitarian organizations, the incumbent guides and impacts USAID`s achievement of education results in Bangladesh.
• The incumbent serves a key advisor to the Mission Director and the Director of the Office of Population, Health, Nutrition, and Education (OPHNE), and he/she influences and makes recommendations on high-level Mission programming, resource allocation, and policy decisions to achieve the Agency`s basic education goals in early grade reading and education in emergencies. The incumbent contributes to education in emergencies strategy and reporting efforts for the Education Team. As the Agreement Officer`s Representative (AOR) and Contracting Officer`s Representative (COR), the incumbent designs, procures, negotiates, manages, monitors, and evaluates USAID/Bangladesh`s education in emergencies activities. He/she establishes and maintains close, collaborative relationships with senior-level contacts in the Ministry of Primary and Mass Education, the Ministry of Education, and contacts in Cox`s Bazar district to ensure the alignment of USAID activities into the GOB`s sector plans and humanitarian response plans. He/she also establishes and maintains relationships with development partners, multilateral organizations, international non-governmental organizations (NGOs), and international NGOs to coordinate USAID`s approach within complementary sector initiatives.

Job Description / Responsibility

• ACTIVITY MANAGEMENT, MONITORING, AND EVALUATION
• Achieve USAID objectives in the education sector through AOR/COR management of large implementing mechanisms focusing on basic education, including education in emergencies. Ensure achievement of activity results and production of quality deliverables, and lead the change management of USAID strategy and activities in a fluid emergency response environment. Provide technical direction, guidance and oversight of education activities; monitor activity progress against objectives; ensure compliance with terms and conditions of agreements; ensure timeliness of implementation; monitor budgets, pipelines, accruals and other financial matters; and manage activity closeout.
• Liaise between the GOB and implementing partners to ensure that USAID implementing mechanisms align with GOB sector plans; identify opportunities for USAID activities to work through government systems; remain abreast of the changing priorities of GOB counterparts or changing circumstances on the ground; identify opportunities for USAID activities to respond to emergent needs; and facilitate dialogue and collaboration between USAID activities and the senior, technical, and local counterparts in the GOB.
• Liaise between education in emergencies stakeholders and implementing partners to ensure the coordination of USAID activities within the humanitarian response plans of development partners and NGOs.
• Lead activity monitoring and evaluation. Make regular site visits to monitor activity implementation and assess changing circumstances. Write trip reports, identify lessons learned, and share the findings with USAID colleagues. Evaluate implementing partner performance, maintain activity records and status reports, prepare necessary project documentation, and recommend solutions to implementation problems.
• Identify and track performance indicators for education activities, and conduct Data Quality Assessments of those indicators to be incorporated in the annual Performance Plan and Report and Performance Monitoring Plan.
• Oversee implementing partners' expenditure of funds. Participate in activity budget formulation and review of expenditures, and ensure value for money for U.S. taxpayers. Coordinate with USAID's support offices to monitor implementing partners' adherence to USAID financial and management procedures. Highlight and resolve any financial or other procedural non-compliance through consultation with the relevant USAID office and the Chief of Party. Collaborate with the Office of Financial Management to verify implementing partner responsiveness to and accountability for audit findings.
• Develop and lead analyses and assessments to inform USAID's response to emergencies (such as Rapid Education and Risk Analyses).
• Lead regularly scheduled meetings and activity reviews with implementing partners and GOB officials to discuss the progress of activity implementation.
• Coordinate with the OPHNE Communications Advisor and the Development Outreach Communications (DOC) team to develop and disseminate communications products that highlight USAID's investments in education in Bangladesh.
• Work closely with the implementing partners and other parties to ensure that program achievements and lessons learned are properly disseminated to national and international stakeholders.
• Serve as the Control Officer for VIP visits to USAID activity sites, including preparing briefing documents, arranging logistics, and drafting press-releases.
• EDUCATION PLANNING, REPORTING, AND ACTIVITY DESIGN:
• Develop the sections of education strategy documents (such as the Project Appraisal Document and the education section of the Country Development and Cooperation Strategy) that pertain to education in emergencies.
• Collaborate with other offices to procure education activities. Develop procurement documents, such as Statements of Work, Program Descriptions, Independent Government Cost Estimates (IGCE), and acquisition plans; prepare and modify Global Acquisition and Assistance System (GLAAS) requisitions and route them for approval; lead the procurement process of education activities, including guiding co-creation processes or chairing the technical evaluation committees.
• Develop technical analysis, briefing papers, talking points, memos and cables for information and action, and respond to requests from Mission management, USAID/Washington, and other parties as needed.
• Inform advice and make recommendations to the Mission on political and technical education issues and policies based on review of evidence-based information/reports, program experiences, observations, professional networking, and judgment.
• Draft the education section of the Performance Plan and Report, the Operational Plan, and other Mission reporting documents for USAID.
• Develop remarks for the Mission Director, Office Director, and Education Team Leader at high-level events. The remarks must sensitively and compellingly convey key political and technical messages of USAID's education portfolio.
• Coordinate with other offices at USAID/Bangladesh and the Department of State (such as the Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration) engaged in emergency response in Bangladesh to ensure harmonization of approach and to identify areas for collaboration.
• EXTERNAL STAKEHOLDER COORDINATION, RELATIONSHIPS, AND REPRESENTATION:
• Establish, maintain, and enhance relationships with senior officials in the Ministry of Primary and Mass Education and the Ministry of Education to deepen government support for USAID activities. Solicit GOB input and facilitate USAID activities to work within and strengthen host country systems.
• Provide policy and procedural advice, advocacy, and recommendations pertaining to USAID education priorities on politically sensitive issues to mid-to-high-ranking officials at the national, division, and local levels.
• Lead discussions with Government of Bangladesh counterparts to review USAID's education activity results. When warranted by changing government priorities or the emergence of new opportunities, conceptualize and draft amendments to cooperative agreements, contracts, and other documents to achieve new activity directions.
• Liaise between implementing partners and stakeholders engaged in education in emergencies response at the Dhaka and Cox's Bazar levels, including: the Cox's Bazar Sector Coordinator, UNICEF, UNHCR, international NGOs, and local NGOs. Represent USAID at technical meetings on emergency response. Identify opportunities for USAID initiatives to complement the efforts of other partners, and provide briefings on USAID activities to local stakeholders.
• Establish and maintain relationships with backstops in USAID/Washington, including the Education in Conflict and Crisis team and the Asia Bureau. Solicit their input on technical best practices and provide briefings and updates on politically and technically sensitive issues, as required.
• Maintain senior-level and technical contacts on behalf of USAID with the chiefs of party and technical staff of implementing partners, development partners, non-governmental organizations, Bangladeshi universities, and the private sector to promote coordination and collaboration of USAID's education programs with related initiatives.
• Represent and make presentations on behalf of USAID at technical meetings within and outside the Mission, such as portfolio reviews, national level committees, and task forces. The incumbent may also make presentations on behalf of USAID at regional and international USAID Education Workshops and other global education conferences.
• Coordinate with the AOR/COR of other USAID education activities, technical offices, and related U.S. government agencies to fulfill the mandate of the U.S. Government International Basic Education Strategy to leverage complementary investments in U.S. government basic education programming.

Job Nature

Full Time

Educational Requirements

Bachelor of Education (B.Ed)

Experience Requirements

At least 10 year(s)

Job Requirements

N/A

Job Location

Dhaka

Salary Range

Not mentioned

Other Benefits

• Tk. 2684098 - 4756295 (Yearly)
• T/A, Mobile bill, Tour allowance, Medical allowance, Provident fund, Weekly 2 holidays, Insurance, Gratuity
     
• Festival Bonus: 2(Yearly)