Technical Advisor II, Education – EMECA

Job Title: Technical Advisor II Education
Department/Country: Europe, Middle East, Central Asia Regional Office (EMECA)
Position Type: Full-Time
Band: 10
Reports To: Deputy Regional Director (DRD), Program Quality for EMECA

NOTE: This is a remote position; CRS prioritizes candidates who are citizens OR permanent residents of the countries where we have CRS offices. CRS does not sponsor visas for remote employees.

About CRS:
Catholic Relief Services is dedicated to building a world in which all people reach their full human potential in just and peaceful societies. Catholic Relief Services is the official international humanitarian agency of the Catholic community in the United States. CRS works to save, protect, and transform lives in need in more than 100 countries, without regard to race, religion or nationality. CRS supports local communities and partners to assist the poorest and most vulnerable and to enact transformational change in their societies.

Background:
The CRS Europe, Middle East, Central Asia (EMECA) region consists of 10 country programs and 20 outreach countries. This includes 18 countries in Europe, 10 in the Middle East and North Africa, and 2 in Central Asia, reflecting recent expansion amid the Ukraine crisis and registration in Pakistan and Yemen. EMECA is home to many complex environments along the humanitarian-development spectrum with populations reflecting immense religious and ethnic diversity. Many countries are beset by protracted conflicts, including the world’s worst humanitarian crises in Afghanistan, Ukraine, Syria, Yemen and Gaza. Other countries are recovering from prior conflicts, and working toward resilience and development, such as Egypt, and Bosnia and Herzegovina. Successive crises have led to large refugee flows and long-term displacement.

CRS’ education strategy includes a conceptual framework based on the whole child approach, with an overarching goal of supporting all children to learn. To reach this goal, CRS country programs work closely with schools, families, communities, governments, and education systems to ensure that children are healthy, safe, engaged, supported, and resilient. In the updated EMECA Regional Strategy (2023-2030), education sector activities contribute to the broader goal of ensuring “children and youth thrive” through increased engagement of families in their children’s education, helping educators meet diverse learning needs with a focus on gender, inclusion, social and emotional learning (SEL), and strengthening educational systems and structures for increased impact.

EMECA’s education portfolio is diverse and spans numerous country contexts and operating environments. In Pakistan, CRS is implementing a prominent Education Resilience Activity focused on strengthening inclusive education and the resilience of the education system to meet student needs in the face of climate change and disruptions due to disasters or conflict. In Egypt, CRS is working across primary, secondary, and tertiary education to provide opportunities for accessing quality education for refugee students or otherwise marginalized populations. In Afghanistan, community-based education continues and CRS’ work is evolving to meet the needs of the changing context. CRS also works on a variety of targeted education interventions for refugee or conflict-affected children and youth living in Greece, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria and support the creation of safe spaces for students in Iraq and Yemen.

Job Summary:
The Technical Advisor II will ensure strategic leadership, technical guidance and support; maintain and improve program quality; and help build CRS’ expertise and impact in the areas of education. S/he will focus on direct provision of technical support in education with a focus on providing holistic interventions that promote systems-level change and local leadership. This position will collaborate closely with the Regional Technical Advisor for Psychosocial Support (RTA/PSS) to ensure technically sound integration of MHPSS, including social and emotional learning and trauma-informed practice, into education programming. S/he will liaise with the global Education sector community to ensure appropriate and timely support for the range of other technical needs expressed by EMECA country programs. The Technical Advisor will assist EMECA countries to develop high quality proposals; support workforce planning and staff development; ensure quality programming; and promote evidence-based learning, adaptation and innovation.

Specific Responsibilities:
Strategic Thinking and Technical Support

• Ensure timely and practical technical support to CRS EMECA country programs for all support needs related to education throughout the design, start-up, implementation, and follow-up project phases. Liaise with the global Education team to identify appropriate staffing support to fill gaps.
• Coordinate with the RTA/PSS to ensure technically sound, evidence-based approaches for the integration of PSS into education programming.
• Support country programs in developing a collaborative understanding of the systems and underlying drivers for change related to providing safe, resilient, supportive, engaging, and inclusive learning environments for children and youth.
• Facilitate stakeholder mapping activities and support country programs to identify entry points to dialogue with government, private sector, civil society, public academic institutions, etc. for achieving holistic, quality learning opportunities.
• Support country programs to develop gender-responsive, inclusive, conflict-sensitive tools and approaches to strengthen the design and implementation of evidence-based education projects.
• Establish productive relationships with implementing teams to identify opportunities to improve program quality in a timely manner. Help articulate clear support needs and expected deliverables.
• Support program quality at key planning milestones including recruitment, start-up workshops, mid-term assessments, project close out.

Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning

• Liaise with the RTA for MEAL and STA for Research and Learning to measure impact of education programming in alignment with CRS Global Results.
• Coordinate with MEAL RTA to provide guidance to country programs and partners in the design and/or enhancement of MEAL strategies, learning questions, tools and protocols to strengthen data collection, analysis and reporting.
• Assist in the design and implementation of rigorous baseline, mid-term and final evaluations; support data analysis; and ensure follow-up of findings/recommendations to improve program quality.
• Promote learning and innovation. Assist CPs to document learning at key points during the project life. Ensure that relevant learning is disseminated within the Region and Agency.
• Represent CRS at internal and external conferences to share our work. Lead coordination with country programs to prepare abstracts, full papers and posters for conferences.

Growth and Impact at Scale

• Reinforce country programs’ capacities in effective stakeholder engagement, and partner-led approaches as a foundation for effective collaboration and sustainable systems change.
• Support country program staff to develop strong relationships with relevant governmental and private sector partners. Contribute to influence and scaling strategies for improving policies and programs.
• Contribute to regional and country program efforts to pre-position CRS for growth opportunities in education programming. As per staffing needs, lead or contribute to the design, development, and technical writing of large and/or complex proposals. Coordinate with internal stakeholders to ensure adherence to best practices, incorporation of lessons learned and overall innovation and competitiveness.
• As needed, provide support to country programs business developments efforts.
• Maintain awareness of important education actors and institutions that CRS might compete or collaborate with. Coordinate with regional business development staff to identify emerging funding opportunities and assist country programs to acquire them. Develop and maintain a network of external consultants that the region and CPs can access for surge support.
• Liaise with global, regional, and sub-regional research institutions to stay updated on research findings and new practices, as well as to seek new partnerships.
• Build working relationship with USAID offices in each country and at the regional level and explore relationships with other important donors in the sector.

Capacity Strengthening

• Liaise with global technical colleagues including the STA for Education in Emergencies and STA for Research and Learning, EMECA regional staff, country programs, and relevant external stakeholders to maintain awareness and understand relevance of the Global CRS Education Strategy and core technical areas such as education in emergencies, inclusive education, UDL, CRS’ SEL How-to Guide, gender responsive education, and resilience in education.
• Maintain awareness of regional and international policy shifts and discussions on providing relevant, quality education opportunities especially for marginalized groups, children living in conflict-affected contexts, displaced populations, and families on the move.
• Work closely with EMECA regional colleagues and country programs to build programming linkages across PSS, youth, gender, and other sectors/lens (livelihoods, nutrition, WASH, emergency response, peacebuilding, etc.).
• Co-lead the EMECA Children and Youth Thrive community of practice and resource library in collaboration with the RTA/PSS and select CP-staff.
• Consult with country programs on workforce planning and capacity strengthening needs. Assist country programs with the recruitment and on-boarding of education staff. Explore capacity building options for staff and partners to fill gaps and leverage opportunities for professional development including trainings and internal TDYs. Facilitate relevant sectoral workshops and trainings for country program and partner staff as needed.

Supervisory Responsibilities: None

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities

• Strong strategic, analytical, systems thinking, results and solutions-orientated skills.
• Ability to coach, mentor and build the capacity of CRS staff and partnerships using a variety of interactive and static methods (community of practice, newsletters, webinars, meetings, workshops).
• Excellent interpersonal skills and the ability to represent and market the strengths of CRS to peer agencies and donors.
• Demonstrated ability to work independently.
• Ability to build good working relationships with people with diverse cultural and linguistic backgrounds.

Required Languages: Fluency in English. Arabic, Dari, Urdu, or other regional language preferred.

Required Travel: Must be willing and able to travel up to 35% throughout the EMECA region, with occasional travel to the US for CRS meetings and donor conferences etc.

Key Working Relationships:
Internal: EMECA Regional Director; EMECA DRD/PQ; the EMECA RTA/PSS and the wider EMECA PQ team; EMECA Country Representatives and Heads of Programming; Education program/project managers; CRS’ global Education Technical Advisors.
External: Host country government ministries, bilateral and multilateral organizations, non-governmental organizations, public and private educational institutions, private sector partners, USAID, ECHO, LDSC, and other stakeholders as relevant.

Basic Qualifications:

• Master’s degree in education, international development and other fields as relevant; Academic study and experience in inclusion, education in emergencies, family/community engagement, or teacher professional development & responsive pedagogy highly preferred.
• 6-10 years of professional experience in the field of education, with preference for overseas experience in the Middle East and/or central Asia (Afghanistan, Pakistan) region or complex, conflict-affected contexts.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Experience with major institutional donors’ requirements and trends will be highly valued.
• Demonstrated knowledge and experience in child protection, education in emergencies, and resilience in education highly preferred.
• Understanding of technical principles, standards, and best practices in the education sector, especially in gender, inclusion, resilience in education, and education in emergencies. Familiarity with the humanitarian, development and peace nexus.
• Demonstrated strategic leadership and experience in supporting successful, systems-strengthening approaches for sustainable learning opportunities in diverse, complex settings.
• Demonstrated knowledge of the education context and policy environment in the Middle East and central Asia (Afghanistan, Pakistan).
• Experience in mentoring, coaching, facilitation and training applying adult learning principles and practices.
• Experience with program monitoring and evaluation, including applying data collection tools and methodologies, data analysis, and data presentation.
• Experience and skills in networking and relations with donors, peer organizations, and faith-based and civil society partners. Understanding of partnership principles.
• Strong analytical skills with an emphasis on learning and adaptation and demonstrated interest in knowledge management and learning.
• Expertise in project design and proposal review.
• Proficient in MS Office packages (Excel, Word, PowerPoint), Web Conferencing Applications, information and budget management systems, knowledge-sharing networks.

Agency REDI Competencies (for all CRS Staff):

Agency competencies clarify expected behaviors and attitudes for all staff. When demonstrated, they create an engaging workplace, help staff achieve their best, and help CRS achieve agency goals. These are rooted in the mission, values, and guiding principles of CRS and used by each staff member to fulfill his or her responsibilities and achieve the desired results.

• Personal Accountability – Consistently takes responsibility for one’s own actions.
• Acts with Integrity – Consistently models values aligned with CRS Guiding Principles and mission. Is considered honest.
• Builds and Maintains Trust – Shows consistency between words and actions.
• Collaborates with Others – Works effectively in intercultural and diverse teams.
• Open to Learn – Seeks out experiences that may change perspective or provide an opportunity to learn new things.

Agency Leadership Competencies:

• Lead Change – Continually looks for ways to improve the agency through a culture of agility, openness, and innovation.
• Develops and Recognizes Others – Builds the capacity of staff to reach their full potential and enhance team and agency performance.
• Strategic Mindset – Understands role in translating, communicating, and implementing agency strategy and team priorities

***Our Catholic identity is at the heart of our mission and operations. Catholic Relief Services carries out the commitment of the Bishops of the United States to assist the poor and vulnerable overseas. We welcome as a part of our staff people of all faiths and secular traditions who share our values and our commitment to serving those in need.

Disclaimer: This job description is not an exhaustive list of the skill, effort, duties, and responsibilities associated with the position.

Note: All positions requiring residence or frequent travel outside their home country must undergo and clear a pre-employment medical examination.

CRS talent acquisition procedures reflect our commitment to safeguarding the rights and dignity of all people – especially children and vulnerable adults – to live free from abuse and harm.

CRS welcomes candidates from the countries and regions in which we work. In the event the successful candidate is an expatriate or global telecommuter, the anticipated duration of the assignment is informed by a term limit, based on the type and level of the job and the needs of the agency.

CRS is an Equal Opportunity Employer