The USAID Office of Education focuses on implementing the USAID Education Strategy, which has three major goals:
- Goal One: Improved reading skills for 100 million children in primary grades;
- Goal Two: Improved ability of tertiary and workforce development programs to generate workforce skills relevant to a country’s development goals; and
- Goal Three: Increased equitable access to education in crisis and conflict environments for 15 million learners.
The Program Manager is a member of the Access in Crisis and Conflict team within USAID/E3/ED and will report to the Access in Conflict and Crisis Team Leader.
The Access in Crisis and Conflict Team aims to advance the strategic area of increasing equitable access to education in crisis and conflict environments. Work is performed primarily in E3/ED/BE but the incumbent is expected to participate in assignments that may cross organizational lines.
This position is responsible for providing organizational and technical support to ensure the smooth operation of the Access in Crisis and Conflict team specifically related to portfolio management and reporting, knowledge management and communications. This position will oversee the administrative support functions within the team.
B. Key Duties and responsibilities
Portfolio Management and Reporting
- Develop and maintain workflow management system to ensure efficient management and effective support to missions;
- Support Senior Advisors and Technical Specialists in achieving their work goals.
- Contribute to discrete technical work on thematic issues related to Access in Crisis & Conflict;
- Conduct secondary/desk research and synthesize findings on thematic issues in Access in Crisis & Conflict
- Provide support in contract/grant management especially documentation and organization, for the overall effective implementation of the Access in Crisis & Conflict teams portfolio
- Develop and maintain internal and external program information resources
Knowledge management
- Work with KM and Engagement teams (internal and external) to continuously increase knowledge push and uptake
- Support the Access in Crisis & Conflict team with high-level administrative, workflow and knowledge management, including the development of collaborative tools and resources
- Promote knowledge sharing through the Education in Crisis and Conflict team’s processes and systems and across departments
- Assist in the preparation of meeting materials, including data collection, preparation and assembly of materials
- Ensure team files are kept up to da Interviews and confers with education and other program specialists to obtain latest information on Education in Crisis and Conflict programs
Communications
- Assists in drafting speeches, talking points, statements, and other related documents for the education sector to use when addressing both internal and external stakeholders
- Assists education staff with the preparation of narratives for use in the budget and programming cycle including narratives for any training materials
- Develop as required advocacy and communication strategies and materials for international audiences
- Proactively anticipate and plan for new policy and communications products including positions, briefers, and various content
- Prepare international and external communication projects
- Develops complete articles, brochures, press kits, and fact sheets on own initiative; written materials include fact sheets, feature stories, editorials for top agency managers, background statements, and summaries of projects
- Works closely with the senior education communications staff and other key education staff members and leadership, presents findings and recommendations on complex issues or problems impacting education programs
- Develops and implements communication strategies supporting many “proactive” cross-media activities such as strategic planning, social media, multimedia access procedures, and education
- Assists in the preparation of agency newsletters and bulletins, and other reports or publications relevant to education activities of USAID
- Track next steps on all meeting outcomes and communications.
C. Qualifications
- Master’s degree or equivalent with at least 2 -3 years of experience (depending on the category selected) related to education management
- Strong organizational, analytical and troubleshooting skills; detail-oriented; ability to multi-task and prioritize tasks; and able to learn quickly under pressure
- Exceptional writing and editing skills
- Excellent interpersonal and communication skills; the ability to successfully and effectively liaise with people within and across departments in a multi-cultural environment
- Ability to work independently, resourcefully and to own initiative, with flexibility to changing priorities and an eagerness to learn under pressure
- Experience with information management systems and social media platforms
- Works well in teamwork, comfortable in a multi-cultural environment, flexible and able to handle pressure well
- Advanced skills in MS Word, Excel, and Google products and applications
Preferred:
- Experience in overseeing the design of instructional materials for large-scale education programs preferred
- Demonstrated leadership, versatility, and integrity;
- Experience in developing countries, including conflict-affected environments
- Articulate and professional and able to communicate in a clear, positive fashion with clients and staff preferred
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