Creative is seeking a Systems Strengthening Component Lead for an upcoming project in Ethiopia which seeks to improve early learning and holistic development outcomes for pre-primary school children in emergency contexts through increased opportunities to participate in quality, play-based, Education Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) programming. This will include strengthening the Government of Ethiopia (GOE), as conditions permit, as well as non-state actors to manage, regulate and provide ECCE programming.

The Systems Strengthening Component Lead will have overall responsibility for the quality implementation of activities related to enhancing the systems and guidance provided that inform the delivery of early childhood education programming by both state and non-state providers. This will involve engaging in complementary technical assistance to relevant stakeholders on systems management, monitoring, evaluation, and learning (MEL) systems, policy and process mapping, evidence-based planning and decision-making, HR management systems and financial resource management that are in support of enacting policy reforms in the areas of ECCE. S/he will lead the design and development of workplans that result in increased access to quality ECCE programming. S/he will work with project partners and stakeholders to design and develop policy research, and monitoring and evaluation that provide evidence of impact.

The Systems Strengthening Component Lead is expected to report to the Chief of Party and supervise a team of systems strengthening staff.

Responsibilities

• Facilitate a process with the GOE entities including the Ministry of Education and other stakeholders, including non-state sector actors, to map and review existing policy frameworks and determine what systems, policies, practices and behaviors reforms will enhance the will and ability of GOE staff to carry out core functions and complex technical tasks to improve early learning and development outcomes;
• Work with relevant project stakeholders and local officials to provide support to sustain and enhance existing policy initiatives and of the systems that guide the ECCE policies in practice. These would include but are not limited to, quality assurance and supervisory systems, planning, managing, funding and material resourcing of service provision, and ECCE teacher management;
• Facilitate policy review meetings to track progress in implementing new policies, identify corrective actions to speed implementation, and develop tools to assess impact;
• Improve the capacity of GOE entities that support early childhood care and education programs at the woreda and kebele levels to develop leadership, managerial, and supervisory skills to effectively implement policies and regulations regarding access and quality that result in improved learning outcomes;
• Provide coaching and mentoring on various issues including quality assurance and monitoring that results in evidence that can inform decision making for improvements in the policy and regulatory environment of ECCE programming;
• Lead capacity building that result in improved systems which regulate and deliver ECCE programming by both state and non-state actors; and
• Support dissemination of new regulations and policies and opportunities for feedback at all levels through workshops involving government education officials, non-state actors, educators, as well as publications and ongoing media campaigns.

Qualifications

• Master’s degree in education, or related field required;
• At least 10 years of project implementation experience, strategic planning, government systems strengthening, and policy reform, preferably in Ethiopia;
• Specific experience in early childhood care and education provision and reform, institutional capacity building, policy mapping and policy framework development;
• Demonstrated experience working with government agencies, actors, and other stakeholders at the national, district, and local levels;
• At least four (4) years’ demonstrated experience in managing a team, with excellent team building skills;
• Ability to lead collaborative workshops, trainings, and strategic planning sessions with key counterparts and stakeholders;
• Experience in research, monitoring and evaluation, highly desired;
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills; and
• Professional proficiency and fluency in written and spoken English and Amharic.