Education Officers (Field Coordination) 3 Positions

I. Post InformationJob Title:EDUCATION OFFICERS (FIELD COORDINATION) – 3 positionsJob Level: NO-BType of Contract: Temporary AppointmentSupervisor Title/ Level:Education Cluster Coordinator, P-4, #91540Organizational Unit:Humanitarian Affairs Post Locations:TRIPOLI, TYRE, or ZAHLE (Lebanon) II. Organizational Context and Purpose for the jobThe fundamental mission of UNICEF is to promote the rights of every child, everywhere, in everything the organization does — in programs, in advocacy and in operations. The equity strategy, emphasizing the most disadvantaged and excluded children and families, translates this commitment to children’s rights into action. For UNICEF, equity means that all children have an opportunity to survive, develop and reach their full potential, without discrimination, bias or favoritism. To the degree that any child has an unequal chance in life — in its social, political, economic, civic and cultural dimensions — her or his rights are violated. There is growing evidence that investing in the health, education and protection of a society’s most disadvantaged citizens — addressing inequity — not only will give all children the opportunity to fulfill their potential but also will lead to sustained growth and stability of countries. This is why the focus on equity is so vital. It accelerates progress towards realizing the human rights of all children, which is the universal mandate of UNICEF, as outlined by the Convention on the Rights of the Child, while also supporting the equitable development of nation. Job organizational context: The influx of Syrian refugees into Lebanon over the years along with the long term Palestinian refugees, Lebanese returnees and vulnerable Lebanese families has caused a complex set of problems for the Lebanese authorities and the international community. The overall national and regional political, social and economic context is shifting and dynamic as is the national, regional and international response.  Education for a very large number of children over the medium term has become one of the greatest challenges.In such a fluid environment, there is a potential for education fragmentation and a breakdown in the communications needed between the different stakeholders to ensure a coherent, coordinated and complementary response.  Within the national framework there has to be the immediate humanitarian response, which has to lead into a longer-term learning framework for the children who are likely to remain for some considerable time.  Provision of services has fallen to both the national state institutions and the international agencies who are working through a large number of non-governmental organizations.  The legal and regulatory frameworks for managing the response have had to be developed and are in many cases still being adjusted.In order to maximize the efficiency and effectiveness of the response it is essential that there are mechanisms in place to ensure horizontal and vertical information flows between regional, national, state and non-state actors; to direct and support the management of shifts from humanitarian to resilience and development; to ensure coherence and to build the evidence base to better inform the policy and strategic planning processes.The Ministry of Education and Higher Education (MEHE) leads the education sector. UNICEF provides support to MEHE to coordinate and are the lead UN agency for the education sector at national and field level. The coordination mechanism established at national level are duplicated in the four field areas (South and Nabatieh, North and Akkar, Beirut and Mount Lebanon; and Bekaa and Baalbek-Hermel). Education field coordinators coordinate partners and activities under the LCRP of these areas. As part of its responsibilities for coordination, UNICEF will provide three Education Officers for field coordinators covering the following areas: 1. North and Akkar (based in Tripoli), 2. Bekaa and Baalbek-Hermel (based in Zahle) and 3. South, Nabatieh, Beirut and Mount Lebanon (Based in Tyre). Purpose for the job: The Education Officer (Field Coordination) will support and continue the effective and efficient education coordination already in place at the field level, and be the contact point for liaison between the planning processes, inter agency strategy development and cross-sectoral planning at regional level. Furthermore, the field coordinator will ensure increased participation of national, local and community-based organizations to the coordination mechanisms as well as improving their capacity in prevention and response. III. Key function, accountabilities and related duties/tasks Under the overall supervision of the UNICEF head of the Humanitarian Affairs Unit and the direct supervision of the Education Cluster Coordinator and in cooperation with the Regional Ministry of Education and Higher Education (MEHE), the key functions include the following: 1. Maintenance of effective coordination mechanisms at field level-Maintain/ensure appropriate field coordination with regional authorities and education partners including liaising and working with government counterparts.-Identify and establish contact with relevant field-based national and international organizations, and representatives of affected populations. As appropriate invite these stakeholders to participate as partners in the work of the sector.-Convene and facilitate regional meetings of the sector (and/or joint meetings with another sector), on a timetable to be agreed by the sector.  -Ensure that sector coordination meetings are well managed and action and results-oriented, with decisions clearly communicated to relevant sector partners and stakeholders.  -Support the Inter-Agency Coordination body to establish and maintain appropriate field-based cross-sector coordination mechanisms. Represent the sector in cross-sector coordination fora as appropriate at regional level.-Ensure that updated and relevant education information from the field is reported back to national level and included in general reporting. 2. Preparedness and capacity of education sector members at field level effectively established and strengthened-Support regional capacity mapping and gap identification exercises.-Identify training needs of field-based sector partners and report to the national coordinator. 3. Participate in sector-wide needs assessment and situation analysis, prioritization of programme intervention and sector planning-Participate in field-based joint cross-sector needs assessment exercises as appropriate to ensure that identified needs, gaps and priorities are as evidence-based as possible. 4. Ensure integration of cross-cutting issues in all field coordination activities-Raise awareness of and promote the integration of agreed priority cross-cutting issues (e.g. child labour, early marriage, school feeding) in sector/cross-sector needs assessments, analysis, planning, implementation and monitoring. -Attend relevant field sector meetings on cross-cutting issues and particularly the child protection field sector meetings. 5. Application of standards, guidelines and good practice-Facilitate discussion and agreement on the use of common standards and tools among field-based education partners. -Ensure that sector partners are aware of relevant commitments that the Government has made under international human rights and humanitarian law and promote a response that is in line with these commitments. 6. Information management, monitoring, evaluation and reporting effectively conducted to improve programme performance, and programme status report timely prepared.-Facilitate adequate reporting and information sharing, both within the sector and with other sectors. This will involve contact list management, collecting information from partners, ensuring partners enter all relevant information in Activity Info before the deadline and ensuring it is shared with the sector and other interested parties.-Facilitate field discussion on what monitoring activities will be undertaken to review the impact of the sector’s response and ensure they are implemented.-Provide inputs to reports, studies, etc. as requested by education sector coordinator 7. Support and implement the education sector advocacy strategy on core education concerns-Together with field-based education partners, identify core advocacy concerns for the sector and contribute to the national development of key messages and the advocacy strategy. IV. Impact of Results  A more effective and efficient education coordination in support of MEHE in place at the field level. V. Competencies and level of proficiency required (based on UNICEF Professional Competency Profiles. Core Values -Commitment -Diversity and inclusion-Integrity Core competencies-Communication [II]-Working with People [II]-Drive for Result [II]  Functional Competencies:-Formulating Strategies and Concepts [I]-Analysing [I]-Relating and Networking [II]-Persuading and Influencing [II]-Creating and Innovating [I] VI. Recruitment Qualifications Education: University degree in Education or related social sciences field. Experience:-Minimum of two years of relevant professional experience with UN or NGO-Knowledge and experience in application of international technical guidelines and standards in Education.-Proven technical expertise in the area of education assessments including survey, program implementation, monitoring and coordination. -Previous experience in coordination-Demonstrated experiences in organising and conducting training activities and information campaign on education related issues. Language Requirements: Excellent knowledge of English and Arabic (written / oral / comprehension)