ECD -Digital Projects Coordinator

Job Description

Background

The International Rescue Committee (IRC) helps people whose lives and livelihoods are shattered by conflict and disaster to survive, recover, and gain control of their future. Founded in 1933 at the request of Albert Einstein, the IRC works with people forced to flee from war, conflict and disaster and the host communities that support them, as well as with those who remain within their homes and communities. At-work today in over 40 countries and 22 U.S. cities, we restore safety, dignity and hope to millions who are uprooted and struggling to endure. The IRC reaches over a million children annually with education and child protection programs in 25 countries around the world.

Years of war in Syria have pushed millions from their homes and into poverty, and millions more have become refugees in Lebanon, Jordan, Turkey, Iraq and further afield. Equally complex is the emergency in Iraq, where waves of fighting and displacement have overwhelmed infrastructure and services and pushed communities to the brink. The economic, social, and health effects of these dual crises have changed the entire region. In the Middle East (Syria, Lebanon, Jordan and Iraq) IRC responds to displaced people’s acute and longer-term needs with integrated programs that improve health and safety, prioritize children’s education, foster economic wellbeing, and empower communities to regain control over their lives.

Early Childhood Development Programming

High-quality Early Childhood Development (ECD) programs provide the foundation for children’s future academic success, health, prosperity and wellbeing. A large body of scientific evidence emphasizes the need for increased investment in early childhood, particularly for children experiencing conflict, crisis and displacement; these children are extremely vulnerable to the long-lasting effects that prolonged stress has on the developing brain. With the generous support of the MacArthur Foundation’s inaugural 100&Change grant, the LEGO Foundation and the Bezos Foundation, the IRC and Sesame Workshop have partnered to provide quality early childhood development programs for refugee and host communities in the countries affected by the Syrian refugee crisis in the Middle East. Focusing on children in Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria over the course of five years, the Ahlan Simsim, Play to Learn and Vroom projects combine a depth of in-person activities and digital content, aiming to reach 1.5 million children and caregivers across the region.

ECD Digital Projects

In the Syria Response and due to ongoing displacement and populations movements across countries in the region, there is a need to ensure maximum portability. The challenges that families were already experiencing in the region have been exacerbated by the COVID-19 outbreak, with thousands of children losing access to schools and educational activities, and caregivers taking over home-schooling duties in already precarious settings. The IRC acknowledges that digital tactics and technology platforms provide a good opportunity to respond to these challenges and expand possibilities for programming at scale even beyond this pandemic. To this end, a digital strategy was developed with the aim of providing a roadmap for prioritizing digital initiatives and tools that can improve access to quality services and the effectiveness of the IRC and Sesame Workshop’s early childhood development (ECD) interventions.

The IRC is currently looking for a Digital Projects Coordinator to lead on the Regional ECD Digital Portfolio. The position will report to the Regional Project Director and will be responsible for the operationalization of the ECD Digital Strategy and the oversight and management of ECD digital projects. The portfolio includes Ahlan Simsim, Play to Learn and Vroom projects, and initiatives that encompass a content management system and digitization of content, app development and testing, piloting of a mass messaging platform, management of social media platforms and client engagement strategies and roll-out of digital literacy initiatives, among others.

The ECD Digital Projects Coordinator will be responsible for the following key objectives:

• Lead on all regional ECD Digital projects — management and coordination
• Support digital content development and content digitization processes
• Oversee the development of social media and digital engagement strategies
• Contribute to Research, Evaluation and Learning on digital initiatives
• Build and maintain strategic partnerships that contribute to digital and scaling work streams

Key responsibilities

Digital projects management & coordination

• Lead on the operationalization of the ECD Regional Digital Strategy;
• Provide strategic guidance and technical support to ECD teams in the development and roll-out of digital solutions;
• Oversee and track status of all digital projects, ensuring they all work in line with set timelines and expectations;
• Regularly up-date of work plans, spending plans and progress reports;
• Lead regular coordination meetings to up-date key stakeholders on the status of digital projects;
• Ensure administrative management of consultant and vendor contracts, including liaison between consultants/vendors and IRC teams, execution of contract deliverables and payments, etc.

Content development and digitization processes

• Support the development and maintenance of a content management system (CMS) to help staff organize, manage and disseminate content digitally;
• Oversee content development digitization processes, including videos, audio clips, images and social media feeds;
• Provide technical and final review of digital content for consistency with donor requirements and branding guidelines;
• Lead coordination between content, technology and research teams to ensure content meets the needed timeline, quality and specifications for digital release;
• Supervise a team of full-time, part-time and/or consultants covering content development and digitization, e-learning initiatives, management of social media platforms, graphic design, etc.
• Support the development of digital literacy initiatives (for staff, facilitators and clients) that encourages technology knowledge as a life skill.

Social Media and client digital engagement

• Oversee the roll-out of caregiver-facing digital solutions, such as the WhatsApp distant learning/Mass Messaging Platform, WhatsApp caregiver groups and Caregiver/Facilitator Apps;
• Monitor current digital technologies and trends, with a particular focus on digital platforms and tools most frequently used by vulnerable and displaced populations in the region.
• Develop and execute a Communications and Social media strategy for IRC’s ECD projects (Ahlan Simsim, Play to Lear, Vroom), including an M&E strategy, aimed at reaching vulnerable, displaced and host community audiences;
• Oversee Facebook page, reviewing and updating regularly per approved cadence and process. Stay up-to-date on Facebook guidance to ensure compliance and address any changes to the platform before they happen;
• Design and strategies to support community outreach and client digital engagement strategies and regularly pitch ideas for new social media content;
• Support the development of training materials on user generated content.

Research, evaluation and learning initiatives

• Support in the design of a framework to track the reach, progress and effectiveness of ECD digital interventions, including set-up of outcomes, outputs, indicators and means of verification;
• Support in the integration of M&E tools in existing data collection and monitoring systems and processes, and capacity building of staff;
• Set specific objectives, analyze data and report regularly on reach, trends and learnings;
• Support the design and implement rigorous testing of digital content and digital pilots; 
• Coordinate the production of case studies and external presentations on digital projects.

Strategic partnerships and scaling

• Ensure digital projects and products are designed in a way that facilitates broad dissemination and scaling as well as with a strategic, low-cost business model for maintenance;
• Identify, build and maintain strategic partnerships with digital or technology organizations and companies as well as build those relationships within the IRC and existing IRC partners;
• Represent and advance IRC’s profile externally in innovation and technology fora and events in the region.

Key Working Relationships:

Position Reports to:  Regional Project Director – Ahlan Simsim

Position supervises: a team of full-time, part time and/or consultants, covering functions such as ECD content development, content digitization, social media management, information management, graphic design, etc.

Other Internal and/or external contacts:

Internal: ECD staff (regional and countries’ teams), Technical Advisors (region and HQ based), IRC support staff;       

External: Sesame Workshop, donors, local partners and authorities, community representatives.

Qualifications

• 3-5 years proven experience in managing digital projects and/or product management;
• Must have experience working on complex digital projects and/or multiple digital projects in tandem;
• Experience in developing work plans, timelines, project and spending tracking tools;
• Experience in the use of technology for education, health or protection programming preferred;
• Experience in humanitarian aid projects and/or social impact projects, preferred;
• Experience managing staff and/or consultants required; experience building a team preferred;
• Knowledge in client-centered and rights-based design and approaches is a plus;
• Experience working with WhatsApp Business or WhatsApp Business Providers preferred;
• Excellent English and Arabic skills (written and spoken);
• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills with various types of people and business functions;
• Must be a multitasker with strong planning, organizing and strategic thinking skills comfortable working in a fast paced, multicultural environment.

Working Environment:

Standard office work environment

Travel required – potential visits to countries implementing IRC ECD programming in the region (Jordan, Lebanon, Iraq, and Syria).

The position reports to Regional Project Director and is part of the ECD Regional team, with the possibility to be based in Jordan or Lebanon.