ECD Officer x2 - Akkar

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. IRC reaches over a million children annually with education and child protection programs in 25 countries around the world.

In response to the influx of Syrian refugees to Lebanon in mid-2012, IRC opened a country office and launched humanitarian assistance programming. IRC operates throughout Lebanon, with the main office in Beirut and field offices in Qobayat, Zahle, and Tripoli. IRC’s programs assist Syrian refugees and vulnerable Lebanese in host communities across multiple sectors: education, early childhood development, livelihoods, protection, women's protection and empowerment, health and child protection in close coordination with the Lebanese Government and broader Humanitarian Community.

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.

In December 2017, Sesame Workshop and the IRC were awarded the MacArthur Foundation’s inaugural 100&Change grant to make real progress toward solving a critical problem of our time. With the extraordinary investment of $100 million, our partnership will transform the language, early reading, math, and social-emotional skills of a generation of children ages 0-8 affected by the Syrian war. Focusing on children in Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria over the next five years, the inclusive plan combines the depth of in-person services, reaching 1.5 million children, with the breadth of mass media, reaching 9.4 million children. For more information, please visit: http://refugee.sesameinternational.org/.

Job Overview:

The Early Childhood Development Officer- part of the Multi-Service Community Center MSCC project- will be responsible for the delivery and monitoring of quality ECD services in the assigned locations of community centers and informal settlements with technical oversight and support of partner activities and implementation.

Major Responsibilities:

Project Implementation

• Follow up on children's attendance in the integrated early childhood development program and understand the reason for not attending where applicable.
• Follow up with caregivers regarding the attendance of children when necessary and where applicable.
• Ensure all children, volunteers, and facilitators have adequate materials for all periods of the program.
• As directed by the ECD manager, support the distribution of the necessary materials
• Verify facilitators and volunteers’ attendance and timesheet accuracy.
• Support the M&E team in data collection and data entry with relevant tools, as needed.
• Strengthen relations with the refugees’ community, hosting community stakeholders, and other community groups, and seek their support for the ECD program.
• Ensure deliverables and targets are met in coordination with the field ECD Manager and implementing partner to ensure high-quality ECD services are provided.

Quality monitoring and implementation of ECD programs

• Perform daily quality visits to ECD facilities for quality assessment, monitoring, coaching, and guidance.
• Conduct a range of quality assurance tasks including observations, audits, completion of checklists, and others.
• Support the ECD team in ensuring that the environment/premises standards are measured and respected across the centers, and performance is accomplished regarding selected indicators are adequate with the log-frame and technical guidelines.
• Based on observation, provide technical reports to the ECD Senior Technical Quality manager, and support her in developing quality improvement plans to ensure that program implementation is in line with quality standards.
• Monitor implementation and progress of the project according to the objectives, and work plan, whilst closely coordinating with the M&E team, Field Education manager, and partner.

Training and Capacity Building

• Support the ECD technical team in the implementation of workshops and other capacity-building initiatives in the field.
• Coordinate logistical arrangements for training and capacity-building sessions in the field.

Knowledge Management

• Report activities weekly, highlighting immediately any difficulty or delay faced in the implementation of activities to the ECD Manager and Senior Technical Quality Manager.
• Share monthly reports to direct supervisors against progress in the field, noting/identifying potential areas of improvement and technical recommendations.
• Identify and document programmatic lessons learned and participate in knowledge management activities.
• Collaborate with the ECD manager regarding archiving system and the overall organization of the records.
• Support the production of case studies, success stories, and monthly program newsletters;
• Actively participate in coordination meetings, planning and reporting processes, monitoring, and evaluation of activities.

Key Working Relationships:

Position Reports to ECD Manager (Field based)

Technical Reporting to Senior Technical and Quality Manager (Beirut based)
Position directly supervises:  None
Other Internal and/or external contacts:

Internal: Senior Quality Officer, RMEAL team, IRC field teams, IRC sector staff, and support departments.

Job Requirements:

• Bachelor's degree in Early Childhood Education, Education, Social Development, or any other relevant related field.
• At least 3 years of professional experience working in project implementation, monitoring and capacity building.
• Strong understanding of educational quality standards and quality monitoring tools and strategies.
• Strong written and oral communication skills.
• Proficiency in Microsoft Word, Excel, and Outlook.
• Outstanding interpersonal skills, and effective representation and liaison with external parties.
• Flexibility, commitment, high work ethics, and team spirit.
• Willingness to travel across Lebanon, and provide training to partners, staff members, communities (including informal tented settlements), etc.
• Fluency in Arabic and English, written and oral.

Working Environment:  

The position is based in Akkar and expected to travel extensively within Akkar area, and occasionally to Tripoli and Beirut.

WOMEN OF ALL BACKGROUNDS ARE STRONGLY ENCOURAGED TO APPLY