EECD Senior Officer - Beirut

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. 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 Deir Dalloum and Zahle. IRC’s programs assist Syrian refugees and vulnerable Lebanese in host communities across multiple sectors: education and early childhood development, livelihoods, and protection in close coordination with the Lebanese Government and broader humanitarian and development community. The IRC’s Education and Early Childhood Development (EECD) program has provided support to Syrian and Lebanese communities through inclusive access to early development and learning opportunities, formal and non-formal quality education, and caregivers’ engagement, through inter-sector and innovative approaches reaching thousands of children and caregivers across the country.

Reporting to the Education and Early Childhood Development (EECD) Senior Technical Manager, the EECD Senior  Officer contributes to the design, adaptation, and quality implementation of EECD programming. The role supports the development and adaptation of technical EECD materials, capacity strengthening of partners and facilitators, and ensures adherence to IRC technical standards across program implementation.

The Senior Technical Officer plays a hands-on technical support role, ensuring that program content is effectively designed, adapted to context, delivered, and aligned with quality benchmarks, while contributing to learning, documentation, and continuous improvement.

Major Responsibilities:

1. Program Scaling & Adaptation:

• Support the development of new and adaptation and contextualization of existing EECD content including but not limited to curricula, tools, and learning materials.
• Identify programmatic gaps and propose context-appropriate technical solutions.
• Support integration of EECD approaches across different delivery platforms (community-based centers, hybrid and remote modalities).

• Contribute to desk reviews and documentation of best practices, evidence-based approaches, policy briefs and fact sheets.

2. Quality of Program Implementation:

• Conduct regular field visits and observations to assess quality of implementation and provide coaching and technical support.
• Contribute to the establishment and rollout of a coaching and supportive supervision system for facilitators and frontliners.
• Document findings, lessons learned, and recommendations for program improvement.

In coordination with the Senior Technical Manager and country and regional MEAL teams, support data review processes to inform adaptive programming and flag emerging trends or concerns.

3. Training and Capacity Strengthening:

• Support the preparation of trainings and capacity-building sessions.
• Deliver and/or support the delivery of trainings and workshops for facilitators, teachers, and partners.
• Identify capacity gaps affecting quality delivery and recommend training interventions.
• Contribute to tracking capacity strengthening progress and outcomes.
• Maintain sustained technical engagement with local and government partners, strengthening their capacity, and ensuring alignment with program quality standards
• Support and coordinate EECD-related policy, advocacy and scaling efforts with strategic partners
• Support the coordination and the development of the advocacy goals and plans; ensure advocacy activities are conducted in close coordination with partners and are high-quality, strategically aligned and designed, implemented, and monitored in line with program requirements and monitoring system.
• Support in identifying decision makers and influencers for EECD policy goals in close coordination with advocacy advisors at both country and regional levels.
• Work closely with the project team and regional team to support planning, implementing, and managing advocacy and policy engagement activities.

4. Representation and Coordination:

• Participate in relevant coordination meetings and technical working groups as delegated.
• Support engagement with partners, NGOs, and local stakeholders.
• Contribute to preparation of briefs, presentations, and technical inputs for meetings and reporting.

Key Working Relationships:

Reports to: EECD Senior Technical Manager
Position directly supervises: None

Other Internal and/or external contacts:

 Internal: IRC Operations and Support Departments; EECD Technical Units (HQ/Region), Policy, Advocacy and Communication team, MEAL and Partnership teams, Ahlan Simsim Regional Team, IRC Sector Coordinators.

External: Relevant government officials and entities, local NGOs and INGOs, UN agencies, local Education & EECD stakeholders and working groups.

Requirements:

• Bachelor’s degree in Education, or Early Childhood Development, or related field
• 3–5 years of relevant professional experience in education/ECD programming.
• Experience in training delivery, material adaptation, or program implementation (a must).
• Understanding of the Lebanese education/ECD context is an asset.
• Basic knowledge of Monitoring & Evaluation tools and approaches.
• Strong communication and coordination skills.
• Ability to work collaboratively and provide field-level technical support.
• Fluency in Arabic and English required (French is a plus).
• Proficiency in Microsoft Office (Word, Excel, Outlook).

Working Environment:

• Standard office work environment with frequent travel to field implementation sites at national level.

 • Position is based in the IRC office in Beirut, Lebanon.