Call for Applications: Senior Project Officer (Consultant), ADEA

Deadline for submissions is Friday, July 5th, 2019 at midnight (12:00 am) GMT to the following address: adea-applications@afdb.org. The subject of the e-mail should be “Senior Project Officer”.

Introduction

The Association for the Development of Education in Africa (ADEA) is a forum for policy dialogue on education and it is hosted by the African Development Bank Group in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire.  Its vision is to create “high-quality African education and training geared towards the promotion of critical skills for accelerated and sustainable development in Africa”. ADEA’s mission therefore is to “serve as an open and flexible pan-African organization that informs and facilitates the transformation of education and training to drive Africa’s accelerated and sustainable development”. It acts as a catalyst in promoting innovative policies and practices through the pooling of ideas, experiences, learning and knowledge. ADEA’s overall goal is to contribute to empowering African countries to develop education and training systems that respond to their emergent needs and drive Africa’s sustainable social and economic transformation.

ADEA’s main organs are its Steering Committee (SC), Executive Committee (EC), the Secretariat, Inter-Country Quality Nodes (ICQNs) and Task Force (TF).

The anticipated impact of the ADEA new Strategic Plan 2018-2022 is African countries that are empowered to develop education and training systems that respond to their emergent needs and drive Africa’s sustainable socioeconomic transformation. Two pillars guide the implementation of the strategic plan: the Continental Education Platform and the country-based Advisory and Execution Support Services. Both pillars are aligned to the African Union’s Continental Education Strategy for Africa 2016-2025 (CESA 16-25) and the Sustainable Development Goal No. 4 on Education (SDG4).

To achieve its objective under the new Strategic Plan, ADEA through a three (3) year agreement with the MasterCard foundation (MCF), will provide additional human capacity support to ICQNs through more dedicated time from country focal points and embedding a dedicated Project Officer (PO) in each country. To this end, ADEA is in the process of recruiting four ICQN Project Officers, and a Senior Project Officer based at the ADEA Secretariat. The level of execution of the quarterly work plan will provide the basis for the evaluation of performance of the Project Officers, Senior Project Officer and, subsequently, the ICQNs.

The overall mandate of the Senior Project Officer will be to manage and follow up the day-to-day implementation of activities under the MasterCard Foundation agreement and thus produce timely activity reports. The Senior Project Officer will be based in the ADEA Secretariat and will report to the Senior Programs Officer.

Scope of Assignment

Under the general supervision of the ADEA Senior Programs Officer, the Senior Project Officer will:

  • Supervise the day-to-day work of the Project Officers attached to the respective ICQNs (Teaching and Learning, Higher Education and Scientific Research, Technical and Vocational Skills Development, and Secondary Education);
  • Provide guidance to the respective ICQNs through the provision of dedicated coordination and communications support;
  • Track the day-to-day progress of implementation of specific activities of the respective ICQNs;
  • Review and compile the submitted quarterly status reports of each of the four ICQNs for subsequent Secretariat approval, consolidation and submission to the MasterCard Foundation by the Senior Programs Officer;
  • Collaborate with the ICQNs and the Secretariat to produce timely integrated periodical performance reports;
  • Support the improvement of the M&E processes, and knowledge management and dissemination, from the respective ICQNs;
  • Produce and submit news-worthy information from the respective ICQNs for review by the Senior Programs Officer and for sharing with the Knowledge Management Officer, M&E Expert and the Senior Communications Officer for publication and dissemination;
  • Support and contribute to the development of a calendar of events at the ICQN level;
  • Coordinate meetings with the respective ICQNs; 
  • Enhance the contribution of the respective ICQNs in regional meetings through case studies and best practices;
  • Ensure Coordination and communication at the ICQN level;
  • Work closely with the coordinators and project officers of the respective ICQNs;
  • Provide support to Secretariat-level program implementation.

Candidate’s Profile

The Senior Project Officer will be employed for a period of one year, with a further renewal of two years depending on satisfactory performance and results. 

The officer is expected to possess the following qualifications and experience:

  • A minimum of Master ‘degree in Education, Social sciences, development studies or related discipline and & 5 years full-time experience in education development either in a Ministry of Education, development agency, international NGO or multilateral development institution;
  • Vast project management experience and, strong organizational skills, ability to multi-task and work under pressure and heavy work load;
  • Self-directed and excellent verbal and written communication skills;
  • Strong and proven research and analytical skills; and ability to distill relevant data from a mass of data from different sources and produce reports that are accurate, logical, and intelligible;
  • Ability to collaborate with teams across functional units and disciplinary boundaries to achieve results in the best interest of the organization;
  • Systematic and methodical work habits, trustworthiness, independence and resourcefulness; and multi-cultural sensitivity and commitment to diversity and inclusion;
  • Fluent in English or French and a good working knowledge of the other;
  • At least 7 years of professional experience plus competence in Microsoft Office package (i.e. Word, Excel, PowerPoint, etc.).

Submission of applications

Applications must be sent to adea-applications@afdb.org no later than Friday, July 5th, 2019 at midnight (12:00 am) GMT. The subject of the e-mail should be “Senior Project Officer”.

Due to the high volume of applications, only selected candidates will be contacted through a formal correspondence via e-mail. Please do not contact ADEA or staff members to enquire about the status of your application.
 


The consultant will be employed for a period of 12 months. Renewal of contract will depend on satisfactory performance and results.

Duty Station: Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire