Job Title: Program Manager II/ Early Learning and Stimulation ECD Specialist

Department: CARO/Rwanda

Reports To: IECD-R Program Director

Country/Location: Rwanda/Kigali

Background

 As part of the universal mission of the Catholic Church, Catholic Relief Services (CRS) works with local, national and international Catholic institutions and structures, as well as other organizations, to assist people on the basis of need, not a creed, race or nationality. The primary goal of CRS/Rwanda programming is to ensure that vulnerable households in Rwanda achieve full, integral human development

Job Summary:

The Improving Early Childhood Development in Rwanda (IECD-R) programs responds to the challenge of limited access to integrated Early Childhood Development (ECD) services in Rwanda and focuses on the conception to three-year-olds (0 – 3) age group. It seeks to build the knowledge and skills of parents and caregivers, enabling better stimulation, learning, protection, nutrition, and health and as a result better physical, social, cognitive and emotional development for approximately 730,000 children. You will provide technical advice and support to the IECD-R project for a range of program design and implementation issues in the area of Early Learning and Stimulation for children 0-3 as well as 4-6 in line with Catholic Relief Services (CRS) program quality principles and standards, donor guidelines, and industry best practices to Country Program (CP) teams to advance the delivery of high-quality programming to the poor and vulnerable. Your advice, knowledge, and support will contribute to determining how effective, adaptive and innovative CRS’ Early Learning and Stimulation programming is.

Job Responsibilities:

  • Support the development and contribute to the implementation of project strategies, standards, tools and best practices in Early Learning and Stimulation that effectively engage partners, donors, and governments. Help ensure a cross-sectoral approach to integrating gender and protection mainstreaming.
  • Monitor the technical quality of program implementation in the field. Provide technical solutions to district-based teams, remotely and on-site, for strategic planning and how to best apply standards, best practices, partnership principles, tools, and M&E, helping to ensure high-quality implementation.
  • Support capacity strengthening initiatives in Early Learning and Stimulation programming for staff and partner through helping develop learning and training strategies and agendas/curriculums, conducting trainings and workshops, and coaching.
  • Collect and analyze program data, capture and share lessons learned and best practices for the projects to facilitate improvements in decision-making and contribute to the Early Learning and Stimulation learning agenda.
  • Contribute to maintaining relationships with donors, peer organizations, research, and other institutions, participate in forums in the area of Early Learning and Stimulation to collect and share best practices and promote CRS’ work.

Typical Background, Experience & Requirements:

Education and Experience

  • Master’s Degree in Early Child Development, Education, Pedagogy, or related field required.
  • Minimum of three years relevant work experience with progressive responsibilities, ideally with an international NGO, with a minimum of two years relevant field-based experience in Early Learning and Stimulation.
  • Knowledge of technical principles and concepts in Early Learning and Stimulation. General knowledge of other related disciplines to ensure proper cross-sectoral approach.
  • Knowledge of capacity strengthening best practices.
  • Experience with program monitoring and evaluation and analysis.
  • Experience and skills in networking and relations with donors, peer organizations, and faith-based and civil society Understanding of partnership principles.
  • Proficient in MS Office packages (Excel, Word, PowerPoint), Web Conferencing Applications, information and budget management systems, knowledge-sharing networks.

Personal Skills

  • Strong relationship management skills with the ability to influence and get buy-in from people not under the direct supervision and to work with individuals in diverse geographical and cultural settings
  • Good strategic, analytical, problem-solving and systems thinking skills with the capacity to see the big picture and ability to make sound judgment
  • Good technical writing skills
  • Presentation, facilitation, training, mentoring, and coaching skills
  • Proactive, resourceful and results-oriented

Required/Desired Foreign Language Full working proficiency in English and Kinyarwanda required.

Travel Required A minimum of 25% of field-based travel is required for this position.

 Key Working Relationships:

Supervisory: Curriculum Development Specialist

Internal:  Health, Nutrition, and Hygiene ECD Specialist; Child Protection and Social Inclusion ECD Specialist; Program Implementation Coordinator; Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability, and Learning Manager; Regional and HQ based technical advisors

External: Government of Rwanda, NECDP, UNICEF, NGOs, and other stakeholders

Agency-wide Competencies:

These are rooted in the mission, values, and guiding principles of CRS and used by each staff member to fulfill his or her responsibilities and achieve the desired results.

  • Integrity
  • Accountability and stewardship
  • Builds relationships
  • Develops talent
  • Continuous improvement and innovation
  • Strategic mindset

 Disclaimer:  This job description is not an exhaustive list of the skill, effort, duties, and responsibilities associated with the position.

CRS’ talent acquisition procedures reflect our commitment to protecting children and vulnerable adults from abuse and exploitation.

Equal Opportunity Employer

 How to apply

Electronic applications-Only a motivation letter and a current detailed CV should be addressed to the CRS Country Representative exclusively at RW_HR@crs.org not later than Tuesday, July 16, 2019, at 5:00 pm. Please, include “MEAL Manager/IECD” and your name in the subject line.  Due to anticipated high interest in this post and the expected number of applicants, only short-listed candidates will be contacted.

Please Share to