Zero Out of School Children Project Director

Provide overall leadership of project design, implementation, monitoring, learning and reporting for the Zero Out of School Children Project. Coordinate consortium partners, project staff and stakeholders to deliver quality results on time and within budget, collaborating closely with SCI Senior Management Team and MINEDUC.

Responsibilities

• Provide overall direction of the project and lead staff in planning, implementation, monitoring and reporting.
• Lead the development and timely submission to EAC of work plans, Detailed Implementation Plans, Performance Monitoring Plans, semi-annual and expense reports, and other deliverables.
• Oversee implementation of the work plan and use of the budget, ensuring timely completion of all planned activities and early identification and mitigation of delivery risks.
• Lead the monthly project award review with the DPO, Finance and Awards and budget holders, and ensure corrective actions are implemented.
• Ensure an appropriate segregation of duties to protect the integrity of project financial and administrative operations.
• Respond to requests from Save the Children Rwanda, Save the Children US, EAC and MINEDUC.
• Lead consortium meetings regularly and oversee the quality and timeliness of work and reporting by NUDOR and Humanity & Inclusion.
• Review and approve partner work plans, budgets and reports, ensuring alignment with the results framework and performance monitoring plan.
• Coordinate with MINEDUC on all planning, implementation, monitoring and reporting, and ensure the consortium steering committee meets at least quarterly, and its action points are followed up.
• Represent the ZOOSC Project in Government, education, donor and partner forums and relevant technical working groups; share results, learning, challenges and solutions.
• Build and maintain strong relationships with MINEDUC, other government bodies, EAC and partners, promoting government ownership and sustainability.
• Share implementing partners’ views in SMT and other relevant meetings.
• Provide technical leadership on OOSC identification, enrolment, retention, inclusive education, SBCC and teaching and learning quality, working with SCI technical advisors.
• Work with the Waliku team and MINEDUC on upgrading SDMS to track individual attendance and support identification and enrolment of OOSC.
• Ensure MEAL findings inform programme decisions and quality improvements.
• Support the MEAL Manager and technical experts, with MINEDUC, to establish systems for enrolment and attendance tracking of OOSC.
• Ensure budget management, forecasting, burn-rate monitoring and cost-share/match-funding compliance in collaboration with the Finance and Awards Manager.
• Ensure compliance with donor rules, SCI procurement, finance, anti-fraud and audit requirements, and timely closure of audit findings.
• Lead, coach and develop a multidisciplinary team through SCI Performance Management, objective-setting, regular feedback and development plans.
• Review and approve timesheets for direct reports and ensure other managers do the same on time.
• Understand and comply with the Child Safeguarding Policy, Code of Conduct and country procedures, and report any suspicion of abuse or exploitation.
• Ensure all project activities integrate PSEA and safeguarding, and that serious concerns are handled in line with policy.
• Ensure Background Record Checks are completed for all consultants (local and international) before they start.
• Promote safeguarding with colleagues, partners, government counterparts and communities.

Requirements

• Master’s degree in Education or a related discipline.
• At least 8 years’ technical and management experience in education programmes.
• Expertise in two or more of: teacher training, inclusive education, SBCC, dropout prevention, teaching and learning materials.

Skills

• Education Program Management
• Teacher Training
• Inclusive Education
• Social and Behavior Change
• Dropout Prevention
• Teaching and Learning Materials
• Project Design
• Project Implementation
• Project Monitoring
• Project Reporting
• Consortium Management
• Stakeholder Engagement
• Budget Management