Early Childhood Development Manager - Bekaa - FOR NATIONAL CANDIDATES ONLY

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, Tripoli, Tyre and Mount Lebanon. IRC’s programs assist Syrian refugees and vulnerable Lebanese in host communities across multiple sectors: education, livelihoods, protection, women's protection and empowerment 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/. 

Scope of Work

The ECD Manager will supervise the ongoing implementation of safe and appropriate ECD activities in the Bekaa region, ensuring effectiveness, quality and monitoring and evaluation of these activities.

Position objectives:

Staff Supervision & Development

• Directly Supervise ECD staff in Bekaa.
• Ongoing supervision, leadership, training and technical support and guidance to all program staff.
• Ongoing supervision, leadership, training and technical support and guidance to all program staff.
• Effectively manage the ECD team in the governorate, including ongoing technical and operational support
• Ensure high quality ECD programming in the governorate that is responsive to the needs on the ground and well-coordinated with all education actors.
• Ensure staff adhere to best-practice principles when working with children, youth, and community members.
• Maintain accessible and professional support with team members, promoting a strong team spirit and providing oversight and guidance to enable staff to successfully perform in their position.
• Ensure timely completion and submission of monthly timesheets, probations reviews and annual performance reviews.
• Plan/coordinate and oversee staff work plans, work and vacation schedules, and staff training/development activities.
• If/as required identify staff performance issues and work with Human Resources to document and address these in accordance with the National Staff Employment Policies.
• Mentor and support staff’s professional development and foster a positive team spirit to encourage innovative and quality programming.

Activity Planning & Implementation

• Prepare and maintain/update detailed work plan(s) that support and achieve the overall grant timeline and completion date.
• Provide direction and monitor staff in their implementation of the workplan and quality of technical activities, share relevant information and direction to improve quality and achieve timelines
• Approve expenditures to designated level; assist in managing and monitoring monthly expenditures and tracking budgets.
• Design and develop new methodology to support community level outreach and work;

Grant Monitoring & Reporting

• Make sure that all program implementation reports and data are up to date, and accurate.
• Undertake regular field monitoring visits to assess progress and identify technical quality issues and/or other implementation issues, provide solutions and implement modifications as required.
• Produce/contribute to internal and donor reports as per set schedules (monthly, quarterly and annually) on grant activities, indicators and achievements.
• Ensure that the program is implemented according to schedule and budget and that project objectives are met.
• Write regular field reports including progress against targets, all implementation details and challenges;

Coordination & Representation

• Work closely and coordinate with logistics and finance to ensure timely and compliant program activities and expenditures; including active participation in internal meetings.
• Work closely with other IRC programming sectors to ensure information sharing about geographic targets, cases to be referred or supported by other sectors, and holistic integrated support to communities.
• Undertake/participate in liaison, coordination, and information sharing activities with national NGOs, international organizations, donors and government at the governorate level.
• Develop and maintain effective working relationships with relevant stakeholders including community leaders and other implementing partners at the governorate level.

Research, Monitoring and Evaluation

• Ensure that the project undertakes continuous monitoring and evaluation so that activities are appropriate and based on a clear understanding of the problems, causes, contributing factors, and issues specific to out-of-school or at-risk children and youth.
• Support the collection, analysis and dissemination of project data and information for problem analysis, planning and evaluation with all stakeholders.
• Ensure all monitoring activities are fully documented, including systematic and timely data collection as required under the grant and for internal M&E purposes.
• Support and participate in research activities when needed.
• Act as key focal point for data quality and data screening with Beirut-based RMEAL team;

Key Working Relationships:

Position Reports to: Deputy ECD Coordinator
Position directly supervises: ECD Officers, ECD MER Officer and senior quality officer.

Indirect Reporting: Integrated ECD Coordinator
Other Internal and/or external contacts:

Internal: Senior Quality, Training, and Capacity Building Officer, ECD Managers in Akkar and Tripoli, ECD Officer in Mount Lebanon, RMEAL team, IRC Bekaa field teams

External: local governance representatives, local NGOs and INGOs, UN agencies, local ECD stakeholders, donors, Sesame Workshop, New York University

Job Requirements:

• Bachelor degree in social sciences, social work, public health, development, or any relevant related field
• At least 3 years of professional experience in the field of ECD and/or community-level humanitarian work overseeing community-level programming (awareness sessions, parenting)
• At least 2 years of professional experience at management level
• Adhere program implementation to IRC policies at all times, including confidentiality and safe identification/referrals
• Demonstrated knowledge of monitoring, evaluation and planning
• Demonstrated knowledge of developing new community-level awareness raising and assessment tools
• Demonstrated experience in overseeing data collection and M&E activities
• Demonstrated capacity to lead a team (organize, plan and oversee)
• Demonstrated capacity to write clear reports
• Experience in working with communities (monitoring, training, needs assessment, and overseeing activities)
• Outstanding interpersonal skills, and capacity to maintain excellent working relationships with relevant stakeholders
• Demonstrated capacity to perform well under pressure with overlapping deadlines in a challenging environment
• Fluency in written and spoken Arabic and English

Preferred:

• Working experience with an NGO/INGO
• Master degree in social sciences, development, public health, or any relevant related field.

Working Environment: 

The position is based in Zahle, and expected to travel extensively within the Bekaa, and occasionally to Beirut. 

WOMEN OF ALL BACKGROUNDS ARE STRONGLY ENCOURAGED TO APPLY