Senior Program Officer - Education / WASH

The International Rescue Committee (IRC) responds to humanitarian crises and helps people to survive and rebuild their lives. The IRC offers lifesaving care and life-changing assistance to refugees forced to flee from war and disaster. Currently operating in over 40 countries, the IRC restores dignity and hope to millions who are uprooted and struggling to endure across the world-leading the way from harm to home.

IRC has been working in Pakistan for nearly 40 years, managing and delivering large, complex programs in most difficult and hard to reach geographies of the country, to provide needs-based support including health, education, protection, environmental health, climate change, governance, and livelihood for displaced, poor, and disaster-affected communities. With continuous support from the federal and provincial governments, and generous donors including FCDO, ECHO, GFFO, UNHCR, SIDA, Irish Aid and Australian Aid Agencies the IRC is currently implementing projects to serve refugees, internally displaced people, marginalized and flood affected communities across the country. Working in partnership local civil society and in close coordination with communities, district and provincial governments in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Balochistan, Punjab and Sindh provinces ensures IRC’s success in serving people in need.

Under the supervision of the Sr. Project Manager and Sr. Project Engineer, the Sr. Program Officer WASH/ Education will provide technical support in implementation and quality assurance of PATRIP Funded Project in Chaman and Chaghi districts of Balochistan. He/she will support the Sr. Project Manager and field project teams, in the delivery of literacy, numeracy and Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) and execution of development work in IRC focused schools. The role will also involve monitoring education centers, crafting and conducting teachers’ trainings, manual/module development, and ensure the enrollment campaigns through the active involvement of communities/ PTSMCs in both districts. The position holder will support the Sr. Project Manager /Technical Coordinator in the internal and external representation of project activities, conduct field visits and assist in human resource capacity development, scheduling, record keeping, knowledge sharing, reporting and other activities assigned by the supervisor.

Major Responsibilities:

• He/She will be responsible for updating the Detailed Implementation Plan (DIP) and Budget Spending Plan.
• Actively develop and maintain effective working relationships with key partners and counterparts, including government actors, UN agencies, international and local NGOs, and other relevant stakeholders in the project areas.
• Provide technical support to the field teams to align activities with the agreed DIP and provide mentoring as needed.
• Ensure the timely planning of teaching and administrative staff trainings for project-focused schools in Chaghi and Chaman.
• Ensure that the MIS, 4Ws, 5Ws and RRP information systems are updated on a monthly basis.
• Responsible for collecting weekly, monthly, and quarterly reports from districts, compiling them, and sharing them with donors.
• Schedule multi-sectoral meetings and document the minutes of these meetings.
• Support district managers in the timely planning and implementation of social cohesion initiatives, PTSMCs (Parent-Teacher School Management Committees), and teacher trainings in the districts.
• Update and maintain the office records and plan coaching and mentoring visits to the sites.
• Plan health and hygiene sessions, sports activities and community awareness sessions focused on education and protection within the communities.
• Must have knowledge about Continuous Professional Development and Schools Development Plan.
• 1Must have expertise in developing the BOQs development and monitoring of the construction work.

Demonstrated Skills and Competencies:

• Sound knowledge of the software (Microsoft Windows, MS Excel, MS Word, MS PowerPoint),
• Excellent report writing and editing skills
• Experience in training and workshop facilitation and manual development
• Proven track record of supporting teams to meet project timelines
• Ability to analyze data for project course correction
• Knowledge of teacher appraisal and assessment for learning
• Excellent communication and analytical skills, including the ability to develop and deliver presentations
• Strong leadership, negotiation and consensus building skills
• Ability to work with diverse teams, multitasking and manage competing priorities within tight deadlines

Language Skills:

• Strong English language skills both written and oral; knowledge of local languages preferred.

The IRC Core Values and Commitments.

• The IRC and its workers must adhere to the values and principles outlined in IRC Way - Standards for Professional Conduct. These are Integrity, Service, Equality, and Accountability. According to these values, the IRC operates and implements policies on Beneficiary Protection from Exploitation and Abuse, Child Safeguarding, Anti Workplace Harassment, Fiscal Integrity Anti-Retaliation, and Combating Trafficking in Persons.
• IRC is committed to ensuring that IRC staff is suitable to work with children and have the knowledge s/he needs to uphold and abide by the IRC’s Child Safeguarding Policy.
• Level of interaction with children: Frequent direct contact with children
• IRC recognizes that gender equality is fundamental to the achievement of our organizational mission. As such, IRC is committed to the promotion of gender equality in all aspects of our operations and programs. Our organizational policies, procedures, and actions demonstrate this dedication.