JOB TITLE: Community Engagement Advisor
TEAM/PROGRAMME:    LOCATION: Kabul, Afghanistan
GRADE: Nat 2   TYPE OF CONTRACT: Fixed Term
CHILD SAFEGUARDING: 
Level 3 - the responsibilities of the post may require the post holder to have regular contact with or access to children or young people.

ROLE PURPOSE:

Save the Children International in Afghanistan is a sub-implementer of the consortium, with International Rescue Committee (IRC) as lead. The goal of this project is for Afghan children, particularly girls, displaced, disadvantaged, and rural children will have improved safe access to quality learning in primary and secondary level opportunities. To achieve this, there are 4 intermediate results to deliver 1) Improved delivery of quality instruction in foundational skills and delivery of support for student well-being by educators, 2) Reinforced community school management and family engagement to sustain access to safe public and community-based education, 3) Increased transition rate of community-based education students into public schools, and 4)  Sustained secondary education engagement and learning opportunities for adolescent girls.

Save the Children leads on Intermediate Result (IR) #2, and this Technical lead will ensure the quality of technical deliverables that will be developed, adapted, and delivered under this result. Within the technical working group that will be established in the project management unit, this Technical lead will guide the discussions and actions for the deliverables under IR 2. The Technical Lead will be part of the Project Management Unit, which will be hosted by IRC, and will report to the Project Technical Director. An Education Community Engagement Specialist will report to the Project Technical Lead.  

Key activities that will be implemented under IR 2 and overseen by the Technical Lead include:
-   The training and coaching of school shuras for both public government schools, also known are School Management Shuras (SMS), and community-based education classes, also called Community Education Councils (CECs).
-   Inclusive learning programming, including children with disabilities, and campaigns for safe, equitable access and student participation.

SCOPE OF ROLE: 
Reports to: Deputy Chief of Party (solid reporting line), with dotted relationships with Senior Education Technical Advisor (SCI)

Staff directly reporting to this post: Education Community Engagement Specialist

Budget Responsibilities: None

ORGANIZATION’S PROFILE:
Save the Children is an international independent non-governmental, non- profit, organisation founded in 1919. We work in over 120 countries worldwide. We are the world’s leading independent organisation for Children. Our vision is a world in which every child attains the right to survival, protection, development and participation. Our mission is to inspire breakthroughs in the way the world treats children and to achieve immediate and lasting change in their lives.

Save the Children has worked in Afghanistan since 1976. Our way of working close to people and on their own terms has enabled us to deliver lasting change to tens of thousands of children in the country. The UN Convention of the Rights of the Child is the basis of our work.

We are helping children get a better education, we make it possible for more boys and girls to attend school, we help children protect themselves and influence their own conditions. We work with families, communities and health workers in homes, clinics and hospitals to promote basic health in order to save lives of children and mothers.

KEY AREAS OF ACCOUNTABILITIES

Programming Quality and effectiveness 
•   Provide technical advice and support in the development, adaptation, and delivery of quality programming and implementation of IR 2 within the education project. 
•   Oversee the implementation of strategies to sustain access to safe public and community-based education.
•   Ensuring that needs are identified and that the activities under IR address the identified needs and gaps with integrated links with other sectors.
•   Ensure priority cross-cutting issues are embedded in IR 2 interventions.
•   Actively communicate and coordinate with other project technical leads to synergy and integration across different IRs. 
•   Contribute actively to the Project Management Unit hosted by IRC, providing expertise and coordination to ensure the overall success of the project.
•   Form, lead, and guide discussions and actions related to the deliverables under Intermediate Result #2 within this working group.
•   Work closely with the Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability, and Learning (MEAL) team to ensure IR 2 proper reporting on indicators. 
•   Conduct regular field visits to provide supportive supervision to implementing partners and strengthen the capacity of staff.
•   Provide guidance and supervision to the Education Community Engagement Specialist to ensure effective collaboration and contribution to project objectives.
•   Review all donor reports to ensure high quality and adherence to donor standards. 
•   Strengthen the technical capacity of partner staff to ensure they have the skills to deliver project outputs and activities.

Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning 
•   Support the project MEAL team in the development of tools, conducting needs assessment and analysis, and ensuring that the results are considered in project implementation. 
•   Develop appropriate monitoring tools for IR 2 activities, and ensure they are understood and used.
•   Contribute to the development of a MEAL framework and tools that monitor the impact of project activities under IR2.
•   Ensure learning is fed back into program design.
•   Provide technical expertise in evaluations and research related to IR 2 and work with MEAL to utilize and build on the recommendations of these.
•   Collaborate with relevant stakeholders to ensure alignment with project objectives and best practices in education.

Advocacy 
•   Together with other technical leads, develop policy briefs and position papers related to the project accomplishments and research. 
•   Represent the project management unit in relevant working groups, task forces, seminars, and related fora in the thematic area, and among donors, UN agencies, International NGOs, and national and sub-national government counterparts in coordination.

SKILLS AND BEHAVIOURS (our Values in Practice)
Accountability:
•   Holds self-accountable for making decisions, managing resources efficiently, achieving and role modelling Save the Children values.
•   Holds the team and partners accountable to deliver on their responsibilities - giving them the freedom to deliver in the best way they see fit, providing the necessary development to improve performance and applying appropriate consequences when results are not achieved.
Ambition:
•   Sets ambitious and challenging goals for themselves and their team, takes responsibility for their own personal development and encourages their team to do the same.
Collaboration:
•   Approachable, good listener, easy to talk to
•   Builds and maintains effective relationships with colleagues, Members and external partners and supporters.
•   Values diversity and different people’s perspectives, able to work cross-culturally.
Creativity:
•   Develops and encourages new and innovative solutions.
•   Cuts away bureaucracy and encourages an entrepreneurial approach.
Integrity:
•   Honest, encourages openness and transparency, builds trust and confidence.

Displays consistent excellent judgement.