The Flemish Association for Development Cooperation and Technical Assistance (VVOB) New Job Opening

The Flemish Association for Development Cooperation and Technical Assistance (VVOB) is a non-profit organization which contributes to the improvement of the quality of education in 8 countries around the world. The current VVOB country programme, 2017 – 2021, is addressing school leadership and teaching for diversity to improve the quality of teaching and learning for all children. Partners are DBE, SACE, and the provincial departments of education of Free State and KwaZulu Natal.

Job Title: Programme Advisor
Job Location: Pretoria

The Programme Advisor is a great networker and an expert with good background on School Leadership and/or Teacher Professional Development who provides advice to VVOB and VVOB’s partners and coordinates the development, implementation and evaluation of the support to DBE and SACE in the programme.

S/he reports to the Programme Manager.

Tasks

As an Education expert and Advisor, the Programme Advisor/Coordinator:

• Provides technical advice, guidance and support on School Leadership and/or Teacher Professional Development for strategic planning and for managing and monitoring the programme, consistent with the specific objective, including exit strategies
• Provides technical advice, guidance and support for developing, implementing and supporting effective and relevant contextualized School Leadership and/or Teacher Professional Development systems and practices directed at professionalizing school leadership and teachers
• Takes up a variety of roles in the capacity development process of the partners according to the needs of the partner and particular situations and phases of the programme

As a Quality Caretaker, the Programme Advisor/Coordinator:

• Guarantees the coherence with VVOB’s definition of quality education and VVOB’s education portfolio, including gender equity
• Ensures compliance with VVOB’s financial policies and guidelines including adherence with accounting principles and requirements and efficient and responsible use of resources
• Takes up an active role in monitoring, evaluating and reporting on the programme, including gender equity, in close collaboration with the partner;
• Contributes to internal and external knowledge development by systemizing lessons learned and sharing pro-actively lessons learned between partners, colleagues and other VVOB country teams;
• Keeps abreast with policy trends, new developments and latest research and thinking in education and international development by external and internal networking and shares new insights with partners and VVOB colleagues

As a Coordinator for a result area, (s)he is responsible for:

• Planning, monitoring and evaluating strategies and activities for a result area
• Ensuring effective and efficient use of resources for a result area
• Ensuring alignment and coherence with other intermediate result areas and the broader programme
• Compiling intermediate and annual reports for a result area
• Being an excellent networker and the contact person for partners and colleagues especially for activities related to DBE and SACE
• Proactively setting up meetings with partners and colleagues to discuss programmatic issues linked to the specific result area

The Programme Advisor/Coordinator performs any other duties assigned by the Programme Manager, in line with the position holder’s capacities.

Profile

Essential

• South African national, based in Pretoria or willing to relocate (at own cost)
• Relevant Master’s degree or relevant through experience
• Minimum five years’ of experience in programme and/or project management preferably in international development cooperation
• Experience with change management and capacity development processes preferably in the context of educational institutions like teacher training institutions, in-service providers for teachers and school leaders and ministries of education
• Excellent networker and good experience with communication strategies
• Understanding of the SA education system and recent evolutions related to educational leadership and teacher professional development
• Self-starter, willing to work additional hours when required and regularly travel
• Good reporting skills
• ICT proficient (Word, Excel and Power Point)
• Fluent written and oral command of English

Preferable:

• Knowledge of and/or experience with equity and gender in education
• Experience with working in a multicultural team
• Able to work under pressure and keep a good sense of humour
• Experience with Knowledge Management and Communication is an asset

Competencies

• Result oriented
• Cooperation
• Continuous learning and analytical and synthesizing skills
• Creativity
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills
• 360° Empathy
• Reliability
• Development-oriented

Duration contract

VVOB expects the person to start asap, and on or before February 15, 2019 for a period not exceeding the present programme period (12/2021).

Remuneration/benefits

Annual salary from ZAR 466,728 CTC or higher depending on relevant work experience, 24 days annual leave, professional development opportunities, study support, support for tuition fee and support for medical insurance.

Supervision

Supervised by the Programme Manager based in Pretoria.

How to apply

Send your application by email to Wilfried Theunis ([email protected]). Deadline for applications is December 14, 2018, 5 pm.

Include your

• CV (including telephone number and email address of 3 references)
• A motivation letter – In your motivation letter address each requirement of the profile and elaborate on how you fit that requirement, Maximum 2 pages

Please note, applications without motivation letter attached cannot be considered.

Please note: only shortlisted candidates will be contacted.

For information on VVOB, refer to https://southafrica.vvob.be/

VVOB is committed to providing equal opportunities and practising