Intervention Leader – Rules and Standards Job in Nigeria at Hatch Mott MacDonald

[Jobrib]

Job Title: Intervention Leader – Rules and Standards

Recruiter: Hatch Mott MacDonald  

Job Ref: 12171BR  

Job Category: Education  

Contract Type: Contract

Work Pattern: Full-Time

Location: Lagos, Nigeria

Recruiter Contact: Janet Thatcher

We are a £1.1 billion management, engineering and development consultancy with 15,000 staff and a global reach spanning six continents. Our network of 170 principal offices in 140 countries gives us local market insight backed by world class expertise to deliver excellence for every client.

DEEPEN is a five-year UK government-funded programme designed to improve the quality of education in private schools in Nigeria. The programme will support low-cost schools in particular and is initially focused on the private school market in Lagos. The Intervention Leader for Rules and Standards will design, manage and lead the programme's interventions and activities to facilitate a more favourable regulatory environment for private education in Lagos. With guidance and assistance from the Team Leader, Portfolio Manager/Deputy Team Leader and Results and Learning (R&L) Leader, the Intervention Leader will also work to monitor and measure the impact of DEEPEN and to develop synergies across the programme to reduce the effect of wider market constraints.

Poor performance and overcrowding in Lagos' public school system have fuelled a vibrant and growing market in private education. Over 1 million children of primary and pre-primary age are now enrolled in 18,000 private schools with equal numbers of girls and boys. However, only a quarter of such schools are formally approved and consequently the quality of education they offer remains unknown and open to doubt.

The UK's Department for International Development (DFID) in Nigeria has initiated an innovative programme to use a market-development approach to improve learning outcomes in Lagos' private schools. Through a Making Markets Work for the Poor (M4P) methodology, the DEEPEN programme will work through tailored interventions to create an enabling environment and improve the conditions for all private schools, with a particular focus on those that cater for girls and low-income families. Specifically, DEEPEN will aim to build capacity and incentives to stimulate wider initiatives and help parents make more informed choices on their children's education. This will be achieved through interventions designed to address market constraints in four key and interrelated areas: Rules and Standards; Information; Pedagogy; and Finance.

The Rules and Standards component of the programme seeks to tackle both the formal and informal factors that affect the operating conditions for private schools in Lagos. The rules and standards that govern the market are central to building a more enabling environment for private schools, and will define the partnership between the government and private providers. On the one hand, the programme will work to improve the current regulatory and legislative framework, including school guidelines, the process of formal recognition and the system for government taxes and levies. On the other hand, DEEPEN will consider the impact of informal attitudes and norms among parents and communities that influence school choices and educational decisions, to create a more enabling environment for private education in Lagos.

Job Description:

Accountabilities and Responsibilities: The Intervention Leader for Rules and Standards will have primary responsibility for all programme activities and interventions (including monitoring and results measurement (MRM)) within the Rules and Standards work stream. Working together with the Team Leader, the Portfolio Manager/Deputy Team Leader and other team members, s/he will:

Intervention Design and Management:

• Design and manage the overall intervention strategy within the Rules and Standards work stream;

• Develop the budget for each intervention and activity, and the Rules and Standards work stream overall;

• Develop an activity plan and results chain for each intervention and review such documents on a periodic (at least quarterly) basis;

• Provide a written progress report to the Portfolio Manager/Deputy Team Leader on a monthly basis and contribute to the quarterly programme reports to DFID;

• Participate in monthly team meetings to report on progress within the Rules and Standards work stream;

Monitoring, Results Measurement and Learning:

• Support the R&L Leader to develop an effective MRM system in respect of the Rules and Standards work stream;

• Comply with the requirements of the MRM system as instructed by the R&L Leader in respect of the Rules and Standards work stream;

• Provide the R&L team with regular data on work stream activities and progress as required;

• Provide the Communications Officer with information on the Rules and Standards interventions and activities as required;

New Interventions:

• Explore and initiate new interventions and activities for the Rules and Standards work stream to achieve outputs, outcomes and impacts within the work stream and across the programme in accordance with the agreed logical framework;

• Conduct analysis of constraints on private schools relating to Rules and Standards to identify areas for potential research and relay such recommendations to the R&L Leader and Research Officer; and

• Liaise and work with the other programme Intervention Leaders to discuss current activities (including challenges, failures and successes), identify opportunities for synergy across the programme and maximise key interactions between the work streams, particularly for the benefit of girls and low-income families.

Candidate Specification   Competencies, Skills and Experience:

Required:

• Significant professional experience working on international development and/or education projects or programmes, ideally with experience in organisational and/or institutional development.

• Education to first degree level or equivalent.

• Effective people and team management skills.

• Excellent organisational and communication skills.

• Strong project management, financial and budgeting skills.

• Fluent in English (spoken, reading and writing) with good writing skills.

• Experience working in international and cross-cultural contexts.

• Confidence/proficiency in Microsoft Word, Excel and email packages.

• Attention to detail and accuracy.  

Desirable:

• Experience working on policy reform and/or with policy-makers.

• Relevant Master's degree.

• Experience working with private education and/or low-cost private schools.

• Experience working in multi-disciplinary teams in projects or programmes with components of social development and/or poverty reduction.

• Experience working with donor agencies (specifically DFID).

• Experience conducting training and facilitating workshops in a developing and cross-cultural context.

Apply to this job

Source: Intervention Leader – Rules and Standards Job in Nigeria at Hatch Mott MacDonald