Programme Coordinator, Nigeria

The UNOPS Global Portfolios Office (GPO) brings together diverse expertise to help partners deliver impact worldwide. With hubs in New York, Geneva, and Vienna, and expert teams operating globally, GPO leads multi-regional initiatives that advance sustainable development, climate action, and peacebuilding - including in some of the world’s most challenging environments. By leveraging our collective expertise and global networks, GPO supports UNOPS’ strategic priorities and the Sustainable Development Goals across more than 130 countries. We work closely with major global partners - including governments, international financial institutions, and UN agencies - to deliver a wide range of services, such as project management, fund management, hosting services, and HR support.

From Geneva, UNOPS facilitates the achievement of the 2030 Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), working with governments, other United Nations (UN) agencies and partners by providing quality servces, integrated solutions and management support through strategic, cost-effective and results-oriented approches. This includes supporting platforms and hosting high-profile, flagship initiatives and funds focusing on health, nutrition, water and sanitation, sustainable cities, environment, energy, climate and trade. UNOPS is a recognized resource for the UN system in Geneva – from fund management and oversight and advisory services, to providing hosting solutions to a range of global initiatives, as well as operational support to partner organizations.

From Geneva, UNOPS facilitates the achievement of the 2030 Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), working with governments, other United Nations (UN) agencies and partners by providing quality servces, integrated solutions and management support through strategic, cost-effective and results-oriented approches. This includes supporting platforms and hosting high-profile, flagship initiatives and funds focusing on health, nutrition, water and sanitation, sustainable cities, environment, energy, climate and trade. UNOPS is a recognized resource for the UN system in Geneva – from fund management and oversight and advisory services, to providing hosting solutions to a range of global initiatives, as well as operational support to partner organizations.

About the Region

The UNOPS Global Portfolios Office (GPO) brings together diverse expertise to help partners deliver impact worldwide. With hubs in New York, Geneva, and Vienna, and expert teams operating globally, GPO leads multi-regional initiatives that advance sustainable development, climate action, and peacebuilding - including in some of the world’s most challenging environments. By leveraging our collective expertise and global networks, GPO supports UNOPS’ strategic priorities and the Sustainable Development Goals across more than 130 countries. We work closely with major global partners - including governments, international financial institutions, and UN agencies - to deliver a wide range of services, such as project management, fund management, hosting services, and HR support.

About the Country/Multi-Country Office (if applicable)

Education is one of the most powerful drivers of progress, yet seven out of ten children in low- and middle-income countries cannot read with understanding by age 10. Meanwhile, half of education programmes show no measurable impact on learning or employment. Global spending on education is falling short by an estimated $100 billion each year. Traditional approaches have not delivered the transformation required to meet Sustainable Development Goal 4. The Education Outcomes Fund (EOF) was created to address these challenges — by shifting how education is funded, how success is measured, and how systems are held accountable. We are part of a global movement to turn education financing into real learning and employment outcomes, especially for the most disadvantaged children and youth. 

Job Specific Context

The Education Outcomes Fund (EOF), in partnership with the Lagos State Government, the Federal Ministry of Education (FME), the Children’s Investment Fund Foundation (CIFF), the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan, and UBS Optimus Foundation, has launched the Learning and Education Access Fund (LEAF) Nigeria programme.  LEAF is one of the largest outcomes-based education programmes globally and aims to improve access to and quality of basic education for up to 200,000 children in Lagos State.

The programme has two complementary objectives:

• Enrol and retain out-of-school children (OOSC) aged 6–14 into mainstream education through community outreach, school-readiness interventions, accelerated learning support, and sustained retention efforts.

• Improve learning environments in selected schools through interventions focused on teaching quality, school leadership, safeguarding, inclusion, foundational literacy and numeracy, data-driven school improvement, and community engagement.

The programme uses an Outcomes-Based Financing (OBF) model whereby payments to implementing partners are linked to independently verified results. Programme outcomes include school placement, school retention, learning gains, and effective utilisation of programme monitoring systems.

Beyond direct educational outcomes, the programme seeks to strengthen government systems, improve education data infrastructure, generate evidence on effective approaches for reaching out-of-school children, and establish a scalable model for outcomes-based education reform in Nigeria.

The Programme Coordinator will work closely with, and under the supervision of Country Lead to coordinate programme implementation, stakeholder engagement, governance, performance monitoring, and results verification, ensuring effective delivery of the EOF-LEAF and achievement of its education access, retention, learning, and systems-strengthening objectives.

TheProgramme Coordinator, Nigeria will undertake the following responsibilities:

Stakeholder management:

• Support the Country Lead to build influential relationships with government so that their programme decision-making is well informed by EOF recommendations; and so that they are actively championing the program, outcomes-based approaches and using OBF related evidence to improve systems or policy implementation. 

• Support the Country Lead to manage relationships with implementing partners throughout the program’s implementation.

• Support implementing partners to address challenges during implementation by meeting with them regularly, collating a summary of challenges, and supporting the Country Lead to proactively solve or escalate issues with program partners or with EOF’s wider team.

• Support and facilitate broader stakeholder engagement in coordination with the Country Lead and programme team, fostering collaboration with the Government of Nigeria, donors, implementing partners, and other relevant partners, ensuring ongoing alignment.

• Support the Country Lead to prepare for program governance meetings, including logistics and content preparation.

• Support the Country Lead to gather intelligence and understanding of donors/ partners in the education system including identifying and influencing future funding opportunities, such as GPE or donor programming in development.

Programme implementation:

• Coordinate programme activities and monitor implementation progress against agreed plans and milestones.

• Coordinate and conduct site visits to programme locations to observe implementation, gather feedback, and assess safeguarding systems, documenting findings and preparing reports on adherence to EOF’s safeguarding standards.

• Support the Country Lead to work with the independent evaluator and implementing partners to coordinate results verification, including data submission processes, fieldwork, verification timelines, and payment.

• Coordinate with EOF’s Operations team to support operational and administrative processes, including cost verification and financial checks, travel planning, and procurement for any third-party service providers.

• Support the Nigeria Country Lead and programme team implement the program’s communications strategy and knowledge sharing strategy, promoting the dissemination of programme results and stories.

Required

• Secondary school education.

Desirable

• A first level university degree (Bachelor`s degree or equivalent) preferably in International Development, Public Policy, Education, Business, Economics, Political Science, Finance or similar is an asset and may be accepted in lieu of some years of experience.

Required

• A minimum of seven (7) years’ relevant experience combined with secondary school education, or a minimum of three (3) years’ relevant experience combined with a bachelor’s degree, in project management or programme implementation or related – preferably in relation to projects in the development, education sectors in Nigeria.

• Experience with stakeholder engagement and stakeholder management, preferably in Nigeria’s education sector.

• Experience working with donors and international organisations in the development sector in Nigeria

Desired

• Experience with results-based financing, innovative finance or innovative delivery models – particularly outcomes funds.

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