Education Officer, NOA, Ankara Turkey (TA), Turkish Nationals Only

If you are a committed, creative professional and are passionate about making a lasting difference for children, the world's leading children's rights organization would like to hear from you. For 70 years, UNICEF has been working on the ground in 190 countries and territories to promote children's survival, protection and development. The world's largest provider of vaccines for developing countries, UNICEF supports child health and nutrition, good water and sanitation, quality basic education for all boys and girls, and the protection of children from violence, exploitation, and AIDS. UNICEF is funded entirely by the voluntary contributions of individuals, businesses, foundations and governments.

If you are a committed, creative professional and are passionate about making a lasting difference for children, the world's leading children's rights organization would like to hear from you.

For 70 years, UNICEF has been working on the ground in 190 countries and territories to promote children's survival, protection and development. The world's largest provider of vaccines for developing countries, UNICEF supports child health and nutrition, good water and sanitation, quality basic education for all boys and girls, and the protection of children from violence, exploitation, and AIDS. UNICEF is funded entirely by the voluntary contributions of individuals, businesses, foundations and governments.

Purpose of the Position

The Education Officer is responsible for oversight of planning, implementation, monitoring, reporting and achieving the planned results and activities in relation to the Inclusive Early Childhood Education for Children with Disabilities project. S/he will primarily work in close cooperation with the Ministry of National Education (MoNE), Basic Education General Directorate as well as other relevant project partners including civil society, academic institutions and the media.  The Education Officer will report to the UNICEF Education Specialist under the output of quality inclusive education. 

Key Accountabilities and Duties & Tasks

        Support to project development and planning

• Research and analyze regional and national political, education, social and economic development trends. Collect, analyze, verify and synthesize information to facilitate program development, design and preparation.
• Support preparation of technical reports and provide inputs for program preparation and documentation ensuring accuracy, timeliness and relevancy of information.
• Contribute to the development/establishment of sectoral program goals, objectives and strategies and results-based planning through research, collection, analysis and reporting of education and other related information for development planning and priority and goal setting.
• Provide technical and administrative support throughout all stages of programming processes by executing/administering a variety of technical program transactions, preparing materials/documentation and complying with organizational processes and management systems, to support program planning, results based planning (RBM) and monitoring and evaluating results.
• Prepare required documentation/materials to facilitate the program review and approval process.

• Project management, monitoring and delivery of results
• Work closely and collaboratively with internal and external colleagues and partners to collect/analyze/share information on implementation issues, suggest solutions on routine program implementation and submit reports to alert appropriate officials and stakeholders for higher-level intervention and/or decision making. Keep record of reports and assessments for easy reference and/or to capture and institutionalize lessons learned.
• Participate in monitoring and evaluation exercises, program reviews and annual sectoral reviews with government and other counterparts and prepare minutes/reports on results for follow up action by higher management and other stakeholders.
• Monitor and report on the use of sectoral program resources (financial, administrative and other assets), verify compliance with approved allocations/goals, organizational rules, regulations/procedures and donor commitments, standards of accountability and integrity. Report on issues identified to ensure timely resolution by management/stakeholders. Follow up on pending issues to ensure resolution.
• Prepare draft inputs for program/donor reporting.

        Technical and operational support to project implementation

• Undertake regular field visits and surveys and/or collect/share information with partners/stakeholders to assess progress and provide technical support and/or refer to relevant officials for appropriate action. Report on critical issues, bottlenecks and potential problems for timely action to achieve results.

• Provide technical and operational support to government counterparts, NGO partners, UN system partners and other country office partners/donors on the application and understanding of UNICEF policies, strategies, processes and best practices on education and related issues to support project implementation, operations and delivery of results.

  Networking and partnership building

• Build and sustain effective close working partnerships with government counterparts and national stakeholders through active sharing of information and knowledge to facilitate program implementation and build capacity of stakeholders to achieve and sustain results of education programs. 

  Innovation, knowledge management and capacity building

• Provide support in identifying, capturing, synthesizing and sharing lessons learned for knowledge development and capacity development of stakeholders.
• Apply innovative approaches and promote good practice to support the implementation and delivery of concrete and sustainable program results.

• Research, benchmark and report on best and cutting edge practices for development planning of knowledge products and systems.
• Participate as a resource person in capacity building initiatives to enhance the competencies of clients/stakeholders.

Qualifications of Successful Candidate

Education:

• A University Degree in education or social science field is required.
• Background in early childhood education and/or inclusive education is an asset.

Experience:

• A year of professional experience in education and/other related areas is an asset.  
• Experience working with government, EU and UNICEF is an asset.
• Professional work experience in policy analysis, research, and evaluation.
• Analytical report-writing and presentation skills (both in Turkish and English).
• Effective interpersonal and communication skills, especially the ability to work with children, families, civil society organizations, local authorities and Government officials.

Language Requirements:

• Fluency in English and Turkish is required.

Competencies of Successful Candidate

Core Values

• Commitment
• Diversity and Inclusion
• Integrity

Core competencies

• Communication
• Working with People
• Drive for Results

Functional Competencies

• Formulating strategies and concepts
• Analyzing
• Applying technical expertise
• Learning and researching
• Planning and organizing  

To view our competency framework, please click here. 

UNICEF is committed to diversity and inclusion within its workforce, and encourages qualified female and male candidates from all national, religious and ethnic backgrounds, including persons living with disabilities, to apply to become a part of our organisation.