Integrated Early Childhood Development Coordinator

In December 2017, Sesame Workshop and the IRC were awarded the MacArthur Foundation’s inaugural 100&Change grant to make real progress toward solving a critical problem of our time and in December 2018 received another award from the LEGO Foundation to support refugee early education programs. With these extraordinary investments, our partnership will transform the language, early reading, math, and social-emotional skills of a generation of children ages 0-8 affected by the Syrian war. Focusing on children in Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria over the next five years, the inclusive plan combines the depth of in-person services, reaching 1.5 million children, with the breadth of mass media, reaching 9.4 million children. For more information, please visit: http://refugee.sesameinternational.org/.

Reporting to the Deputy Director of Programs and the Regional Deputy Project Director of Ahlan Simsim, the ECD Coordinator will serve as the project lead for IRC in Lebanon and provide technical direction and leadership for the design, content creation, implementation, scaling, and advocacy of high-quality ECD programming within the region. The ECD Coordinator will work in close collaboration with the Alhan Simsim Regional team and Technical Advisors.

The Early Childhood Development Coordinator is responsible for four key objectives:

1.  Program Quality and Implementation: Plan and execute effective deployment of ECD resources and materials to support quality and inclusive programming for children and caregivers,as well as support related to the development and implementation of sound M&E systems and research-driven efforts;
2. Integration: Ensure program quality and integration of the Ahlan Simsim program and other ECD programs in Lebanon across other IRC programming sectors through training and capacity building, and using high quality data and evidence to inform programmatic decision-making;
3. Representation: Represent IRC and the Ahlan Simsim program inside and outside Lebanon at strategic meetings and events in close coordination with the Regional Project team;
4. Advocacy, partnerships and scaling:  Establish and strengthen productive relationships with ECD-focused organizations and networks, technical experts, government agencies and donors within Lebanon, that support Ahlan Simsim’s advocacy, scaling and sustainability objectives in coordination with the Regional Project Director and the Regional Technical Lead for ECD.  

RESPONSIBILITIES:

1. Program Quality and Implementation

• Supervise the implementation of Ahlan Simsim’s child facing and caregiver facing programs in IRC and non-IRC centers, including the implementation of IRC’s Pre-Healing Classroom intervention (CB-ECE);
• Ensuring reach targets and quality standards are met and in line with local or national standards for early childhood development and pre-primary education;
• With guidance from the Regional Technical Lead for ECD, develop country-specific programmatic standards for parenting/home visiting and early learning/ preschool/daycare programs implementation;
• Supervise the development of relevant M&E systems and ensure regular follow-up on monitoring data relevant to the Ahlan Simsim program and other ECD initiatives inside Lebanon;
• Support the implementation of the Lebanon Strategic Action Plan by ensuring that program activities align and contribute to achieving selected pathways of the prioritized signature and core sub outcomes.

2. Integration

•  Collaborate with Ahlan Simsim team and IRC Lebanon program teams (Protection, WPE, and ERD) teams to come up with strategies for integration of ECD activities across IRC programs;
• Collaborate with IRC program teams to effectively integrate ECD activities into existing community outreach and humanitarian response;
• Work closely with Partnership colleagues to come up with strategies for integration of ECD activities and Ahlan Simsim content across a range of partner programs, including government-run initiatives.

3. Representation

•  In coordination with the Regional Project Director, represent the IRC to donors, the UN, international and national NGOs, line ministries, and key ECD actors inside and outside Lebanon;
• As ECD focal point at country level, participate actively in external coordination forums; participate in internal coordination and management meetings to promote effective and efficient information sharing, problem-solving and decision making;

4. Advocacy, partnerships and scaling

•  Work in close collaboration with the Partnership unit to develop a holistic and collaborative approach to strategic and operational partners that can best leverage ECD programs, improve the quality and reach of IRC programs;
• Provide technical oversight and guidance to ensure quality implementation of Ahlan Simsim ECD approaches through partners;
• Establish and maintain solid relationships with ECD stakeholders, networks and government agencies that support Ahlan Simsim’s scaling and sustainability objectives;
• Work closely and coordinate with line ministries to influence national ECD strategies and initiatives, to ensure greater investments in ECD and greater access to ECD services, especially in conflict and crisis settings;

5. Grant Monitoring and Business Development

•  Ensure sound and effective management of the ECD portfolio and donor compliance, including appropriate and timely spending of grants to achieve program goals, grant reporting contributions, use and distribution of supplies and resources;
• Lead the development of new business concept notes and proposals for the continuation and expansion of ECD programming in Lebanon;
• Ensure the submission of timely, accurate and well written donor reports and other reporting requirements for all ECD programming in Lebanon ;
• Work closely and coordinate with IRC other technical unit, logistics, finance and grant staff to ensure timely and compliant program activities and expenditures; including active participation in grant opening/closing and review meetings and participation in bids opening and review.

6. Staff Management and Development

•  Coach, train, and mentor staff with the aim of strengthening their technical capacity, exchanging knowledge within the team and providing professional development guidance;
• Develop and implement staff capacity building plan to ensure quality ECD programming across programming teams and other IRC programming;
• Promote and support staff well-being and work-life balance;
• Conduct timely and quality performance evaluations.

Key Working Relationships:

Position Reports to:  Deputy Director of Programs and Regional Deputy Project Director of Ahlan Simsim

Position directly supervises: ECD Research Monitoring Evaluation and Learning Senior Manager, ECD Deputy Coordinator, ECD Quality, Training, and Capacity Building staff;;

Other Internal and/or external contacts:

Internal: Regional Ahlan Simsim team, HQ Ahlan Simsim team, other IRC programs and support departments.

 External:  all relevant donors, NGOS, DPOs, universities, partners, ministries, stakeholders, and government agencies. 

•  Masters level qualification in Social Sciences, Education, Psychology, Human Development, Social Work, or related subject
• Proven experience in managing and/or technically supporting early childhood development, education or child protection programs
• Prior experience and excellent understanding of working in emergency settings or insecure environments
• Strong leadership, staff management and project management skills; Strong budget management and reporting, skills; and an ability to oversee multiple awards from a variety of donors.
• Excellent Computer skills: MS Word, Excel, PTT, Outlook
• Strong written and oral communication skills, comfortable in a multi-cultural environment and effective in representation
• Excellent command of written and spoken Arabic and English. Fluency in French is an asset.