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Extended term consultant: Global education policy specialist

Washington D.C.

  • Organization: GPE - Global Partnership for Education
  • Location: Washington D.C.
  • Grade: Consultancy - EC2 - Extended Term Consultant Appointment
  • Occupational Groups:
    • Political Affairs
    • Legal - Broad
    • Education, Learning and Training
  • Closing Date: Closed


Description

Are you a hardworking advocate for education? Do you want to make a difference in the lives of children in the world’s poorest countries? The Global Partnership for Education (GPE) Secretariat would like to hear from you.

Who we are

GPE is a shared commitment to ending the learning crisis. It is the only global partnership fund dedicated entirely to helping children in lower-income countries get quality education, to unlock their potential and contribute to building a better world. With nearly 20 years’ experience helping partner countries to get more children in school and learning, we convene teachers, civil society, donors, United Nations agencies, development banks, businesses, and philanthropists behind partner country leadership to finance and support solutions so that no child is left behind.

What we do

GPE convenes partners and mobilizes funds to help governments in 76 lower-income countries build and finance strong and sustainable education systems that deliver quality learning to more children, especially those who are marginalized by poverty, gender, disability, or displacement. GPE focuses on driving transformation at scale to get the most vulnerable children in school, improve teaching and learning, and build resilient education systems capable of withstanding shocks and adapting to new challenges. GPE’s approach achieves lasting impact by convening partners behind country leadership. We support government efforts to advance teaching and learning for the 21st century, mobilize more and better financing, and scale up proven solutions for the poorest and hardest-to-reach children.

GPE recently approved a new strategy and operating model, GPE 2025, which is grounded in a “system transformation” approach and seeks to support and sustain education reforms with the potential for impact at scale. Within this framework, it was agreed to work with developing country partners to catalyze progress in four system transformation enabling factors: Equity, efficiency, and the volume of domestic financing of education; Gender responsive sector planning, policy, and monitoring; Use of data and evidence; and Sector coordination.

Raise Your Hand

GPE is currently calling on world leaders to “Raise Your Hand” and pledge at least US$5 billion to help GPE transform education in up to 87 countries, which are home to more than 1 billion children. Over the next five years, this funding will help ensure that 175 million children can learn and enroll 88 million more. In the longer term, this investment could add $164 billion to economies in the developing world, lift 18 million people out of poverty, and protect two million girls from early marriage.

Location

With over 100 staff, the GPE secretariat is hosted by the World Bank and has headquarters in Washington D.C and Paris plus an office in Brussels. The selected candidate may be based in the Washington, DC or the Paris, France office. 

The Country Engagement and Policy Team seeks to recruit an Extended Term Consultant – Global Education Policy Specialist to strengthen its global policy work in close collaboration with the Education Policy and Performance team, the Country teams, the Partnerships team, and the External Relations team. A strong focus for this work will be on supporting GPE’s external engagements in policy dialogue; drafting timely and relevant country and policy briefs for GPE management and Board of Directors; supporting the roll-out of GPE-led policy talks; and contributing to a coordinated effective approach to knowledge and evidence sharing across the Secretariat. 

Duties and Responsibilities:

This position will report to the Senior Policy and Planning Specialist and serve as a member of the Strategy and Coordination Team. The Consultant’s work will focus on supporting GPE’s global policy engagement and internal policy coordination. The Consultant will be responsible for the following: 

• Support GPE’s engagement in global policy dialogue in international fora.
• Monitor and keep abreast of the latest policy developments related to the United Nations processes related to SDG4, aid architecture, harmonization and aid effectiveness, gender equality, system transformation, and global financing issues.
• Support GPE’s engagement in key global initiatives, in close collaboration with the Partnerships and External Relations Teams.
• Support GPE policy and evidence initiatives. 
• Contribute to the development of GPE’s policy talks, including coordinating the production of each policy talk, supporting the engagement of relevant partners, and working with GPE External Relations Team on outreach and dissemination for each talk.
• Identify and support global opportunities for GPE to position itself and promote its technical expertise and thought leadership in key areas such as education system transformation, domestic financing, and gender equality.
• Support the consistent identification and review of GPE stories to showcase GPE’s work and impact in key policy areas, in close collaboration with GPE’s communication team.
• Proactively strengthen cross-secretariat collaboration on global policy and advocacy related opportunities. 
• Develop and maintain a calendar of ongoing opportunities for knowledge sharing and lessons learning across the Partnership, including through GPE’s various learning platforms.
• Support internal coordination of global policy work within the Strategy and Coordination team.
• Work with the Senior Policy and Planning Specialist to ensure strategic external engagement of Country Engagement and Policy team members in priority policy areas.
• Coordinate global policy engagements of the Country Teams and Education Policy and Learning team including the travel calendar for the Chief Technical Officer, event invitations, policy sign-off and approvals, etc.
• Manage requests to the Country Teams and Education Policy and Learning Team from other teams and coordinate inputs from across the team as needed.
• Manage the development and documentation of high-quality technical inputs and other data for policy meetings/briefings, in collaboration with the Education Policy and Performance team, for effective and informed GPE Secretariat engagement in various policy fora.
• Manage the development of high-quality operational updates and talking points for country briefings, in collaboration with the Country teams, for strategic engagement from GPE Leadership with partner country officials.
• Support engagement of country partners in GPE’s policy and knowledge exchange initiatives.
• Manage the development of internal protocols on event invitation management, thematic policy approvals, external engagement briefings, document storage and roll out of the client relationship management system.

Selection Criteria

• Master’s degree in education, international development, or a relevant related field with at least five years relevant experience (or equivalent combination of education and experience).
• Strong understanding of the global international development environment, key institutions and partners and topical issues.
• Demonstrated strength in written and oral communications (in English), with strong ability to convey complex ideas in a clear, direct, and lively style.
• Familiarity with international development and the current debates and issues related to the sustainable development agenda, including the key international actors and UN processes.
• Track record of analyzing, developing and drafting policy and advocacy briefs, including in key areas of education such system strengthening, equity, gender equality, finance, etc.
• Well-honed communication, interpersonal, relationship management and influencing skills; able to relate to people at all levels of an organization.
• Highly collaborative, but also able to work effectively with considerable autonomy under pressure to deliver in a timely manner.
• Willingness to work in a complex environment and travel to developing countries.
• Preference given for candidate with foreign language skills in another UN language.

Staff Mobility 

Staff appointments include, but are not limited to, medical benefits, including dental and vision, Staff Retirement Plan, financial assistance program, life & disability insurance, comprehensive leave policy (minimum 26 days/annum) and parental leave policy (50-100 days). 

Diversity and inclusion statement

Poverty has no borders. Neither does excellence. This is why we continually search for qualified individuals with a diverse set of backgrounds from around the globe. Individuals from minority groups, indigenous groups, and persons with disabilities, as well as nationals from under-represented regions are equally encouraged to apply. We are proud to be an equal opportunity and inclusive employer with a dedicated and committed workforce, and do not discriminate based on gender, gender identity, religion, creed, race, color, ethnicity, sexual orientation, or disability. GPE has a zero-tolerance policy against all forms of sexual exploitation, abuse and harassment in line with its PSEAH policy.
 
Individuals with disabilities may be provided reasonable accommodations to perform essential functions of the role and support in receiving other workplace accommodations. Please contact the DAF-Disability Accommodation Fund at disabilityfund@worldbank.org for further information.

World Bank Group Core Competencies

We are proud to be an equal opportunity and inclusive employer with a dedicated and committed workforce, and do not discriminate based on gender, gender identity, religion, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, or disability.

Learn more about working at the World Bank and IFC, including our values and inspiring stories. 

Note: The selected candidate will be offered a one-year appointment, renewable for an additional one year, at the discretion of the World Bank Group, and subject to a lifetime maximum ET Appointment of two years. If an ET appointment ends before a full year, it is considered as a full year toward the lifetime maximum. Former and current ET staff who have completed all or any portion of their second-year ET appointment are not eligible for future ET appointments.

This vacancy is now closed.
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