Liberia Emergency Education Manager

Position: Emergency Education Manager Location: Harper, Maryland County, Liberia Reports to: Country Director Starting Date: January 1, 2012

Visions in Action is an international development & volunteer organization based in Washington DC with programs in Uganda, Tanzania, South Africa and Liberia. Its mission is to achieve social justice in the developing world through community based approaches to grassroots development. VIA has worked in education, food security and public health in Liberia since 2002. VIA has implemented the Emergency Education Program in Maryland County, Liberia since July 2011.

VIA is seeking a highly qualified educator experienced in Emergency Education and Child Protection in a refugee context to provide overall direction and guidance to education interventions in Maryland County under a program supported by UNICEF.

Key responsibilities: • Provide direct technical support and managerial supervision for 15 staff for the implementation and monitoring of VIA’s Emergency Education Program in Maryland County for Ivorian refugees at the Little Wlebo camp and host communities • Design and implement an Early Childhood Education program in French for refugee children ages 3-5 • Manage formal refugee school for grades 1-6 in the camp, including Ivorian teachers and curriculum in French • Design and implement a vocational training program in French for Ivorian teenagers 13-17 • Reinforce child protection systems and increase the capacity of VIA personnel, partners and local structures to protect children • Identify and develop training manuals, guidance documents, and toolkits on key Emergency Education and Child Protection issues • Participate in assessments, planning and efforts to strengthen the program, including innovative and creative responses and activities to addressing child protection issues • Train staff in SGBV and child protection issues • Represent VIA to donors and at education coordination meetings • Design new education programs for Liberians in the Southeast, write proposals and submit to donors for funding • Approve expenditures in line with the budget • Submit monthly program and financial reports to UNICEF and VIA’s head office in Monrovia • Supervise both education program staff and finance, logistics, drivers & security staff • Report to Head of Office in Monrovia daily by phone

Qualifications & Requirements: • Masters degree in Education, Social Work, Social Policy, or a related field • 5 years+ experience in education, classroom teaching, vocational training and/or early childhood development, preferably in Africa • Proven emergency education and child protection program management, implementation and monitoring experience in a refugee/IDP context in a developing country • Demonstrated experience in the application of Child Protection and Child Rights programming and rights based approaches to development. • Sound knowledge of the Convention on the Rights of the Child and Child Protection legislative frameworks • Proven experience facilitating meaningful child participation activities • Experience dealing with alleged cases of child abuse, and able to demonstrate an approach in responding to these that is professionally and ethically sound • Experience with UN clusters and the international systems for child protection • Demonstrated innovation and success in staff capacity-building, participatory and holistic programming and implementation • Solid diplomatic skills: the ability to effectively manage a variety of internal and external relationships, especially with partners; • Solid organizational skills: the ability to be flexible and work well under pressure in a fast-paced, multi-tasking, team environment; • Excellent oral and written communication skills, including training facilitation and presentation skills • Strong computer skills: proven ability to use Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and email/internet software • Experience in grant writing and financial management preferred • Fluency in written and spoken English; and functional French

Child Protection The responsibilities of the post holder will require them to have regular contact with children and young people. Candidates applying for this post will therefore be subject to VIA’s Child Protection recruitment procedures and a background check. Visions in Action is an equal opportunity employer. Women are strongly encouraged to apply.

Terms: Will be based in Harper, Maryland County, in remote southeastern Liberia, on the border of Cote d’Ivoire and a two day drive (14 hours) from the capital Monrovia. Will have shared housing in a small town with no electric grid and no running water. Term of Service: 6 months- January 1-June 30, 2012 (can be extended depending on donor funding and performance)
Provided: Basic medical insurance, shared housing, airfare and salary of US$1500/month Application instructions: Send cover letter, CV and three references to: jobs@visionsinaction.org Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis. The position is open until filled.

How to apply:

Send a cover letter, CV and three references to jobs@visionsinaction.org