Under the overall authority of the Assistant Director-General Education (ADG/ED), the immediate authority authority of the Director of the UNESCO Regional Office in Yaounde and direct supervision of the Education Senior Programme Specialist in collaboration of others Education Specialist, the incumbent will be responsible for providing professional and technical support, research and analysis, with an emphasis on the national perspective of their own country, to the Field Office and Education sector work as well as to multi-sectoral and cross country programmatic activities and initiatives conducted from own duty station.

Within this context, the incumbent will:

Programme and Project Support:           

• Contribute to the development, implementation and management of projects and programmes reinforcing national capacities, through research, preliminary analysis, and compilation of background information;
• Provide substantive, logistical and administrative support to projects, consultations, meetings, network and partnership initiatives, events and missions;
• Assist in the facilitation of close working relationships and exchanges with national Institutes, ministry, National Commission, education stakeholders and networks for project design, development and implementation and reporting;
• Monitor project activities against work plans and schedules, report on implementation, highlight progress, gaps and bottlenecks, using relevant tools, including the System of Information on Strategies, Tasks and the Evaluation of Results (SISTER);
• Check project documents and bring to the attention of the supervisor issues regarding consistency or completeness for follow up action with all project and programme stakeholders.
• Contribute to the coordination of reporting to the Education Sector in HQ, and/or prepare inputs to documents for the Executive Board and the General Conference and reporting and ad hoc documents of concerned services (internal) to UNESCO and UNCTs, Funds and Programmes, Donors and other external Development Partners;
• Assist in C/5 work plans, policy formulation discussions, and other think tank activities;
• Participate in UN Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework (UNSDCF) and Common Country Assessment (CCA) planning and implementation, as well as in other joint collaboration with development partners and stakeholders, through identifying and / or concretizing joint programming / programme opportunities.

Research and Knowledge Management:          

• Contribute to public information and outreach tasks, writing, inputting to social media, hosting information points;
• Update and maintain knowledge management systems to ensure adequate and accessible documentation including ail extrabudgetary projects and activities;
• Upload to automated systems such as Sharepoint and other platforms the institutional memory of own office;
• Analyze best practices, current trends, programmes and country specific issues to acquire, broaden and increase knowledge and technical/thematic expertise;
• Invest in personal, professional learning in respect of new trends, and maintenance of personal knowledge and expertise.

Partnership, networking and resource mobilisation:                     

• Assist in building partnerships with stakeholders, in particular with national authorities, the private sector, civil society, NGOs and multilateral funding organizations;
• Analyze and compile background data for potential partnerships and fundraising opportunities, and arrange outreach activities, briefings, visits, consultations, meetings and other related visibility activities;
• Contribute to resource mobilization for the country by contributing in the development of concept notes and project proposals on the basis of situational analysis and needs assessments and in accordance with the C/5 priorities;
• Compile information for the Field Office's input to the UNSDCF, CCA, Country Programme Document (CPD), Country Action Plan (CAP) and to other relevant national planning exercises;
• Liaise with colleagues within the Sector and in other Sectors, in own and other Field Offices, Headquarters, Category I Institutes in Education and stakeholders to discuss developments and to archive information on Education initiatives, baselines, and impact measurements.

Education

• Advanced University degree (Masters or equivalent degree) in the field of education, Social Sciences, Development, Education Management or a related area.

Work Experience

• A minimum of 2 years of progressively responsible relevant experience in the field of education, education policies and strategies and/or other related fields, at the national and/or sub-regional level;
• Experience in developing, implementing, managing and evaluating projects/programmes in the field of education.

Skills and competencies

• Excellent coordination and interpersonal skills; 
• Managerial and organizational skills;
• Funds-raising and resources mobilization skills;
• Capacity to build and maintain effective partnerships inside and outside the Organization;
• Proven conceptual and analytical skills, including the demonstrated ability to provide high-level advise and technical support in education policy, strategic planning and reform;
• Ability to plan strategically and to translate strategies into action.

Languages

• Excellent knowledge (written and spoken) of French or English and good knowledge of the second language.

Work Experience

• Experience in working in a multicultural environment.

Skills and competencies

• Results oriented with ability to persuade and influence ;
• Excellent written and oral communication skills, including the ability to prepare, present and discuss findings and recommendations on issues clearly and concisely;
• Good IT skills including knowledge of the standard office software;
• Proven ability to work effectively in a team and to maintain effective working relationships in a multicultural environment;
• Ability to work in multitasking manner and well under pressure;
• Familiarity with the work and general functioning of international organizations and/ or UN system.

Languages

• Knowledge of Spanish and/or Portuguese will be an asset.