ECCD Advisor
Job Title: ECCD Advisor
Location: San Salvador, El Salvador
Expected Start Date: As soon as possible. This is a funded project.
Description of Job Responsibilities:
The Early Childhood Care and Development (ECCD) Adviser will lead and manage Whole Child International’s ECCD component of the recently awarded USAID’s five-year Child Protection and Quality of Care project. The ECCD component focuses on supporting children, caregivers and community members to be active participants in the social, emotional, psychological and educational wellbeing of children. Additionally, the program aims to support relevant government officials through strengthening their skills and knowledge in improving child care practices in childcare centers, with special attention to child protection. Our ECCD Adviser will also contribute substantially to enhance coordination and strengthen early child care and development systems. This position is responsible for ECCD program development and implementation, ECCD program budget oversight, and management of senior technical staff. This position is based in San Salvador and will report to the Chief of Party of the USAID Child Protection and Quality of Care project.
Program Management
- Manage the overall implementation of interventions related to early childhood care and development and early education.
- Closely monitor budget spending and forecasts for the overall ECCD program budget.
- Identify key stakeholders and develop relationships to support scale up of the program implementation, as aligned with and contributing to the overall strategic objectives of the project.
- Identify and support local partners and ensure appropriate levels of technical assistance and capacity building are provided to support in quality programming.
- Coordinate and collaborate closely with Child Protection sector to ensure integration and delivery of holistic programs to targeted populations.
- Serve as Child Protection and Quality of Care subject matter expert on early childhood care and development and early education programs.
- Prepare timely program and donor reports for the ECDD component in compliance with internal WCI requirements and all relevant USAID requirements.
- Coordinate with WCI Home Office to ensure that all required support needs are identified, and technical support is requested based on need.
Proposal Development
- Work closely with WCI Country Director and the CoP to monitor changes in local context and identify needs that can be addressed through WCI’s early childhood care and development program.
- Support fundraising for Whole Child International’s ECCD program, including providing input into the development of high quality concept notes, proposals, and budgets.
Team Management and Capacity Building
- Ensure that ECCD team staffing structure is in line with project requirements to ensure delivery of high quality programs within the project period.
- Manage and provide overall leadership and guidance to the ECCD team members.
- Assess training needs within the ECCD team and develop a capacity building plan.
- Provide regular constructive feedback to direct reports, following WCI’s performance management procedures.
- Supervision of technical level staff.
Coordination and Representation
- Ensure that WCI's work is coordinated with efforts of other agencies, ensuring the specific needs of children are being addressed, and represent WCI in relevant coordination forums.
Monitoring and Evaluation
- Work closely with the M&E team to ensure the effective monitoring and evaluation of ECCD activities.
- Assist M&E team in designing evaluation methods and monitoring project data.
- Regularly review progress of the ECCD component against program objectives and indicators, and ensure relevant plans are in place to address under-achieved indicators.
- Support internal and external program/project evaluations as necessary in coordination with the M&E team and ensure project learning is captured and integrated into current and future projects.
General
- Comply with Whole Child International policies and practice with respect to child safeguarding, code of conduct, health and safety, equal opportunities and other relevant policies and procedures.
- Perform other responsibilities as agreed with your line management.
Indicators of Success:
- ECCD Elements of the project are technically sound
- ECCD elements of project are implemented on time and on budget
- Lessons learned, and best practices, are documented and shared with Government of El Salvador and internally.
Required Qualifications:
- Mandatory 10 years of experience in the design, management and/or implementation of ECCD projects, and desired experience in early education programs.
- At least six 6 years of experience with implementation of donor funded projects (preferably USAID,) focused on ECCD, child protection and/or early education.
- At least a Masters’ Degree in early child education, child development, or related field in a relevant subject; an advanced degree in those fields is highly desirable.
- Excellent English and Spanish communication skills, both written and verbal. Professional level Spanish/English required.
- At least 4 years experience in working and advocating with government agencies, donors and other stakeholders, is preferred.
- Experience in coordinating efforts with other International and local NGOs.
- Extensive experience managing and supervising teams.
- Prior experience in El Salvador or Latin America is highly desired.
- Multiple country work experience is desired
Position Reports to: Chief of Party
Number of Direct Reports: Up to 4, including senior technical specialist and technical specialist
How to Apply: Please send resume and cover letter to recruit@internationalink.net. PDF or Microsoft Word formats preferred, and please add “ECCD Advisor - El Salvador” in the subject of your email.
Deadline for Applications: August 24, 2018 or until filled.
Description of Whole Child International:
Whole Child International’s mission is to improve the quality of care that vulnerable children receive. Our systems-based, comprehensive program prioritizes the social-emotional well-being of children in a spectrum of settings ranging from orphanages, to limited-resource childcare centers, to foster and kinship care. We provide knowledge, skills, and tools to local universities, social workers, center directors, government ministry employees, and other stakeholders whose optimal functioning is critical to sustainable change across the childcare system.
In 2017, after 13 years of program development and rigorous evaluation in a highly under-served area of global development, Whole Child successfully secured a $3 million unrestricted gift to fund our next phase of growth. Having completed a formal strategic planning process, we are currently beginning an aggressive five-year phase to complete program development and evaluation and to create the infrastructure needed for growth to reach millions of children worldwide. Whole Child International is an Equal Opportunity Employer.