CHILD SAFEGUARDING:

Level 3:  The role holder will have contact with children and/or young people either frequently (e.g. once a week or more) or intensively (e.g. four days in one month or more or overnight) because they work in country programs; or are visiting country programs; or because they are responsible for implementing the police checking/vetting process staff.

ROLE PURPOSE:

Save the Children Pakistan is seeking a project based Education Specialist for the USDA-funded McGovern-Dole Food for Education and Child Nutrition Program—the Sindh Sustainable School Meals (SSSM) Project. The SSSM Project will be implemented across Sujawal, Tando Muhammad Khan, and Thatta districts, reaching approximately 722 schools and 150,000 children over the life of the project.

Reporting to the Chief of Party (COP), the Education Specialist will provide technical leadership and guidance for the education components of the SSSM Project, ensuring that school meals and complementary education interventions contribute to improved access, attendance, retention, learning, and overall education outcomes.

The Education Specialist will support Chief of Party in the design, adaptation, and technical quality assurance of education interventions, including teacher professional development, teaching and learning materials, literacy and foundational learning support, and approaches to strengthen student participation and retention. The role will ensure that interventions are aligned with Government of Sindh education priorities, policies, standards, and Save the Children technical approaches.

The position will work closely with the Government of Sindh, School Education & Literacy Department (SE&LD), relevant government stakeholders, implanting partners, schools, communities, and implementing partners to strengthen coordination, technical capacity, ownership, and sustainability of education interventions. The Education Specialist will also collaborate closely with the SSSM MEAL, Research, Health and Nutrition, Safeguarding, and other technical teams to ensure education activities are informed by evidence and that agreed education outcomes and indicators are effectively monitored, documented, and used to inform programmatic decision-making.

The role will provide technical inputs to project planning, implementation, monitoring, learning, reporting, advocacy, and communication, while ensuring compliance with USDA McGovern-Dole requirements and Save the Children policies, standards, and technical quality benchmarks.

SCOPE OF ROLE:

Reports to: Chief of Party –

Staff reporting to this post: Up to 2 individuals including a Health and Nutrition Coordinator

Indirect: None

Budget Responsibilities: N/A

Working Relations: Also work closely with Education Advisor at Country Office

KEY AREAS OF RESPONSIBILITY:

1. Education Technical Leadership and Programme Quality:

• In supervision of Chief of Party, provide overall technical leadership, strategic direction, and quality assurance for all education components of the SSSM Project, ensuring alignment with USDA McGovern-Dole requirements, Government of Sindh priorities, Save the Children Common Approaches, and organisational quality standards.
• Develop, adapt and quality assure curricula, training packages, teaching and learning materials, assessment tools, classroom resources and implementation guidelines.
• Lead and facilitate technical trainings, workshops, orientations, and capacity-strengthening initiatives for project staff, partners, government counterparts, teachers, school leaders and community stakeholders.
• Provide ongoing mentoring, coaching and field support to project teams and implementing partners to ensure high-quality implementation and achievement of project targets, including review and quality assurance of technical deliverables, reports, training materials and workplans.
• Identify implementation bottlenecks, emerging risks and learning opportunities and recommend corrective actions to strengthen programme performance and education outcomes.
• Work closely with MEAL, Research and project teams to ensure education interventions are informed by evidence, programme data and learning findings, and that results are used to drive adaptive management and programme improvement.
• Review monitoring findings, identify implementation gaps and risks, and develop corrective action plans with project teams, partners, and government counterparts.
• Lead routine technical quality assurance processes, including classroom observations, training quality reviews, coaching visits, and supportive supervision of education activities.
• Represent the SSSM Project in relevant provincial, district, national, and sector coordination forums and education technical working groups, as delegated by the COP.

2. Foundational Learning, Assessment and Adaptive Programming:

• Provide support to FLN approaches across SSSM education interventions, with particular attention to literacy and numeracy skills in ECE and primary grades.
• Support the design and use of appropriate learning assessment approaches, including EGRA, EGMA, IDELA, classroom-based assessments, and other agreed assessment tools.
• Ensure learning assessments are technically sound, context appropriate, aligned with project indicators and donor requirements, and effectively implemented in collaboration with MEAL and Research teams.
• Provide technical oversight of learning assessments, ensuring quality implementation, data integrity, analysis and use of findings.
• Analyse and interpret learning and programme data to identify learning gaps, inform teacher support and strengthen education interventions.
• Conduct periodic programme reviews and support data-driven decision making to improve learning outcomes and programme effectiveness.
• Provide technical inputs to baseline, midline, endline, operational research, monitoring, and other assessments to ensure effective measurement of education outcomes.

3. Government Engagement, Systems Strengthening and Sustainability:

• Establish and maintain strong technical relationships with the School Education & Literacy Department (SE&LD), teacher training institutions and other relevant government departments and stakeholders to strengthen coordination, ownership, institutionalization, and sustainability of SSSM interventions.
• Provide technical assistance and capacity strengthening support to government counterparts on FLN, ECE, teacher professional development, school meals-linked education interventions, assessment systems and education quality improvement.
• Support provincial and district authorities to integrate school meals, FLN, school health, and related education interventions into government policies, plans, systems, and budgets.
• Support government counterparts to strengthen institutional and technical capacity for planning, implementation, monitoring, and sustainability of education and school meals approaches.
• Contribute to strengthening relevant government education information and data systems to support evidence-based planning, resource allocation, and programme monitoring.
• Facilitate technical working groups, joint reviews, learning forums and policy dialogue processes to support the institutionalisation, sustainability and scale-up of successful SSSM approaches within government systems.

4. Community Engagement and School-Level Participation:

• Provide technical guidance to partners and schools on community engagement approaches that strengthen attendance, retention, learning, and sustainability.
• Support effective functioning of School Management Committees (SMCs), Parent-Teacher Committees (PTCs), parent engagement, and community accountability mechanisms.
• Promote meaningful engagement of parents, caregivers, community leaders, and other stakeholders in supporting children’s learning, regular attendance, retention, and transition.
• Strengthen community ownership of school meals, education, and school health interventions to support sustainability.

5. Influencing, Learning and Impact:

• Provide technical support to develop and implement an evidence-based advocacy and influencing agenda focused on sustainable school meals, FLN, education quality, school health, inclusion, and equitable access to education.
• Generate and use programme evidence, learning, research findings, and assessment results to inform policy dialogue, government priorities, education financing, and investment decisions.
• Document, disseminate and facilitate the use of programme learning, good practices, innovations, challenges and evidence through technical briefs, learning notes, case studies, success stories, presentations and learning forums.
• Lead the development of technical inputs, learning products and evidence packages for donor engagement, policy influence, programme improvement and scale-up efforts.
• Provide timely and high-quality technical inputs to donor reports, annual workplans, project updates, advocacy materials, and other reporting and communication requirements.

6. Gender, Inclusion, Resilience and Education in Emergencies:

• Ensure gender equality, disability inclusion, safeguarding, and protection considerations are integrated across education programme design, implementation, monitoring, and learning.
• Promote approaches that address barriers to participation and learning among girls, children with disabilities, and other marginalized or at-risk groups.
• Integrate climate resilience, disaster risk reduction, and preparedness considerations into education programming in response to the vulnerabilities and risks affecting schools and communities in Sindh.
• Support Education Advisor in provincial Education in Emergencies (EiE) DRR working group preparedness and coordination and contribute, where relevant, to education sector preparedness, response, and information/data systems.

SKILLS AND BEHAVIOURS (our Values in Practice):

Accountability:

• Holds self accountable for making decisions, managing resources efficiently, achieving and role modelling Save the Children values
• Holds the broader team and partners accountable to deliver on their responsibilities

Ambition:

• Sets ambitious and challenging goals for themselves and take responsibility for their own personal development
• Future orientated, thinks strategically and on a global scale

Collaboration:

• Approachable, good listener, easy to talk to; builds and maintains effective relationships with colleagues, managers, members and external partners and supporters
• Values diversity and different people’s perspectives, able to work cross-culturally.

Creativity:

• Develops and encourages new and innovative solutions
• Willing to take disciplined risks

Integrity:

• Honest, encourages openness and transparency

• Commitment to Save the Children values

REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS:

• Master’s degree or higher qualification in education, Social Sciences, Development Studies, or a relevant field.
• At least 8 years of technical specialist experience in education programming, including formal and non-formal foundational learning, literacy and numeracy, early childhood learning programs.
• At least 8 years of experience working with government education authorities especially Sindh School Education and Literacy Department, partners, and other stakeholders is highly desirable.
• Fluency in English and Urdu, both written and spoken, is required. working knowledge of Sindhi is an advantage.

REQUIRED EXPERIENCE & SKILLS:

• Strong technical expertise in Foundational Literacy and Numeracy (FLN), ECE, teacher professional development, and education quality improvement is required.
• Demonstrated experience in learning assessment and use of education data, including EGRA, EGMA, IDELA, classroom-based assessments, or similar tools.
• Experience working with government education authorities, implementing partners, consultants, schools, and communities, including technical assistance and capacity strengthening.
• Experience in education systems strengthening, policy engagement, advocacy, and government capacity development is highly desirable.
• Experience with INGOs, USAID, USDA McGovern-Dole, school meals, or large scale donor funded integrated education programmes is an advantage.
• Strong understanding of gender-responsive and inclusive education, including disability inclusion, safeguarding, and protection.
• Strong analytical, communication, facilitation, coordination, and problem-solving skills, with the ability to translate evidence into practical programme improvements.
• Experience working within provincial education systems in Pakistan is preferred; experience and networks in Sindh will be an asset.
• Willingness to travel regularly to project field locations, including rural areas (up to 30%), to provide technical support and monitor implementation.

OTHER ATTRIBUTES:

• Highly adaptable, collaborative, and solution-oriented, with strong analytical and troubleshooting skills.
• Strong commitment to gender equality, inclusion, safeguarding, and equitable access to quality education.
• Effective communicator and relationship builder, able to work with diverse stakeholders and influence without direct authority.
• Demonstrates sound judgment, initiative, and commitment to evidence-based programming, learning, and continuous improvement.

Additional Job Responsibilities:

The duties and responsibilities as set out above are not exhaustive and the role holder may be required to carry out additional duties within reasonableness of their level of skills and experience.

Equal Opportunities:

The role holder is required to carry out the duties in accordance with the SCI Equal Opportunities and Diversity policies and procedures.

Child Safeguarding:

We need to keep children safe so our selection process, which includes rigorous background checks, reflects our commitment to the protection of children from abuse.

Safeguarding our Staff:

The post holder is required to carry out the duties in accordance with the SCI anti-harassment policy.

Health and Safety:

The role holder is required to carry out the duties in accordance with SCI Health and Safety policies and procedures.

Save the Children has zero tolerance towards Sexual Exploitation and Abuse, Fraud, Bribery and Corruption.