Job Vacancy at Education Partnerships Group (EPG) – Senior Associate

Location: Freetown, Sierra Leone (relocations will be considered)

Contract: 12 months (with possible extension subject to funding and performance)

Hours: Full-time (37.5 hours per week)

Reporting to: TBC

Overview of the project

Education Partnerships Group (EPG) is a non-profit consultancy that supports governments in low and middle-income countries to shape and strengthen their education systems. EPG partners with governments to enable their decisions by generating and using research to ensure policy is informed by evidence, facilitating the design and effective implementation of policy, and advising on the piloting and scaling of new policy reforms.

EPG, in collaboration with the Education Workforce Initiative (EWI), have been supporting the Ministry of Basic and Senior Secondary Education (MBSSE) in Sierra Leone with their policy reform agenda for over two years. Working closely with the Ministry’s Operations Policy and Planning Pillar, the consortium focuses on strengthening the policy development process by ensuring compliance and coherence to standards and supporting the drafting and implementation of policies.

To date, EPG and EWI have/are supporting the development of the:

• Radical Inclusion Policy (approved by Cabinet)

• School Feeding Policy (approved by Cabinet)

• Early Childhood Development Policy (approved by Cabinet)

• School Infrastructure Planning Policy (approved by Cabinet)

• Comprehensive School Safety Policy

• Basic and Senior Secondary Education Policy

• Use of School Subsidy Guidelines

• School Approval Guidelines

• Radical Inclusion Guidelines

• Early Childhood Development Guidelines

As the drafting of these policies and guidelines is completed or nearing completion, the validation and finalisation process will begin, culminating in their promulgation by the Cabinet, followed by their implementation.

About the role

EPG is looking for a highly motivated candidate, with excellent analytical, communication and problem-solving skills, and knowledge of education programming and policy to support the ongoing development of policies and guidelines, as well as the implementation of policies recently promulgated.

The candidate will support EPG work alongside the MBSSE to ensure that policies are carefully and thoughtfully developed and implemented across the country. This will require the ability to oversee, and quality assure the development of policy and policy guidelines and develop templates and training tools to roll out implementation, in consultation with the MBSSE.

The right candidate will be passionate about the role education plays in transforming lives and see this role as an opportunity to support the MBSSE strengthen the policy environment to ensure the delivery of free quality education to all children in Sierra Leone. This role is based in the Ministry of Basic and Senior Secondary Education and will also require helping the Ministry coordinate with relevant Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) and development partners (World Bank, FCDO, etc).

Indicative responsibilities

Working under the guidance of an EPG Programme Manager, often with tight deadlines:

• Supports the MBSSE to develop policies and policy guidelines and costed implementation plans through quality assuring and/or drafting policy documents.

• Supports the MBSSE to develop an implementation process (timelines, templates, roles and responsibilities, etc).

• Supports the development of communication and training plans, training toolkits, etc) in close collaboration with the MBSSE and EPG team to support the implementation of policies nationally.

• Supports evidence-based research to inform policy development and implementation.

• Maintains constructive relationships with stakeholders (government counterparts, partners, etc) in close collaboration with the EPG Programme Manager.

• Contributes to the writing of programme deliverables, such as donor reporting.

• Supports EPG Programme Manager with programme management tasks including monitoring and evaluation, work planning, financial management and donor reporting.

Candidate requirements

• A Master’s Degree in Social Sciences (Law, Public Administration, Economics, Education, or related field).

• 4+ years of professional experience.

• Excellent policy analysis skills.

• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills.

• Proven ability to synthesise and analyse qualitative data.

• Experience in education policy and/or programming.

• Experience in project management including planning, monitoring and reporting.

• Exceptional organisational skills with excellent attention to detail.

• Strong stakeholder engagement skills including government counterparts, donors and implementing partners is desirable.

• Experience with the professional use of the Microsoft Office Suite (i.e. Word, PowerPoint, Excel, Outlook)

• Strong written communications and presentation skills in English.

• Strong interpersonal skills with a sense of humility and willingness to work with diverse team members, often remotely.

• A commitment to improving education quality for all children.

How to Apply

Applicants should submit in a single document a cover letter (maximum 1 page) and CV (maximum 3 pages) on our online recruitment portal. 

Please disregard the UK based questions as they do not apply for this role.

The deadline for applications is 13 August 2021, although applications will be reviewed, and candidates interviewed on a rolling basis.

Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted on next steps