Based in Expertise France coordination office in Addis (“Africa Hub” in charge of supporting political dialogue and providing technical assistance to partner countries), the Education Officer will primarily provide support to the development and implementation of activities related to the Technical assistance window (“Window 1”), with a focus on Eastern Africa. This demand-driven mechanism is activated upon request from eligible Sub-Saharan countries with the purpose of supporting system reforms and policies in the technical areas under the Specific Objectives 1 and 2 (“Teacher governance” and “Teacher education and professional development”). The technical assistance window consists in the mobilization of expertise to support countries in the design and implementation of national teacher policy reforms, capacity building and systems strengthening for more effective teaching, including improving social dialogue with teachers’ representatives.

Under the direct supervision of the Programme Coordinator responsible for overseeing EF-managed activities, the Education Officer will primarily focus on the implementation of the country action plans which will be agreed between the Facility and the partner countries (especially in Eastern Africa). Within the CAP, she/he will handle assistance requests from eligible countries throughout each stage of the process (reception and processing of the CAP request, implementation of the CAP, TORs drafting of the technical assistance, expertise contracting and supervision, M&E, reporting and closure), as per RFTA Standard Operating Procedures. Although the primary focus will be on the CAP implementation, he/she may provide technical input to the fine-tuning of Country Action Plans (CAP) in collaboration with the Team Leads in Education (TLE) based in Addis Ababa and the Education Officers based in Europe, and to the development of activity and budget plannings aiming to roll out these CAP. He/she will also play a key role in monitoring interventions, supervising technical assistance contracts, monitoring the quality of the technical assistance, and identifying key lessons learnt from technical assistance activities.

Reporting to the Programme Coordinator at the RFTA coordination office in Paris, and liaising closely the Coordinator of the Technical unit in Addis, the Education Officer is assigned the following primary responsibilities:

Responsibility 1: Implementing the Country Action Plans

• Facilitate communication with requesting and partner institutions in eligible countries to guide them through the Facility processes.
• Screen the CAP country request for eligibility and completeness, as per the Standard Operating Procedures requirements.
• Contribute to a first level of analysis of the CAP, in close collaboration with the Technical Lead in Education
• Support the consolidation of Country Action Plans (CAP) under EF management, in close collaboration with the Technical Lead in Education
• Contribute to crafting detailed operational plans for implementing CAPs, including activity schedules and budget allocations, to facilitate their effective rollout.
• Based on the Partners’ and the TLE’s inputs, finalize the drafting of the TORs of each activity of the CAPs
• Follow-up on the publication of the TORs and recruitment process of the expertise identified in the CAP (whether institutional or individual expertise)
• Support TLEs in the identification and prospection of expertise to deliver on the CAP, and in particular in leveraging expertise from African public institutions to promote sustained institutional partnerships.
• Contribute to the development of the Facility database of expertise, including the development of a pool of African experts in key technical sectors.
• Coordinate TA activities and expert missions, whilst maintaining contact with relevant individuals and stakeholders in Partner countries.

Responsibility 2 : Oversight and Reporting

• Supervise the comprehensive execution of activities outlined in Country Action Plans
• Ensure the effective implementation of workflows, key processes, and required forms (templates, TORs, activity reports, etc.) to roll out technical assistance activities.
• Review and validate deliverables of mobilized experts, in close coordination with the Technical Leads in Education
• Compile and produce action evaluation reports, including results, achievement of indicators, and lessons learned.
• Report, compile and file relevant information and documentation on requests and activities.
• Manage the administrative closing of requests and actions, in close collaboration with the Support services Unit.
• Identify lessons learnt from technical assistance activities to contribute to MEAL outputs.
• Contribute to the preparation of interim and final activity reports (narrative and financial) in accordance with deadlines and contractual terms.

Responsibility 3 : Networking and Coordination

• Identify, select, and mobilize suitable practitioners and supporting organizations for short or longer peer-to-peer exchange missions.
• Coordinate with backstopping FIT members for logistics and coordination of TA activities.
• Coordinate with FIT members with transversal duties for expert briefing, accompanying, and debriefing.
• Participate in consultation/coordination meetings between the EF team and other MS agencies, facilitating effective planning and implementation of activities related to Window 1.
• Ensure alignment with activities across other Windows for coherence and synergy.

The Education Officer may perform additional tasks and responsibilities belonging to the operations of the RFTA, as delegated by the Programme Coordinator. The described tasks involve the necessity to network and interact with a multiplicity of institutions and stakeholders from EU and Sub-Saharan countries and require readiness and ability to travel abroad when necessary to MS coordination offices in Europe and partners institutions in Africa.