Education Partnerships Group
Director of Programmes Appointment Brief | January 2020
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Director of Programmes | January 2020
Education Partnerships Group
Welcome. Thank you for your interest in become Education Partnerships Group’s Director of Programmes. This is an absolutely critical role for us as we continue to grow our organisation, our impact and our reputation. Our vision is a world in which all children go to school and learn, and we believe we can help achieve this by working with governments to shape and strengthen their education systems. Ultimately no efforts at reform will stick unless there is a strong system that holds everyone accountable while providing them with the support and capacity they need to improve. We also believe that governments are better placed than us to understand the challenges they face and identify the right solutions. Our role is to support them through the process by facilitating discussion, providing research, and advising on communications and implementation. We do not approach governments with a view as to what policies they should be pursuing but with a conviction that we can help them do policy better. As such we’re looking for candidates who understand how governments work and think. You don’t need to be a technical expert, but you do need to have experience of policymaking or consultancy around policy. We’re also looking for someone who can lead our diverse, and high-achieving programmes team. As a small organisation we need someone who can offer high-level strategic guidance but is also prepared to get stuck into the day-to-day work when necessary. Most importantly we need someone who believes, as we do, that policy support to governments can be done better and, not only wants to run great projects, but also wants to influence the rest of the development community to change the way the sector works. If you believe in policy as a key lever of change and you want to be part of building a new organisation with a new way of doing things, then please read on.
Sam Freedman CEO, Education Partnerships Group
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Director of Programmes | January 2020
Who we are. Our vision is that every government is equipped to ensure that every child goes to school and learns.
We believe that: •
Every child has the right to a high-quality education, wherever they go to school.
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The world cannot afford to lose another generation of children to the education crisis.
Education Partnerships Group (EPG) is part of the Ark family. Ark is a large UK-based education charity that has run international projects since it was founded in 2002. As Ark became more focused on running its 38 state-funded schools in England, they founded EPG in 2015, as a wholly owned venture in which to house their international education projects. EPG is still fully owned by Ark but is in the process of spinning out to become an independent charity. Since becoming a venture within Ark, EPG has developed its own brand, reputation and strategy as a not-for-profit consultancy working with governments around the world to shape and strengthen their education systems. We’re currently working in six countries: South Africa, Uganda, Ghana, Cote d’Ivoire, Sierra Leone and Cambodia.
While we only work in low- or middle-income countries, we don’t have any geographic limits to where we’ll work as long as there is a government seriously committed to improving their education system, funding available for the work and internal capacity to deliver. In every country in which we work we have local team members, usually based in the Ministry. At the moment the team is split about 50/50 between London and the countries we’re working in. Over time we expect the percentage of non-London team members to grow significantly. Our projects are funded by a mix of local and international philanthropic foundations, bilateral and multilateral organisations and, occasionally, sub-contracting to large organisations.
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Education Partnerships Group
We work directly with governments on reforms at the system level. We prioritise being contextually relevant – taking into account the political, cultural and social landscape in the countries where we work.
We strive for our work to be evidence-based and aim to use what we learn to refine our support and inform global debate.
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Director of Programmes | January 2020
Our strategy. The focus of our strategy for the next five years is to become world-leading experts in the education policy development process. Our starting point is that, historically, many “technical assistance” projects have been overly technocratic and been designed on the assumption that international experts can simply impose “global best practice” on to countries’ systems. We see this as a naïve model that hasn’t worked, which is one reason why there’s been so little improvement in learning outcomes in most low and middle countries in recent years. Our approach is designed to facilitate governments to identify and solve problems. We help guide discussions, provide research, both on the system context, and what’s worked elsewhere, as well as supporting coalition building around policies. We also support implementation of trials, evaluation and scaling. We know this will take longer than the traditional model but, in our view, it is far more likely to lead to real change in classrooms.
As a small organisation we believe we can have direct impact through our programmes but, ultimately, our greatest impact can come through convincing the major players in the sector to make changes to their practice. This means influencing others through our own learning, research and evaluation - a key part of our mission.
Education Partnerships Group
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Role description. Job title:
Director, Programmes
Reports to:
CEO
Location:
Ark’s London office or Sub-Saharan Africa, with international travel (35%)
Contract:
Permanent
EPG is looking for a highly motivated and capable candidate to join its Senior Management Team. The successful candidate will find EPG’s vision and values to be exciting and motivating and be eager to contribute to the development of an organization striving to redefine the role of technical assistance in international development and education. The Director of Programmes will lead the design and delivery of EPG’s entire portfolio of work, including establishing and managing relationships with multiple governments and funders, leading a team of highly professional staff to deliver outstanding work to all clients, providing strategic insight into the monitoring and evaluation of the portfolio, undertaking financial oversight across all country budgets and playing a strategic role in the leadership and growth trajectory of EPG. This role is based in London or Sub-Saharan Africa with international travel (35% time). This travel time will increase to 45% if not based in London as travel to London will be required.
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Director of Programmes | January 2020
Key responsibilities. •
Work closely with multiple governments, including senior government officials and Ministers, to oversee the end-to-end design and implementation of projects focused on improving the quality of education systems, and ensure work is cognisant of, and responsive to, the wider political economy.
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Build a coherent portfolio of work within and across countries with attention to strategic ambition, risk management, robust evidence generation and sound budget management.
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Line manage programme staff, including remotely, to quality assure delivery against programme objectives as well as the personal and professional development of individuals.
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Provide vision and leadership around how technical assistance might be more sustainably delivered.
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Working with the Director of Research and Evaluation to ensure that all of EPG’s projects have contextually relevant monitoring and evaluation plans that inform best practice internally and externally and to deliver robust policy research.
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Help to ensure the financial sustainability of the organisation by leading on the development of new country engagements and supporting the Director of External Relations in the development of new funding relationships and maintaining existing ones.
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Keep abreast of the latest global and national research, news and trends in education, development and country/ client contexts, and to share this information with relevant stakeholders.
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Report to the EPG Board on the health of the portfolio, flagging significant issues, as they arise and as appropriate, for discussion.
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Participate as an active member of EPG’s Senior Management Team to provide strategic and operational leadership across the organisation.
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Education Partnerships Group
Requirements. Essential requirements for the candidate are:
Desirable skills and experience include:
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Fluency or advanced language capabilities in French.
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Experience working in or across SubSaharan Africa.
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Good network within the global education sector.
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Experience in research, monitoring and evaluation design and delivery.
Significant professional experience in international development or international consulting, and in education, including experience leading the design and delivery of policy-related projects.
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Significant experience developing and managing a team, including remotely and cross cultures.
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Passion for education and for the central role of the government in delivering education.
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Knowledge and/or experience in the role of non-state actors in the provision of basic education.
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Experience designing and delivering on major organisational strategies.
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Exceptional relationship-building and management skills especially with leaders in government and non-government institutions in low-and middle-income countries.
Experience working on projects aimed at strengthening accountability in education systems.
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Formal training in microeconomics.
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A strong track record in complex, end to end project management, particularly in in low- or middle-income countries.
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Exceptional written, communication, and presentation skills in English.
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Experience in analysing and interpreting qualitative and quantitative data, and drawing out key themes and policy implications.
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Familiarity with research and evaluation methodologies.
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Masters’ degree or equivalent experience.
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Director of Programmes | January 2020
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Education Partnerships Group
How to apply.
To apply to become Director of Programmes at Education Partnerships Group, please upload a CV and a cover letter of no more than 500 words, via the link below. Please also complete the equal opportunities information online when you submit your application via our website. The information collected will be treated as confidential, used for statistical purposes only, and will not be treated as part of your application. Finally, please ensure that you have included your contact number and email address, as well as any dates when you will not be available or might have difficulty with the timetable. Applications should be made via the Prospectus website at: www.prospect-us.co.uk/jobs/details/HQ00176942
Recruitment timetable
Queries
Deadline for applications: 23 February 2020
If you wish to have an informal discussion about the opportunity, please contact our retained advisors Fiona Wansborough or Joan Mwangi at Prospectus via email at:
Interviews with Prospectus: 26 February - 4 March Interviews with Education Partnerships Group: 16-20 March and 30 March/1 April
fiona.wansborough@prospect-us.co.uk joan.mwangi@prospect-us.co.uk
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Director of Programmes | January 2020