Federal Reform Facilitator- PLANE At DAI Global

Project Background:

Nigeria PLANE is a 7 year, £95m programme funded by the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) and represents one window of intervention in a broader package of investment intended to enable a more inclusive and effective basic education system. It seeks to do this through improvements made in teaching and learning with a focus on foundational skills in reading, writing and mathematics.

It has four primary outputs: (i) Teaching & Learning: Evidence-based teaching and learning approaches & materials in use, in better managed performance focused schools and teaching colleges; (ii) Governance of state systems: Improved planning, personnel management and public financial management practices; (iii) Governance of non-state systems: Improved management and performance of the non-state sector; and (iv) Use of Evidence and Communication: Effective generation, communication and use of evidence to inform citizen engagement and improve service delivery. PLANE will work in Kano, Kaduna and Jigawa, the South West, South East, and the federal capital territory.

The Federal Reform Facilitator (RF) will report and provide support to the Federal Lead for the Federal-level engagement activities and effective management of reform research, design, implementation and monitoring for evidence-based policy approaches to education within Federal governments. In addition, he/she will;

• Maintaining strategic relationships with Federal government counterparts and other relevant stakeholders, including, civil society, other reform programmes and development partners;
• Taking overall responsibility for the operation and delivery of Federal activities under the supervision of Federal and relevant Technical Leads;
• Support the development of workplans and budgets and implementation of Federal activities;
• Ensuring efficient and effective use of resources while achieving the best value for money in the commissioning of activities;
• Facilitating and delivering governance reform activities whilst ensuring governance reforms are owned and delivered by the Federal government under their agenda;
• Using a rapidly learning, flexible, responsive and adaptive approach to facilitating systems-strengthening reform with both government and non-government partners.
• Facilitating possible issue-based approaches to resolving specific service delivery problems with a connection to governance reform as models for improved service delivery.
• Working with the knowledge management unit and ensuring cross-learning within the Federal agencies, through the identification of existing networks, and the development of new peer learning platforms and locally developed tools;
• Coordinating Technical Advisors, State Reform Facilitators and short-term advisory support as applicable;
• Contribute to engagement with stakeholders, as appropriate.
• Use evidence on private schools relating to regulation and accountability, Public Private Partnership and financial inclusion to engage the federal government on non-state reforms.
• Develop an activity plan and results chain for each intervention and review such documents on a periodic (at least quarterly) basis under the supervision of Federal and Technical Leads.
• Provide a written progress report to the Federal Lead monthly and contribute to the quarterly progress report.

ESSENTIAL REQUIREMENTS

• 4 – 6 years of experience in policy development and a strong track record of delivering results on complex multi-component programmes;
• A minimum of a university degree
• Experience in leading successful reform interventions and evidence of good working relations with relevant Federal government agencies;
• An ability to manage relationships and a sound understanding of institutional change in complex environments;
• Extensive experience in Nigeria specifically working at the Federal level;
• Cultural sensitivity and a good understanding of the education challenges of Nigeria and its dynamics;
• Experience in management of diverse teams and effective performance management;
• An excellent understanding of financial and technical delivery, monitoring and evaluation of programme impact and reporting against results;
• Excellent communication skills and ability to develop high-quality written materials.
• Strong facilitation and stakeholder engagement skills