Education Officer at Save the Children Nigeria

 Save the Children is the leading independent organization for children in need, with programs in over 120 countries. We save children’s lives, fight for their rights and help them fulfil their potential. Save the Children is working in Nigeria because one in five children in Nigeria dies before their fifth birthday. About 40% of children miss out on school and have to work to survive while nearly 2 million children have lost one or both parents to an AIDS-related disease.

We are recruiting to fill the position below:

 

Job Title: Education Officer

Job Identification: 15251
Location: Borno
Contract Length: 1 year (renewable based on performance & funding)
Team: Education - ECDE 
Reports to: Education Programme Manager
Job Category: Advocacy, Campaigns and Policy

Child Safeguarding

• Level 3.  The responsibilities of this post may require the post holder to have regular contact with children and young people. As part of these responsibilities the post holder will support the establishment of child safeguarding systems, promote a culture of keeping children safe, and ensure that potential harm to children (by our own staff and/or as a result of how we do our work) is identified and addressed on an ongoing basis.  
• The post holder should report and respond to interventions as determined by position related responsibilities identified in the Child Safeguarding Policy.

Role Purpose

• Save the Children International (SCI), Nigeria is implementing an Early Childhood Development Education (ECDE) programme in Borno, Adamawa and Yobe States, Nigeria.
• This is a 4-year initiative intends to work with communities, Federal, State, and local education stakeholders to establish and validate a model for community-based, inclusive ECDE programming.
• The project is a private donor funding by the Whitehurst’s. The Whitehurst project is designed to build an evidence base to prove the impact and value of supporting the development needs of children ages 3-5 from across all incomes, races, ethnicities, and cultures to promote their learning, development and resilience.
• The project will support children, caregivers, teachers, communities, and stakeholder to advocate for and develop an ECDE model that can be a catalyst for increase Nigerian government and donor investment in ECDE.
• The project approach, strategies, and interventions are gender-sensitive and has a high level of child-safeguarding measures. Adequate attention will be given to the learning environment, providing facilities and teaching-learning supplies and processes to ensure child-friendly and enabling environments in schools’ full participation and development of foundational competencies in literacy and math.
• The Education Officer will provide operational and technical support to the Whitehurst team under the leadership of the Education Programme Manager to implement all Education activities for the project. This includes, supporting in the development of the Detailed Implementation Plan, participating in stakeholders’ meetings, and contribute to narrative reporting in line with donor requirement.
• The job holder will also be working closely with stakeholders at the community, LG and State level.
• Under the guidance Education Programme Manager, he/she will ensure that the Whitehurst ECDE project adheres to safe programming and is implemented in a coordinated, harmonized and aligned manner, in line with the donor requirements and commitments.

Key Areas of Accountabilities
Project Coordination & Management:

• Implement the Early Childhood Development Education (ECDE) project across the BAY States, Nigeria in line with the design of the project and donor requirements.
• Support the Education Programme Manager to establish, maintain, and strengthen linkages in the design, planning, implementation, monitoring and evaluation, reporting of Early Childhood Development Education (ECDE) project. 
• Contribute to assessments (baseline, needs).
• Ensure that procurement and distribution of materials and equipment is timely and in line with SCI policies and procedures; ensure accuracy of portfolio inventory (assets, supplies, materials).
• Ensure accurate project documentation, including collection of monitoring data and tracking of progress on output indicators; utilize data to contribute to reports as required.
• Facilitate relationships with communities and community leaders to ensure buy-in and Do No Harm.
• Create and sustain positive working relationships with the partners, government officials and other key stakeholders and work in collaboration with relevant education authorities to support the review of the national policy on IECD.
• Supervise and manage the teachers/learning facilitators, including facilitation of teacher training.
• Support in planning and coordinating State and LGAs level engagement with education authorities and other key stakeholders. 
• Facilitate recruitment of volunteer teachers in the project.
• Contribute to ensuring timely and quality reports are submitted as per the reporting requirements to the Head of Education.
• Working closely with Education Programme Manager to ensure quality programme design, delivery, documentation and reporting of education activities in the respective States.
• Operational Planning and implementation
• Work closely with the Education Programme Manager to provide support in developing, planning and monitoring project detail implementation plan, procurement plan, phased budget, MEAL Plan with documentation and reporting for all Education interventions in the State.
• Maintain high standard of safeguarding, transparency and accountability during programme design and support in expediting implementation while ensuring integrity and timeliness of project duration and meeting programme objectives, compliance with donors & Save the Children policies.
• Support in providing regular operations and implementation updates to the Project Manager on project progress and challenges to allow for timely interventions and corrective actions by the management.
• Ensure the timely reviews and adjustments for the project operational and implementation plan and budget as may be required from time to time. 
• Recommend technical solutions to speed up the implementation and budget performance in line with the project plan and budget.
• Effectively support the projects staff in developing annual plans, in line with best practices for education project design and Save the Children International planning guidelines and ensure compliance with the agreed work plans and that programme objectives and targets are being achieved in line with the funding proposal.

Finance and Budget Management:

• Support project monitoring, suggest necessary revisions and prepare draft reports for corrective actions. 
• Support the Education Programme Manager in ensuring that the budget variance analysis (BVA) is monitored and reported as per in time and with accurate information.

Safeguarding:

• Ensure safe programming in the planning, implementation, monitoring, training of teachers and construction/rehabilitation of classroom environment across the ECDE project period.
• Adhere to the Do no Harm principles across the entire steps within the Programme Management Cycle.

Financial Reporting:

• Support the review and preparation of timely and high-quality progress and end of project narrative and financial reports which are in accordance with the donor reporting schedule and formats.
• Participate in reviewing all programme financial reports ensuring that donor guidelines have been followed and high standard met. The project deadlines met in reporting and keep a track record of reporting (Narrative and Financial).
• Participate in progress review meetings to address key performance issues from the reports.
• Internal and external engagements
• Ensuring that the program experience is represented and given recognition at stakeholder meetings, workshops, donor, networks and any other engagements. 
• Develop and maintain regular channels of communication with partners and key stakeholders at all levels (LGA, State and National).

MEAL:

• Effectively support teams in MEAL aspects, which include assessments, baseline, and evaluation studies, putting in place a functional Activity Tracking Table.
• Ensure that the projects’ quality benchmarks are followed up and implemented in project interventions.
• Ensure effective programs/ projects monitoring, and evaluation systems is in place.
• Monitor programs/ projects activities to ensure quality, timeliness and adherence to both Country Office and Save the Children policies and procedures.
• Collecting and managing complaints and feedback in close coordination with MEAL team and Education Team.
• Ensure regular monitoring of projects results, documentation of projects case studies, lessons learnt, significant changes and best practices and coordinating learning and reflection meetings/sessions. 

Human Resources Management and Development:

• Working together with the Education Programme Manager to identify learning needs and develop specific plans to address the learning needs. 
• Coaching and mentoring the project teams on the provision of technical support and implementation of quality programmes.
• Participate in monthly/weekly project management meetings to enable adequate staff support.

Behaviours (Values in Practice):
Accountability:

• Holds self-accountable for making decisions, managing resources efficiently, achieving and role modelling Save the Children values.
• Holds the team and partners accountable to deliver on their responsibilities - giving them the freedom to deliver in the best way they see fit, providing the necessary development to improve performance and applying appropriate consequences when results are not achieved.

Ambition:

• Sets ambitious and challenging goals for themselves and their team, takes responsibility for their own personal development and encourages their team to do the same.
• Widely shares their personal vision for Save the Children, engages and motivates others.
• Future orientated, thinks strategically and on a global scale.

Collaboration:

• Builds and maintains effective relationships, with their team, colleagues, Members and external partners and supporters.
• Values diversity, sees it as a source of competitive strength.
• Approachable, good listener, easy to talk to.

Creativity:

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

Integrity:

• Honest, encourages openness and transparency; demonstrates highest levels of integrity.

Qualifications

• Minimum of a Bachelor’s Degree in Education (Early Childhood Development and Education is an advantage) or other related fields. Experience in managing integrated programmes across different thematic areas such as Education, teacher education, Early Childhood Development and Education, Teacher Professional Development (TPD), Cahild protection, child rights or governance is an advantage.

Experience and Skills:
Essential:

• At least 3 years of accrued working experience in program implementation with an NGO and those applying partnership approaches is desirable. 
• Experience in strategic thinking and planning skills, being able to set priorities, prepare manageable plans and to evaluate progress.
• Experience of working on and supporting the implementation of ECDE interventions in humanitarian or development setting is an added advantage.
• Ability to coach, mentor and build the capacity of ECDE teachers in a humanitarian or development setting will be an added advantage.
• Availability and willingness to work extra hours during times of humanitarian responses.
• Highly developed cultural awareness and ability to work well in an international environment with people from diverse backgrounds and cultures.
• Ability to intervene with crisis management or troubleshooting as necessary. 
• Highly developed interpersonal and communication skills including influencing, negotiation and coaching.
• Excellent time management and planning capacity.
• Fluent English language skills (written and verbal) and any local language. 
• Experience of working with diverse group of stakeholders at the community, LG, State and National levels.
• Strong analytical skills and strategic planning abilities.
• Ability to establish and maintain cordial relations and perform effectively as a member of a team.
• Willingness to travel and work in hard-to-reach areas, occasionally under strenuous conditions.
• Computer literacy and excellent documentation skills are a must.

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.

Health and Safety:

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

 

How to Apply
Interested and qualified candidates should:
Click here to apply

Note: No individual is expected to pay any amount or offer any form of favour to secure a position or contract with SCI. Any such act is strictly prohibited and should be avoided

Application Deadline 4th February, 2026; 00:59