Program Officer, Education at Results for Development (R4D), Accra, Ghana

The Program Officer is expected to provide technical expertise, project management, and coordination support to ensure the successful execution of IR 3.1 and 3.2 activities in alignment with project goals and objectives. The Program Officer will also track and monitor contracts; prepare funder progress reports; and organize meetings and workshops. There may be opportunities to work on other R4D Global Education projects over time. Responsibilities include, but are not limited to:

Technical expertise and analysis

Develop data collection instruments for key informant interviews and focus group discussions,

Conduct stakeholder consultations, interviews, and collect in-depth primary and secondary data,

Conduct a political economy and gap analysis of the low-cost private school’s policy environment in Ghana,

Analyze data and leverage evidence-based findings to support the development of appropriate monitoring and oversight policies and strategies,

Help facilitate the development of a policy improvement agenda based on the policy environment analysis and a series of 1-1 and larger group consultations with key stakeholders,

Assess LCPS monitoring and oversight challenges under National Schools Inspectorate Authority (NaSIA) and Ghana Education Service (GES)

Assist NaSIA in developing new monitoring and oversight models,

Lead adaptive learning and rapid feedback approaches by validating policies with key stakeholders and trialing the 2-3 monitoring/oversight frameworks developed,

Contribute to producing highly polished presentations, concept notes, briefing materials, and other products (blog posts, newsletters, meeting summaries, thought pieces, e-communications)

Stakeholder engagement

Build and maintain strong relationships with relevant government agencies, local education authorities, community leaders, and other key stakeholders in the education sector,

Collaborate with partners and stakeholders to foster effective coordination, information sharing, and alignment of efforts towards project goals,

Develop and maintain positive relationships with stakeholders, including federal and state level government officials, development partners, and Ghana based partner organizations.

Fostering current and future collaborative relationships with country and technical partners.

Project management:

Coordinate and oversee the execution of project plans, ensuring timely delivery of project milestones and objectives.

Monitor project progress, identify challenges, and propose solutions to address any issues that may arise during implementation.

Support the organization of meetings, workshops and stakeholder consultants in Ghana, including logistics, invitation lists and agendas, and producing meeting summaries.

Prepare quarterly and annual reports per USAID project reporting requirements,

Support internal administrative projects that are critical to the development of a rapidly growing Ghana-based office

The Program Officer is expected to be self-motivated and able to function/work independently as well as part of a team, adhere to strict timelines, work efficiently in a fast-paced, open-structure, and multicultural environment, and have a strong commitment to excellence. The ideal candidate will have strong attention to detail, written and oral communication skills, and experience working in within the Ghanaian education system.

Qualifications

Master’s degree with 3 years of experience or a bachelor’s degree with at least 7 years of relevant education experience.

Relevant work experience in a research institution, government, bilateral or multilateral development agency, consulting firm, NGO, or think tank.

Experience in education systems and systems reform, education financing, political science and policy development.

Strong qualitative and quantitative analytical skills.

Experience designing and managing adaptive learning and evaluation projects preferred.

Proactive communication skills such as being responsive to emails, requests for information, or updates, and actively seeking clarification when needed.

Proven experience effectively working with and meeting the needs of various stakeholders, both in Ghana and globally.

Ability to think and solve problems in structured, logical and creative manner.

Excellent written and verbal communication skills with ability to prepare compelling presentations and written reports.

Effectively able to work collaboratively in a team-based environment as well as independently to work on complex work streams/projects.

Strong interpersonal skills and ability to connect with a wide variety of different stakeholders.Comfortable working with a diverse team located in different geographies.

High level of proficiency in Microsoft Office, particularly Excel, PowerPoint, and Word.

Willingness to travel domestically, particularly to the Northern regions of Ghana, for approximately 20-25% of the time.

Additionally, R4D prizes people who are:

Good active listeners and facilitators,

Productive, energetic, creative and task-oriented,

Adept at exchanging constructive feedback,

Multilingual, and

Highly collaborative and approachable.