Lead Advisor – PFM and Strategic Planning

Job Description

DFID DRC has signed in 2013 a partnership with USAID DRC in order to support the education sector and improve donor co-ordination and harmonization through delegated co-operation. Under this agreement DFID and USAID will provide funding of approximately $180m over the period 2015-2020 to support the education sector in DRC. They will share the lead role to implement the joint programme henceforth known as USAID/UKAID ACCELERE! (ACCE- for Accès = Access; LE-for Lecture = Reading; RE- for both Redevabilité and Rétention) and will work collaboratively in four areas:

• Activity 1: Equitable Access to Education and Learning in the DRC (USAID lead)
• Activity 2: Improved Governance and Accountability (DFID lead)
• Activity 3: The Independent Evaluation (USAID lead)
• Activity 4: Reducing the numbers of our of school children in DRC (DFID lead)

The programme is expected to contribute to improved educational outcomes for girls and boys in selected educational provinces of DRC.

This post is to work within the technical assistance team under Activity 2. This DFID Education Governance Project is expected to contribute to the achievement of the overall joint efforts of DFID/USAID. The expected outcome of the project is better quality of public service for education. The project aims to support the Government of DRC’s efforts to improve governance and accountability in the education sector.

Cambridge Education has been contracted by DFID DRC to implement Activity 2. The expected outcome of Activity 2 is better quality of public service for education, which we aim to achieve by supporting the Government of DRC’s (GoDRC) efforts to improve governance and accountability in the education sector.

The project has three result areas (see details below), this post will be the Lead Advisor for Result Area 1.

Result Area 1 – Resources more transparently managed and deployed:

Ambition: Build up institutional capacity to enable teacher payroll reform based on more transparent and effectively deployed resources. A!2 is supporting three MEPSP departments under Result Area 1 – DAF, DEP and SECOPE, and has three main objectives under RA1:

• Improving institutional effectiveness of key financial and strategic planning units
• Improve teacher payroll system efficiency
• Promote evidence based, transparent management of the education system through the provision and use of reliable data

Purpose

Reporting to the Team Leader, based in Kinshasa, and closely coordinating with the Technical Team, the Lead Advisor for Result Area 1 (PFM and Strategic Planning) will lead the RA1 team, quality assure all technical inputs under their Result Area and be responsible for monitoring the progress of their teams to ultimately deliver on the indicators of the logframe. The Lead Advisor will be responsible for fostering and nurturing relations with key stakeholders and will support the Team Leader in managing relations between the overall ACCELERE! components and advise on areas of technical and stakeholder overlap. The Lead Advisor will also contribute, under the Team Leader’s direction, to timely and high quality quarterly and annual programme reporting.

Required qualifications, competencies and experience

• Post graduate degree in international development studies, social sciences, economics, public administration or other relevant field or equivalent combination of education and experience required.
• Deep understanding of the professional context of governance and PFM in education in developing countries, particularly in fragile contexts;
• Minimum of ten years of professional experience providing technical advice and implementing large scale governance and / or education projects in developing countries. Previous work experience in DRC or francophone Sub-Saharan Africa highly desirable. Previous work experience in a post-conflict and fragile states environment is an asset.
• Technical knowledge and specific expertise with track record in working in finance, budget cycles, and public financial management.
• Strong ability to analyze, formulate strategies and concepts and apply technical expertise.
• Strong leadership skills, as well as identifying, encouraging and mentoring potential drivers of change. Evidenced experience of managing a team of 3 or more people.
• Ability to foster and build networks, and maintain diplomatic relations with different stakeholders.
• Strong computer skills in MS Office (Word, Excel, Power Point, Access, Outlook).
• Ability to communicate and write well in both English and French is essential.
• Commercial acumen would be an asset.
• Strong understanding and experience of working to DFID’s vision and goals in development, previous experience on a DFID funded project an asset.
• Strong technical writing and reporting skills are essential

About the Organization

Cambridge Education are part of the Mott MacDonald Group. The Mott MacDonald Group is a uniquely diverse £1 billion global management, engineering and development consultancy, which delivers leading edge solutions for clients across 12 core business areas. As one of the world's largest employee owned companies, we have more than 170 offices in 43 countries and employ 14,500 important people.