Program Coordinator - UPNG

Job Description

Background
Australia’s education assistance in Papua New Guinea (PNG) is designed to address education access, including for women and girls, improve the quality of education, and improve young people’s employability. The Australian High Commission provides support to the basic, secondary, technical and higher education sectors using a range of mechanisms, including the Capacity Development Facility (CDF). CDF provides high-quality technical assistance to the education sector as prioritised by Australia and the Government of Papua New Guinea at national and provincial levels.

An Australian Government UPNG Support Plan and Support Plan Implementation Schedule will be developed to outline specific activities of support. Support included in the Plan will align with UPNG’s broader quality reforms arising from the quality assessment.

Assistance is required to support the Vice Chancellor of UPNG, and an Executive Adviser to the Vice Chancellor - Coordination of Support to UPNG, in implementing this assistance.

The Role
The purpose of the assignment is to provide appropriate support to UPNG to coordinate and implement quality reforms and related activities. This includes all activities supported by the Australian Government.

The Program Coordinator (UPNG) will, under the guidance of the VC, Executive Advisor to VC -Coordination of Support to UPNG and the CDF Facility Manager, perform the following to a high standard:

• Provide programming support to UPNG’s quality reform process, through provision of continuing support to the VC and the Executive Advisor to VC - Coordination of Support to UPNG;
• Actively engage with all relevant stakeholders in supporting the development of a specific Government of Australia UPNG Support Plan for 2015-16;
• In collaboration with the relevant UPNG bodies, develop a Support Implementation Schedule with detailed costings for specific activities in the Support Plan;
• Ensure that activities undertaken in the transformation align with the rollout of the new PNG Higher Education (General Provisions) Act 2014;
• Liaise with service providers to ensure services are provided at a high standard and on time, as per contractual arrangements;
• Coordinate any necessary support for any committees, working groups, or other bodies which have a role in overseeing implementation of Australian Government funded assistance to UPNG, and its School of Business and Public Policy;
• Collaborate closely with others also providing advisory support to ensure appropriate coordination of any activity;
• Provide regular progress reporting and contributions to the CDF’s Quarterly Report, Annual report and other monitoring and evaluation reporting, and oral updates upon request and by exception.

The position is assessed in line with the Australian Remuneration Framework at level C3.

The full Terms of Reference can be viewed here.

Key Selection Criteria
To be successful in this role you will have:

1. Qualifications relevant to development project planning and implementation;
2. Minimum five years’ experience implementing international development projects;
3. Experience in working effectively with multiple stakeholders, including senior management and donor agencies, to deliver quality results on time;
4. Demonstrated cross-cultural, interpersonal, written and oral communication skills, including the ability to communicate technical information to a wide variety of audiences;
5. Proven experience working within academic systems; and
6. Knowledge of the context of universities in PNG or other developing country and in Australia is an advantage.

If you meet the requirements above please apply below attaching your response to the Key Selection Criteria and your resume.

Only applications that provide a response to the Key Selection Criteria will be considered.

About the Organization

In October 2011, GRM International and Futures Group merged to create an international health and development firm with a joint focus on reaching people in need and creating better futures for our clients, communities and colleagues around the world.

Futures Group develops and delivers innovative, locally relevant, evidence-based solutions to improve the health and well-being of people worldwide. The magnitude and complexity of public health problems in the world today, from HIV/AIDS to malaria, create challenges for leaders working to respond to crisis and plan for the future. We are able to predict the trends that will affect a country’s stability and growth, allowing us to uncover the real barriers to well-being and to discover innovative solutions for a better world.

GRM International aims to provide cutting edge development thinking based on our diverse experience of what works in practice. Our solutions cover the whole project cycle from:
• Agribusiness Asset Management
• Grants Management
• Monitoring and Evaluation
• Project Management
• Project Design and Strategic Planning
• Recruitment Management