ECD Specialist job opportunity at UMUHUZA-Rwanda. Deadline 8th November 2021

JOB ANNOUNCEMENT

 Position: ECD Specialist

ABOUT UMUHUZA

UMUHUZA is a non-governmental organization founded in 2005, geared towards promoting a culture of peace through education and conflict management. UMUHUZA has focused on peace education and family literacy as the main program areas and as a result of the lessons learnt, the organization has also expanded her programming to areas such as economic empowerment and protection of the vulnerable with a focus on women and children. UMUHUZA is striving to position and sustain itself as a strong civil society organization and actively contribute to the long-term development of Rwanda by ensuring the promotion of peaceful society and communities.

Umuhuza conceives Early Childhood development as a very clear way to build safer and more peaceful communities and highlights the absolute need for families to care for their children, especially during the first six years of their lives. Umuhuza has been active in the ECD sector since 2008, starting in one administrative sector of Ngororero district and twelve years later, activities have expanded to 45 sectors of six districts in all the provinces and Kigali city to sensitize on the importance of positive parenting for children’s holistic development, especially during the first three years of their lives that have been proven by science to be determinant in their future. Umuhuza has worked with Government structures from national (Migeprof, NCDA, RCS) to local levels (districts, sectors, cells, and villages) to strengthen ECD service deliverty based on its belief that a child’s development would never be complete if their direct environment is not safe and supportive.

Umuhuza ECD program focuses on Positive Parenting while promoting parents/adults' involvement in children's education, recognizing adults in communities as a powerful influence on children's development at all levels. Families are sensitized on the importance of trusting, playing, and nurturing children by improving parents/caregivers’ capacity in holistic parenting education. This is in alignment with the national ECD policy that promotes a holistic approach that touches all developmental domains through the provision of quality services to families and children from conception to six years.  Umuhuza, since 2008, has gained expertise in leading community-based ECD programs that have reached thousands of Children, Parents, and Community Family Volunteers.

BACKGROUND OF THE POSITION

With the support from USAID through CRS, UMUHUZA will be implementing a five years’ project “The Inclusive Nutrition and Early Childhood Development (INECD) activity that will promote nurturing and responsive care practices, especially in the areas of health, functioning, nutrition, and early childhood development (ECD) for caregivers and children. Specifically, the activity aims to improve health and nutrition outcomes among women of reproductive age and adolescents and improve infant and young child feeding practices. It also aims to address child development gaps and significant unmet physical rehabilitation and assistive technology (rehab/AT) and social inclusion needs for infants and children. The activity will focus on community-level service delivery, community-health facility linkages, and district-level capacity development, as well as address issues of inclusion and participation, including access to programs and services for children and adults with disabilities, in line with Government of Rwanda priorities.

UMUHUZA is seeking to hire a qualified, dedicated, and experienced person for the “Early Childhood Development (ECD) Specialist” position to support the implementation of the activity. The position holder shall be based in CRS Kigali Office with frequent travels to the field supervising four cluster ECD senior officers based in four provinces. She/he will provide technical oversight of the implementation of the ECD activities and work closely with INECD consortium technical specialists for an integrated project services delivery.

Position details

• Job title: ECD Specialist
• Project:   Inclusive Nutrition and Early Childhood Development (INECD) activity
• Job Location: Kigali, (CRS Offices)
• Directly reports to:  Programs Manager
• Directly supervises:  ECD senior officers,
• Start date: Immediate
• Duration: Five (5) years.

MAJOR RESPONSIBILITIES

• Umuhuza focal point within INECD technical platforms;
• Lead the development of ECD implementation tools including training materials, implementation strategies, and processes;
• Provide technical leadership and support to ECD senior officers for effective INECD activities planning, implementation, and monitoring;
• Participate in the development and monitoring of project work plans and budgets, ensure appropriate technical assistance in the project interventions;
• Oversee the field-based ECD team to ensure the quality of the project interventions and relation with stakeholders. She/he will undertake the technical supportive supervision, mentoring, and monitoring;
• Ensure ECD committees at district and sector levels receive appropriate skills and are functional;
• Contribute to the reparation of documents required by donor including work plans and narratives reports as per agreed formats and provide any other information requested by donor at any time during the project period;
• Lead and work closely with the technical team and M&E person to document the key project interventions, processes, and outcomes;
• Conduct regular field visits to ensure successful program implementation and support to clusters’ office.

JOB REQUIREMENTS

For this role specifically, the ECD specialist will have:

• Master’s degree in early childhood development, education, social sciences, or any relevant related field;
• At least 5 years of professional experience in ECD related programs;
• At least 2 years of professional experience at management level;
• Demonstrate familiarity with ECD ecosystem, including relevant guidance and standard documents, Rwanda government-related policies, stakeholders, and networks;
• Proficient in the concepts of gender and disability inclusion,
• Experience in working with government institutions, international NGOs, and local development partners in the context of ECD interventions;
• Capacity building and training experience, including providing remote technical support;
• Demonstrated knowledge of monitoring, evaluation, and planning with experience in overseeing data collection and M&E activities
• Demonstrated capacity to lead a team (organize, plan and oversee)

REQUIRED SKILLS AND ATTITUDES

• Good communication, report writing, and facilitation,
• Speak and write English and Kinyarwanda fluently
• Good computer skills: Excel, Word and Powerpoint
• Self-motivator, able to work with limited supervision;
• Able to work under pressures and meet deadlines;
• Capacity to maintain excellent working relationships with relevant stakeholders
• Demonstrate diplomacy, self-confidence, leadership, and patience
• Excellent time management and personal organization;

CHILD SAFEGUARDING:

The responsibilities of this position will require its holder to have regular contact with or access to children and young people. The position requires high-level responsibility for establishing risk management systems and protective methods in relation to children and young people. Umuhuza Child safeguarding policy will apply.

APPLICATION DETAILS

Interested candidates should send a motivational letter, a curriculum vitae with 3 references, a copy of degrees, and other relevant certificates to recruitment@umuhuza.org.rw    

Deadline: The application deadline is November 8th, 2021, late applications will not be considered and only selected candidates will be contacted for the next steps.