[newdevjobsindo] INOVASI 3 - Development Priorities Manager

September 27, 2024   Comment  

Background of The Project:

Indonesia's Vision 2045 sets the goal for Indonesia to transition from a resource-based economy towards an advanced service, technology, and knowledge-based economy by the centenary of its independence (2045). The 2025-2045 National Long Term Development Plan emphasises the urgency of Indonesia's human resource development to fully realise 2045 goals.

Faced however with persistent low student performance that is emblematic of a learning crisis, significant improvement in student learning will be required to reach Indonesia's 2045 goals. Government of Indonesia (GoI) has started an ambitious program of education reforms. Successive education ministers have set out to modernise the education system through reforming the national curriculum and teaching and assessment approaches, to produce citizens with strong foundational skills, open minds, and inclusive values.

Australia is a long-term supporter of the Indonesian basic education sector, with continuous investments supporting education quality improvements for the past two decades, including through the INOVASI program (Phase 1 2016-2020; Phase 2 2020-2023) that focused on supporting acquisition of literacy and numeracy foundational skills in early grades classrooms; exploring local problems and solutions; and generating evidence to inform government policy development and practices.

This third phase of INOVASI (2024-2027) builds upon the existing program's approach and lessons learned and takes the focus on the development of foundational skills through to the end of the primary grades. Phase 3 will engage with priority issues of Australia's development policy: gender equality, effective inclusion of children with a disability, responses to the climate change challenge in education. It will focus on the challenge of policy implementation and the gaps that exist between national policies and practices at district and school levels, and use the well attested-success of INOVASI's local problem-based approach to continuously support policy development for effective fit between policy and implementation context.

The Program is implemented by Palladium on behalf of DFAT.

Purpose of the Position

The Development Priorities Manager will be a member of INOVASI's leadership team, responsible for delivering INOVASI's support to Gender, Disability and Social Inclusion (GEDSI) and Climate Change. Reporting to the Deputy Director, Development Priorities and Communication, the Development Priorities Manager will ensure that the Gender, Disability, Social Inclusion, and Climate Change programs are well aligned, well-coordinated and effectively implemented to meet program objectives. INOVASI is an adaptive program. As such the scope of the development priorities may change, for example, to encompass emerging priorities such as school nutrition. In this case the Development Priorities Manager may assume responsibility to provide leadership and management for such emerging priorities.

Working with children

Is this position likely to come into contact with children?                     ☒ Yes                          ☐ No

Duties

Under the direction of the Deputy Director – Development Priorities, the Development Priorities Manager will:

1. Provide guidance and leadership to GEDSI and Climate Change teams, overseeing the design, implementation, monitoring, and evaluation of activities.
2. Manage and provide direction to the GEDSI and Climate Change teams, in coordination with relevant technical advisors, ensuring support is technically sound, politically feasible and appropriate to Indonesian contexts. Ensure activities contribute to the achievement of INOVASI Intermediate Outcomes (IOs) and End of Program Outcomes (EOPOs). INOVASI's approaches include:

• • Locally led development as both a principle and a strategy to support development of local district education ecosystems.
  • Engaging with multi-stakeholders from national and sub-national government, non-government organizations, local communities, women's organisations and Organisations of Persons with Disability (OPDs) within the district ecosystem to identify and address challenges, and seek strategic entry points and opportunities related to GEDSI and Climate Change to contribute to program outcomes.
  • Thinking and working politically, using a simple stakeholder analysis and the authority, acceptance and ability (triple A) framework to identify key actors, opportunities, challenges, risks, and politically feasible solutions, including leverage points.
  • Working with partners within the ecosystem to explore possible solutions and identify the most appropriate means to support change and improve learning outcomes.
  • Providing technical advice and support to enable local partners (government and non-government) to pilot co-designed solutions.

3. Manage GEDSI and Climate Change strategy and implementation with close coordination with Deputy Development Priorities for overall support and oversight.
4. Work closely with INOVASI's management team to identify and seek opportunities to leverage subnational evidence and lessons (through research, pilots, or scale outs) for national activities, communications, and policy dialogue. Support subnational teams and stakeholders in implementing government education reforms.
5. Manage the Disability team to advance inclusive education through the development and implementation of disability equity and rights initiatives. This includes capacity building, policy alignment, piloting innovative approaches, conducting research, and fostering partnerships with OPDs (organisations of persons with disabilities) and collaborative research on district-level support for students with disabilities to inform scale-out.
6. Manage the Gender and Child Protection team to effectively implement the gender portfolio, focusing on strengthening the role of women in leadership, girls' well-being, and boys' engagement in learning.
7. Manage the Climate Change team to effectively develop and implement the climate change education agenda, through identifying strategic entry points, working with government and non-government institutions to conduct analyses, co-design strategies, and pilot activities on climate change
8. Work with Gender, Disability and Climate Change Leads, to:
   1. Collaboratively prepare budgets for GEDSI and Climate Change
   2. Plan, budget, and implement program activities, providing management advice as required,
   3. Ensure value for money for INOVASI in terms of efficiency and effectiveness.
9. Coordinate with the Performance and Learning (PNL) team to ensure all GEDSI and Climate Change activities are integrated into monitoring, evaluation, research and learning (MERL) and Communication Strategies and ensure they are tracked against GEDSI and Climate change targets.
10. Work collaboratively with the System and Policy unit to ensure alignment of INOVASI support with GoI policies and priorities, to ensure our support is informed by 'thinking and working politically' perspectives, with the aim of informing policy, and supporting both scale-out and sustainability.
11. Review and approve program activity concepts (PACs), budget plans, and spending of the GEDSI and Climate Change Ensure implementation and budget spending follow approved plans and GEDSI & climate change principles, ensuring the quality, timeliness, and relevance of activities to improve learning outcomes
12. Lead and/or contribute to the development of reports, strategies, briefs, and other knowledge products for a range of stakeholders to inform and advance the overall objectives of INOVASI and contribute to INOVASI program reporting to DFAT as required.
13. Work closely with other INOVASI managers and the leadership team to maintain a culture where all teams operate cohesively and efficiently working toward achieving program objectives.
14. Perform other duties as reasonably required by the Deputy Director – Development Priorities, consistent with the incumbent's qualifications and experience.

 

Qualifications and Experience

The Development Priorities Manager will possess the following qualifications and experience:

1. Degree in education, or a relevant development subject, or an appropriate tertiary qualification with significant, relevant experience in education, public policy, or international development.
2. Minimum of 10 years of experience working in education development programs.
3. Demonstrated ability to lead and manage teams and programs to achieve results, including experience managing subnational activities.
4. Demonstrated understanding of basic education and the evolving development priorities in education along with the challenges and conditions required to improve and sustain quality education in a decentralised environment in Indonesia.
5. Experience developing and implementing quality assurance systems for large development programs, NGOs, and CSOs.
6. Experience establishing partnerships with NGOs, CSOs, and in developing organisational capacity.
7. Experience working with counterpart ministries and knowledge of the Indonesian Ministry of Education, Culture, Research and Technology, Ministry of Religious Affairs, and Bappenas structure, policy and program planning processes.
8. Strong problem-solving and decision-making skills; ability to work independently and as a part of a team.
9. A strong track record of working collaboratively and productively within dynamic teams.
10. Excellent written and verbal communication skills in English and Bahasa Indonesia.
11. A high level of integrity, initiative, adaptability, and ability to perform in a high-pressure environment;
12. Experience with DFAT or other development agencies, preferably within the education sector.
13. Proven ability to work flexibly and to adapt in a dynamic environment.

 To apply, please click here to submit your resume and cover letter by Tuesday, 8 October 2024, ensuring you highlight your relevant experience and skills.

Should you experience any issues logging in or submitting your CV, or if you have any questions, please contact inovasi.recruitment@thepalladiumgroup.com .