Position: Project Assistant (ECD)

Job Location: Nyanza, Ruhanga and Huye Districts

About the Role:

BRAC envisions a world free from all forms of exploitation and discrimination where Everyone has the opportunity to realize their potential. Both BRAC and the Mastercard Foundation believe in the potential of young people to transform their lives and communities if given the opportunity to fully exercise their agency and engage in dignified and fulfilling work. Together, the two organizations bring the experience, creativity, and resources needed to address the mounting challenges faced by Sub-Saharan Africa’s growing youth population, most of whom are living in poverty and extreme poverty. AIM is a multifaceted approach designed to make a substantial contribution to youth unemployment across the diverse challenges faced by AGYW in the African context. Throughout the capacity-building interventions and livelihood pathways, there will be an intentional focus in going the extra mile to support different categories of girls facing intersectional vulnerabilities, such as populations living in ultra-poverty, those facing displacement, and those living with a disability.

In the AIM Programme, the inclusion of Early Childhood Development (ECD) is an innovative and community need-based solution where young women aged 18 to 35 will be trained and supported to be childcare workers and run their home based ECD. These women will provide quality child care services for young children in their own communities in Uganda, Tanzania and Rwanda. The knowledge and expertise of the BRAC Play Lab model will be used in the form of curriculum delivery, play space and materials design, training, management and monitoring to set up the childcare micro enterprises.

The Program Assistant will provide supervision to home based ECD center designated for her in the field in liaison with other program staff and the target beneficiaries to ensure that the project’s objectives and results are achieved in a timely manner and according to the agreed standards in the project framework and in the grant agreement document. The Program assistant will be accountable for daily supervision of play labs, children’s performance, the quality of play labs and quality assurance of the Early childhood component with a focus on ensuring equitable learning opportunities and outcomes for most vulnerable children.

Key Responsibilities:

Community mobilization and facilitation

• Achieve dissemination of project objectives, priorities and approaches defined within the project among the communities, government and other stakeholders.
• Apply participatory approaches /techniques to facilitate children, government and communities in identifying their own problems and development priorities in project activities.
• Facilitate community ownership of projects and participation in play lab projects.
• Ensuring the overall management of procurement, logistics and administration of ECD project in the area based on BRAC policy
• Collaborate with project staff to implement internal controls systems and resolve day to day issues in at field level.

Effective project activities delivery based on standards

• Ensure close consultation with street authorities, play lab leaders, children and BRAC`s technical staffs during project implementation
• Ensuring survey, children selection and play leaders, play lab house selection according to set criteria
• Ensure children attendance at play lab to be more than 90%
• Organize monthly parents and community meeting at play lab centers
• Ensure play lab materials and equipment are with quality and well maintained to enhance the overall quality of play labs
• Maintain the caseload of the enrolled children at the play lab centers and ensure children are well performing in the centers
• Monitor all project activities closely on regular basis, document and share monitoring reports to Area Manager
• Conduct field visit to play lab centers by 100% of the work
• Attend staff meetings and develop monthly refresher module
• Effective monitoring the works done by play leaders
• Ensuring the recruitment and development of staffs and play leaders
• Appraising job performance of play leaders

Coordination, Networking and Advocacy to project

• Establish good working relations with project team, government and stakeholders at districts and regional level
• Participate and organize project meetings and stakeholder meetings at streets and play lab centers
• Enhance self – empowerment of children, parents and communities in play lab centres
• Ensure effective advocacy with local authorities at district and regional level, ensure that they are embedded in program delivery
• Linking the children under with available services surrounding them
• Adhere to high ethical standards, and comply with all regulations

Child Protection

• Promote and ensure child rights-based programming at field and office level
• Promote and abide by internal policies and procedures including child protection policy
• Ensuring mandatory reporting of child abuse cases in program operation
• Promote and facilitate child rights and gender inclusion based in the programme at field level
• Ensuring the parents committees are established and become functional as per the regulations.
• Ensuring all project team and relevant others, including play leaders, parents and project stakeholders are aware and have access to child protection policy, contents and their responsibilities it places on it.

Reports and documentation

• Develop and submit to Area Supervisor monthly, field progress in timely manner
• Document well project success stories/ case study/ best practices/ lesson learned and submit to Area supervisor
• Ensure and monitor downward accountability to stakeholders especially children and communities including documenting what works for wider sharing across BRAC, government and donor
• Ensuring the project properties are well kept at play lab centers and office

Safeguarding responsibilities:

• Read, understand, practice, promote and endorse the issues of safeguarding policy among team members and ensure the implementation of safeguarding standards in every course of action.
• Ensure the safety of team members from any harm, abuse, neglect, harassment and exploitation to achieve the programme’s goals on safeguarding implementation.
• Act as a key source of support, guidance and expertise on safeguarding for establishing a safe working environment.
• Practice, promote and endorse the issues of safeguarding policy among team members and ensure the implementation of safeguarding standards in every course of action.
• Follow the safeguarding reporting procedure in case any reportable incident takes place, encourage others to do so.

Academic Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree in Early Childhood Care and Development, Education Management, Sociology, Social Work, Development Studies, Community Development or related field.

Experience Requirements: 

• At least 1-2 years’ practical experience working with NGOs, Education, Early Childhood, child protection or related programs.

Required Skills, Competencies & Knowledge:

• Strong fluency with excel formulas and functions.
• Strong analytical and data gathering skills
• Principles of budgetary administration
• Financial control and monitoring
• Preparing fund request for field office
• Principles and practices of cash flow analysis and cost accounting.
• Financial, statistical and comparative analysis and formulas.
• Financial planning, forecasting, organizing, teamwork and collaboration.
• Having any other professional degree on finance or accounting will add advantage.
• Working for any other international or local NGO will also add advantage.

KEY PERFORMANCE INDICATORS (KPIs)

• Teaching experience in early years will be an added advantage.
• Experienced in Administration and leadership
• Have soft skills like teamwork, communication and flexibility
• Little bit knowledge on monitoring and evaluation
• Knowledge on the Tanzanian education system mainly about the available service of early learning opportunities, government policies, departments and institutions in the education field etc.

Employment type: Regular/Fixed-Term

Salary: Negotiable

About BRAC International:

BRAC International (BI), a leading non-profit organization, is on a mission to empower people and communities facing poverty, illiteracy, disease, and social injustice. Our vision is to create a world free from exploitation and discrimination, where everyone has the opportunity to realize their potential. We design proven, scalable solutions that equip people with the support and confidence they need to achieve their potential.

BRAC was founded in Bangladesh in 1972 and over the last five decades has grown to become one of the world’s largest non-governmental organisations (NGOs), reaching over 100 million people. We started our first international operation by venturing into Afghanistan in 2002, building on lessons from our work in Bangladesh to support a nation devastated by war. Currently operating in 16 countries across Asia and Africa. Born, proven and led in the Global South, BRAC International brings a unique Southern perspective and commitment to continuous learning, providing a depth of insight, experience and evidence to meet the needs of diverse communities with humility and courage across Asia and Africa. To learn more about BRAC International, please visit (www.bracinternational.org)

Our Core Values:

• Integrity: We approach our work with honesty and integrity.
• Innovation: We innovate and iterate to improve our impact.
• Inclusiveness: We foster inclusion to reach those who need it most.
• Effectiveness: We strive for effectiveness to better serve people in poverty.

If you feel you are the right match for the above-mentioned position, please follow the application process to grab your dream opportunity!

Qualified and interested candidates are recommended to email their Resume with a signed cover letter in a single PDF format and any supporting documents to bracrwandarecruitment@gmail.com; mentioning a brief academic background, career summary, core competence, notarized copies of academic qualifications and professional certifications (if any) etc. within 250 words.

Please mention the name of the position in the subject bar.

Application deadline: 5^th December 2024

BRAC is committed to safeguarding children, young people and adults, and expects all employees and volunteers to share the same commitment. We believe every stakeholder and every member of the communities we work with has the right to be protected from all forms of harm, abuse, neglect, harassment, and exploitation – regardless of age, race, religion, and gender, status as an individual with a disability or ethnic origin. Therefore, our recruitment policy and procedure include extensive background checks and disclosure of criminal records in order to ensure safeguarding to the fullest extent.

“BRAC International is an equal opportunities employer”