New Opening: Project Coordinator

Job Overview:

Playful Education Pathways in Ethiopia (PEPE) is a transformative, three-year initiative led by the IRC in partnership with the Luminos Fund, Emmanuel Development Association (EDA), and other local actors.

PEPE aims to strengthen cost-effective, government-supported alternative learning pathways for out-of-school children (OOSC) in conflict-affected regions of Amhara and Tigray. The initiative strategically blends crisis-responsive, play-based learning with accelerated education models to support the Ethiopian education system’s resilience and recovery, with a strong focus on girls and marginalized learners.

Major Responsibilities

The Project Coordinator will serve as the strategic and operational lead for the PEPE initiative. This critical role is responsible for driving multi-partner coordination, overseeing program implementation, ensuring quality and accountability, and leading the learning and research agenda. Success requires proactive and visionary leadership, deep contextual understanding of education in emergencies, and strong stakeholder engagement skills to ensure PEPE delivers inclusive, scalable, and resilient education pathways.

1. Strategic Leadership & Program Oversight

• Program Direction: Lead the overall planning, execution, and monitoring of PEPE across both implementation pathways (Alternative Learning Programs - ALPs and community-based learning). Ensure all program components are effectively and jointly designed, implemented, and monitored for integration and coherence, meeting timelines and quality standards.
• Financial Management & Compliance: Ensure timely and accurate budget management for the PEPE project and its implementing partners. Oversee financial planning, tracking, and reporting, ensuring alignment with approved budgets, donor requirements, and IRC policies. Provide guidance to partners on financial compliance, forecasting, and reporting.
• Project Cycle Management (PCM): Actively participate in all project cycle meetings, tracking progress, resolving implementation challenges, and ensuring alignment with objectives. Systematically follow up on agreed action points and document key achievements, lessons learned, and best practices.
• Strategic Alignment: Ensure all program interventions and operational decisions align with IRC’s strategic priorities and comply strictly with donor requirements, policies, and reporting standards, maintaining clear communication with internal stakeholders (e.g., Grants and Partnership Units).
• Adaptive Management: Guide evidence-based decision-making by promoting continuous monitoring, data analysis, and feedback integration. Use real-time program data and insights to inform strategic adjustments, course correction, and enhance overall program impact and sustainability.

2. Partnership & Stakeholder Engagement

• Consortium Coordination: Lead collaborative planning and coordination efforts among key partners (IRC, Luminos, EDA) and other stakeholders to ensure synergy, complementarity, and efficient resource utilization. Provide comprehensive oversight, harmonization, and shared accountability for the consortium's overall direction and performance.
• Government Relations: Build and maintain strong relationships with government counterparts at federal, regional, and woreda levels. Engage proactively to ensure policy alignment, sustainability, and support government leadership in education delivery within the PEPE framework.
• External Representation: Serve as the focal point and advocate for the PEPE initiative in national and international forums and policy dialogues on Education in Emergencies (EiE). Present program achievements and innovative practices to influence policy discussions and strengthen PEPE's visibility and credibility.

3. Technical Quality & Innovation

• Pedagogical Integration: Provide technical leadership to embed evidence-based, child-centered pedagogical approaches, specifically play-based and accelerated learning methodologies, throughout all program activities. Ensure instructional methods are engaging, contextually relevant, and responsive to the diverse needs of crisis-affected learners.
• Innovative Learning Tools: Lead/coordinate the design, adaptation, and dissemination of innovative no-tech/low-tech learning tools for effective utilization in resource-constrained, remote, and community-based education settings, in collaboration with IRC’s global teams.
• Inclusion and Wellbeing: Foster inclusive education practices by integrating gender-responsive strategies and psychosocial support into program design. Work closely with the GEDI team to address barriers for marginalized groups, ensuring safe, supportive, and equitable learning environments.

4. Crisis Modifier & Risk Management

• Crisis Modifier Activation: Lead the activation and management of the crisis modifier mechanism to enable swift, flexible, and context-appropriate anticipatory action and rapid responses to emerging shocks (e.g., conflict, displacement).
• Conflict and Context Monitoring: In collaboration with the MEAL unit, strengthen systems for continuous monitoring and analysis of conflict dynamics and contextual risks. Coordinate closely with humanitarian actors and education clusters to align interventions and maintain uninterrupted access to safe learning opportunities for crisis-affected children.

5. Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability, and Learning (MEAL)

• Learning & Research Agenda: Coordinate the strategic direction and execution of PEPE’s rigorous learning and research framework (in collaboration with PlayMatters Research and MEAL teams). Promote the generation of actionable evidence to assess program effectiveness, innovation outcomes, and scalability.
• Evidence Generation: Work closely with MEAL teams to design robust monitoring practices, conduct assessments, and synthesize findings. Ensure lessons learned and best practices are systematically captured, analyzed, and used to guide adaptive management and inform future expansion.
• Knowledge Dissemination: Lead efforts to translate evidence and learning into accessible knowledge products (e.g., policy briefs) for dissemination to government partners, donors, and global EiE networks (including INEE), strengthening policy dialogue.

6. Team Management & Capacity Building

• Team Supervision and Mentorship: Provide strategic leadership and day-to-day management to a diverse, multidisciplinary team (technical managers and field staff) across multiple regions. Offer ongoing coaching, performance management, and professional development support.
• Collaborative Culture: Foster an inclusive, high-performing work environment that encourages teamwork, shared ownership, and accountability. Facilitate regular team learning sessions and knowledge-sharing initiatives to drive program improvement.
• Partner Capacity Strengthening: Lead initiatives to build the technical and organizational capacities of local implementing partners, community-based organizations, and education actors to enhance service delivery quality and ensure program sustainability and local ownership.

The Project Coordinator will take on additional responsibilities as required by the Senior CPE Coordinator or Director of Programs.

Safeguarding Responsibilities:-

• Promote and actively participate in initiatives and efforts to build team engagement, inclusion and cohesion in IRC [team/office]
• Foster ongoing learning, honest dialogue and reflection to strengthen safeguarding and to promote IRC values and adherence to IRC policies

Job Requirements:.

Educational Requirements:

• Master’s degree in Education, International Development, Social Sciences, or related field.

Preferred experience & skills:

• Six years of experience in managing education or Education in Emergencies (EiE) program in humanitarian context.
• The Project Coordinator should have strong background in Education program management expertise and experience. They need to have good understanding and experience of the humanitarian context to design and implement emergency response interventions.
• Demonstrated qualifications, experience, or advanced training in design, monitoring, and evaluation of education in emergencies programs.
• Proven capacity to supervise, and coach staff and partners in both technical and program management skills.
• Ability to process and synthesize large amounts of data into readable and concise formats against tight deadlines

• Having strong team spirit and willingness to work under pressure

• Excellent verbal and written communication skills as well as, an overall communication ability to be clear and concise in all communications
• Strong organizational and time-management skills; proven ability to prioritize and deliver on time
• Strong analytic problem-solving skills
• Ability to work both independently and in a dynamic, cross-functional global team structure
• Highly proficient in Microsoft Office suite
• Demonstrated ability to work effectively with stakeholders at all levels
• Ability to manage and work through change in proactive and positive manner.

Language Skills:

• Proficient in English and knowledge of local languages of our intervention area is an advantage

Female candidates are highly encouraged to apply.

Skills Required:

• Education / Teaching / Training
• Political / Science / Ir
• Social / Science / Project / Management / Development