Vacancies at Aga Khan Foundation

Overall Role:

Reporting to the Regional Education and ECD Advisor, the Education Programme Manager (EPM) is responsible for leading the education portfolio and co-lead the ECD portfolio. The EPM will be responsible for developing and maintaining a robust portfolio of education and ECD programmes, grant management, high quality delivery of existing programmes, promoting learning and innovation, fostering effective partnerships, and enhancing visibility of AKF and AKDN in the education sector in Kenya. The EPM will work closely with the AKF(EA) Regional Education and ECD Advisor based in Nairobi.

Specific Responsibilities include:
Programme Strategy, Design, and Resource Mobilisation: Lead programme design processes for new opportunities to ensure a robust pipeline of for new education projects in Kenya:

• Develop a deep understanding of AKF’s Education strategy and priorities in the education sector in Kenya, East Africa, and globally.
• Develop an understanding of the priorities of other AKDN education agencies including the Aga Khan University – Institute for Education Development, Aga Khan Schools, and the Madrasa Early Childhood Programme.
• Proactively engage donor agencies, foundations, and other funders to mobilise resources to deepen and broaden AKF’s education programming in Kenya.

Effective portfolio and award management: Ensure high quality award management and reporting for all donor grants for education.

• Implement/improve award management system, processes, guidelines, and tools to effectively collaborate with Programme Managers to ensure all projects are delivered on budget, on time, and with quality.
• Collaborate with Programme Managers to set-up new education projects, including start-up plans, inception workshops, and recruitment plans, to ensure projects are set-up to succeed. 
• Manage donor communications to maintain positive partnerships and relationships.

Programme Quality and Learning: Improve the technical implementation and quality of education programmes in Kenya.

• Invest in developing a deeper understanding of education theory, best practices, and new thinking in Kenya and Globally as well as a deep understanding of the progress, challenges, and solutions from the school to systems level in Kenya.
• Proactively identify technical assistance needs of projects and the implementing teams. Organise technical advisory services/consultancies, as needed and ensure TA is delivered effectively.
• Introduce innovative ideas/approaches/technologies to improve programme implementation, sustainability, and impact based on findings and evidence.

Learning, Policy Engagement, and Communications: Lead a robust learning, policy engagement and communications agenda for the education targeting key stakeholders (government, donors, NGOs/CSOs, practitioners, AKDN etc.) to inform policy, programmes, and practices.

• Identify critical aspects of Kenyan education sector where AKF can influence policy and practice to develop and implement a learning and dialogue framework to enable AKF to influence policy and practice.
• Collaborate with Programme and M&E team, develop and lead the research and learning agenda.
• Manage relations with relevant ministries and parastatal bodies to enable information exchange and for influencing/informing national policies, strategies, regulations, and programmes.

The requirements

About you
To succeed in this role, you will need to be demonstrate a expertise and experience across the roles and responsibilities outlined, including:

• Strategic thinking
• Respect for diversity with a commitment to listen, hear, and appreciate diverse perspectives.
• A commitment to personal, professional, and collaborative learning.
• Self-motivated and able to take initiative.
• Inclusive programme design.
• Successful resource mobilisation.
• High quality report writing.
• Bachelor's degree in education, development, or relevant social science. Masters is desirable.
• Seven years of professional experience including evidence leading education projects and teams.
• Expert in written and oral communication in English and Kiswahili

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The position

AKF is seeking an experienced Regional Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) Coordinator to provide technical coordination and oversight of key M&E initiatives across Foundations for Education and Empowerment (F4EE) in Africa, a partnership programme co-funded by Global Affairs Canada (GAC) and Aga Khan Foundation (AKF). The successful candidate will have responsibility for overall coordination of F4EE’s M&E activities for two of the project’s three components. The Regional M&E Coordinator will ensure F4EE remains results-oriented and in line with GAC’s result based management policy and guidelines. The position will also make sure that F4EE M&E systems and processes are aligned with AKDN’s broader education portfolio, all project partners and stakeholders are able to effectively engage with and create meaning from the data and evidence. The successful candidate will ensure effective implementation of a robust gender sensitive M&E system for F4EE, while providing relevant technical support and playing a key coordination role amongst implementing partners in the region.

F4EE is active in five countries (Kenya, Madagascar, Mozambique, Tanzania, and Uganda). While activities in these countries will start to wind down beginning March 2025, the grant closure is expected to occur in June 2026.

The Regional M&E Coordinator will be based in Nairobi and report to the F4EE Regional Manager, with a technical reporting line to the Senior Manager, Programs, Partnerships and Results in AKF Canada. This individual will also work closely with the F4EE Regional Team, AKF’s technical programme team in East Africa (including education and ECD advisors), AKDN agency programme and M&E teams in all five countries of implementation, and AKF’s Global Programme Team.

Specifically, the Regional M&E Coordinator will:

Design and Planning

• Work with programme staff, technical specialists, and M&E staff to execute the F4EE gender sensitive M&E system, contributing to annual work planning processes.
• Support country teams to use the AKF Awards Information Management System (AIMS) for entry of relevant programme performance indicators data.
• Oversee regular updates and improvements to the F4EE M&E system.

Data Collection and Quality Assurance          

• Collaborate with AKF and AKDN M&E and technical programme teams to ensure regular data collection against all project PMF indicators, engaging digital systems where applicable.
• Provide technical and operational oversight of regional M&E-based consultancies, including the consultant(s) tasked with F4L endline data collection.
• In collaboration with country and agency M&E teams, lead F4EE data quality assurance processes.
• Ensure all data collection processes adhere to ethical research standards, including AKF’s Safeguarding Policy.

Data Analysis and Use         

• Ensure timely analysis of all F4EE PMF and M&E data. This will include cross analyses of data to identify correlations between data points, where relevant.
• Facilitate regular review of project and annual targets based on all data collected and analysed.  
• Support national-level data interpretation sessions, ensuring data is thoroughly reviewed and used effectively, including to inform evidence-based programme adaptations.
• Ensure all PMF and M&E data required for internal, partner, and donor reports and communications pieces are available and accurate.

Technical Support, Coordination, and Development      

• Design and deliver targeted annual capacity development plan for the M&E team and for partner Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) under AGECS in a collaborative manner.
• Build relationships and maintain coordinated communications with all F4EE stakeholders on M&E-related topics.

The requirements

Required Qualifications and Experience

• A post-graduate degree in international development, social sciences, gender studies, or like, ideally with a focus on M&E
• Minimum of five years of relevant practical experience designing, implementing, and managing gender sensitive M&E systems for donor-funded development projects, with specific experience in education, ECD, civil society, gender equality, and/or women’s empowerment projects.
• Knowledge of gender analysis and assessments, including approaches, methods, and frameworks.
• Experience with developing and overseeing implementation of data collection tools and systems for the entry, analysis, and storage of data.
• Experience with adaptive management, iterative M&E, and effective feedback loops to ensure the use of data in strategic and programmatic decision-making.
• Experience in using digital quantitative and qualitative data collection, management, analysis, and/or visualization tools (e.g., Kobo Toolbox, ODK, SPSS, NVIVO, MS Power Query, MS Power Pivot, Power BI, etc.) is an asset.
• Experience in providing remote support and facilitation.
• Demonstrated capacity to respect and safeguard vulnerable populations.
• Experience working in project geographies, i.e., Kenya, Madagascar, Mozambique, Tanzania, and Uganda.
• Knowledge and experience with Global Affairs Canada’s (GAC’s) results-based management tools, donor requirements, and reporting processes is an asset.

Competencies and Attributes

• Ability to develop strong, collaborative working relationships with diverse teams located across multiple offices, organisations, and geographies.
• Demonstrated ability to effectively develop the technical capacity of an M&E team through a strategic capacity development process.
• Excellent analytical, interpersonal, and problem-solving skills in a cross-cultural context
• Excellent written and oral communications skills in English; ability in Kiswahili, French, or Portuguese is an asset.