Education & Youth Technical Lead in People in Need

Base: Kyiv 

Starting date: May 2025

Contract duration: 12 months (4 months' probation period is included) with the possibility of extension 

About PIN Ukraine:

People in Need (PIN) has been active in Ukraine since early August 2014. Currently, PIN is one of the major humanitarian actors in Ukraine responding to the recent military escalation providing humanitarian aid to conflict-affected people across Ukraine. Since 2014, PIN has implemented emergency food and cash assistance, NFI, shelter, protection, livelihoods and WASH interventions supporting 3 million vulnerable IDPs, returnees and host communities in urban and rural areas. Since the escalation in February 2022, PIN has scaled up its response from working in 2 Oblasts to working in 23 of the 24 Oblasts in Ukraine, increasing its number of partners, staff, offices and budgets. 

General information about the role of the person 

Under the supervision of the Program Quality Director, the main responsibility of the Education & Youth Technical Lead is to provide technical support to PIN implementation teams on the design, planning, implementation, monitoring, coordination and technical supervision of Education & Youth programming (both humanitarian & early recovery). PIN Education & Youth program approaches includes school and community-based interventions, both implemented directly and led by local CSOs, including establishing safe learning spaces, catch-up/remedial support, teacher professional development, inclusive education, youth-led initiatives/youth empowerment, school improvement, social cohesion, inclusive education, and strong protection and MHPSS integration. The Technical Lead ensures that programming is needs-based and contextually appropriate, and implemented in line with PIN global, cluster and relevant technical standards and guidance. The Technical Lead line manages the North Education Sub-Cluster Co-chair/Education Technical Coordinator and the Youth & Recovery Coordinator.  

Main Duties & Responsibilities:   

Strategic guidelines and quality supervision:  

• Support in development and quality assurance of PIN Education & Youth program as per PIN Ukraine’s Country Strategic Plan  

• Ensure that evolving contextual developments inthe country’s emergency, as well as recovery needs, are well reflected in all Education & Youth implementation methodologies.  

• Continuously evaluate PIN’s education & youth programming in terms of quality, relevance and effectiveness, help to identify gaps and implement improvements;  

• Regularly coordinate with PIN HQ Knowledge and Learning Department, to ensure PIN’s education & youth programming is in line with global trends and guidelines, including INEE Minimum Standards for Education in Emergencies and global education standards, as well as supporting development of global level tools and guidance together with HQ Knowledge and Learning team where relevant   

Education & Youth program design and implementation:  

• In close cooperation with the Program Quality Director, Program Implementation Director, Deputy Program Implementation Director and Area Managers, lead in the design of new education and/or youth-oriented project proposals, concept notes and initiatives, as per PIN Ukraine’s country program strategy;  

• Lead in the development and revision of all education & youth technical SoPs and guidelines  

• Lead in the design and implementation of education & youth oriented needs assessments, studies and researches, as per PIN Ukraine Program strategy priorities and areas of interest  

• Provide technical support and capacity building to project teams to ensure the effective implementation of tools and SoPs;  

• Supervise the quality of the implementation of PIN Ukraine’s education & youth program both directly and through the supervision of the Youth & Recovery Coordinator & Education Technical Coordinator; organize and lead regular field monitoring and conduct audits of the implementation process as necessary to determine whether the implementation of the program is within the standards set in relevant SoPs and guidelines. Identify and flag issues and challenges impacting the quality of implementation to relevant staff.  

• Work closely with other Technical Leads, MEAL, and program implementation team, to ensure that PIN Ukraine’s education & youth methodologies reflect the latest best practice in terms of content, service delivery, data collection, targeting criteria, beneficiary selection and monitoring and evaluation.  

• Provide technical advice to the MEAL team in the design and implementation of education & youth monitoring and evaluation plan, and development and use of adapted tools and processes;  

• Identify capacity needs within PIN program implementation teams in education & youth programming, develop and provide necessary capacity building activities  

External representation and coordination:  

• Develop functional partnerships with relevant partners, national and local authorities and other stakeholders, especially Ministry of Education and Science (MoES), the Ministry of Youth and Sports (MoYS), and respective departments at regional and community levels  

• Directly and through the supervision of the Education Technical Coordinator and Youth & Recovery Coordinator, contribute to technical capacity exchange with local CSOs working in the areas of education & youth  

• Support as needed the Co-chair of the Sub-national Education Cluster for the North, ensuring efficient coordination of partners implementing education programming in the respective area and contributing to strategic cluster technical discussions and prepared guidelines  

• Represent and ensure active participation of PIN in national coordination and technical forums related to education and youth, including the national Education Cluster and other relevant working groups  

• Identify opportunities for inter-agency learning, impact measurement and information sharing; exploring more formal opportunities to work in partnership with other agencies (consortia).  

Preferred Skills/Experience:

• At least 3-year’s professional experience with education and youth interventions in the context of the war in Ukraine 

• Experience of implementing large-scale education/youth programs and active engagement at the national education cluster level  

• Experience of line management, capacity building and supervision of teams and partners  

• Experience collaborating with Ministry of Education of Science/Ministry of Youth & Sports and relevant regional and local authorities 

• Experience of working with and through the Education Cluster/Working Groups and demonstrable experience of developing/influencing technical guidelines.  

• Strong grasp of all stages of program cycle management and quality standards in humanitarian and early recovery programming, including safeguarding and accountability mechanisms  

• Experience developing high quality technical guidance/standard operating procedures 

• Technical expertise in relevant education and youth programming areas (catch-up/remedial, inclusion/social cohesion, youth empowerment, teacher professional development, infrastructure/school improvements, student participation, PSS, teacher wellbeing). 

• Familiarity working with INEE Minimum Standards for Education in Emergencies and other global and Ukrainian technical guidelines  

• Ability to work independently and demonstrate organizational and problem-solving skills.  

• Excellent teamwork, communication, coordination and representation skills.   

• Proven ability to work in a diverse and multicultural team environment, with appropriate sensitivity to social and cultural norms.

PIN OFFERS:

• Competitive salary as per PIN Salary Scale: 3144 – 3839 USD GROSS (depending on qualifications) (+5% after probation period);
• Meaningful and positive working environment in a well-established and growing international humanitarian organization with career development opportunities;
• Reimbursement of travel expenses between offices and areas of intervention;
• Professional development opportunities through various capacity building events, such as trainings;
• 28 days of annual leave + 3 New Year bonus leave
• Health insurance.

Application procedure:

Please send clearly marked CV and Motivation letter in English. Please note, only the shortlisted candidates will be contacted. Written test and interviews will be conducted on a rolling basis and the vacancy will be closed when filled.

Please note that PIN does not charge a fee at any stage of its recruitment process.