ThaiNGO

Education Development Center

Founded in 1958, EDC is an international non-governmental organization that works to build bridges between educational research, policy and practice. EDC’s headquarters is located in Waltham, Massachusetts, USA, with additional offices in New York City, Washington, DC, Nairobi, and Bangkok. EDC manages 250 projects in 35 countries with more than 1,350 employees worldwide.

EDC is committed to diversity in the workplace.

The USAID-funded Connecting the Mekong through Education and Training (USAID COMET) project will help universities and vocational centers to increase the number of skilled workers in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics, Accounting and Tourism (STEM+AT) fields in the Lower Mekong countries: Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, and Vietnam.  USAID COMET seeks to bridge the gap between the private sector, universities and vocational centers in order to ensure the supply of skilled workers meets the demands from local businesses.  The project will rely on mobile technology, online learning, and traditional in-person workshops to promote regional networking in ASEAN and to help people from rural and marginalized areas access educational services.

Over the course of the five-year project, vocational centers and universities will be strengthened so that they can help future leaders develop the skills needed to catalyze job growth in high demand industries in the sub-region. This project will ultimately empower the Lower Mekong countries with a workforce that can bridge the development gap within ASEAN and take advantage of the benefits under the ASEAN Economic Community. 

The Senior Institutional Specialist will take the lead in building knowledge and experience, enhancing collaboration and commitment and strengthening leadership among the selected Mekong Learning Centers (USAID COMET leadership institutions). S/he will provide management and coordination support to the Mekong Learning Centers in developing their training plans that include adoption and implementation of USAID COMET training curricula in STEM+AT fields and use of associated tools and resources that will be rolled out in five Lower Mekong Countries through the Mekong Learning Centers. S/he will work closely with the project team to ensure that Mekong Learning Centers serve as USAID COMET leadership institutions effectively and achieve the objectives of the project.

Title:  Senior Institutional Specialist

Report to: Chief of Party

Summary:  The Senior Institutional Specialist will work closely with the Mekong Learning Centers to enhance their management capacity, collaboration, commitment and leadership to serve as effective Mekong Learning Centers. S/he will coordinate with the Deputy Chief of Party – Programs, the Senior Partnerships Manager, the Training Manager and the project team to ensure that the Mekong Learning Centers develop, implement and monitor their training plan effectively. S/he will also work with the Mekong Learning Centers to institutionalize the USAID COMET model for training and sharing the model with other institutions in five Lower Mekong Countries and provide management and coordination support as needed.

Essential functions:

Work with the project team and USAID through the selection process of the Mekong Learning Centers;

Liaise with the selected the Mekong Learning Centers on a regular basis to build relationships, strengthen their institutional roles and capacity, and provide management and coordination support as needed to establish a sustainable instructional model based on the USAID COMET approach, and share the model with other institutions that join the project;

Work closely with the Mekong Learning Centers on development of their work plans,  training and monitoring plans;

Work with the Training Manager and the Mekong Learning Centers to ensure that they implement the training plans effectively;

Identify the Mekong Learning Centers’ institutional support needs and ensure that they receive timely institutional support in order to serve as the leaderships institutions effectively;

In conjunction with the Senior Partnerships Manager  establish and strengthen linkages between the Mekong Learning Centers and other partners;

Develop and monitor the implementation of the grants for Mekong Learning Centers;

In conjunction with the Senior Partnerships Manager to manage the work programs for the Mekong Learning Centers to establish a sustainable model for instructional improvement following the USAID COMET approach at the institutional level;

Partner with the Mekong Learning Centers to develop strategies and plans to share the USAID COMET model with other partner institutions that join the project;

Provide ongoing mentoring and institutional development support to Mekong Learning Centers and other partner institutions as required;

Contribute to report writing and success stories related to the achievements of the Mekong Learning Centers as well as lessons learned;

Work with the Communication Team on communications activities and massages related to the Mekong Learning Centers that will be post through different communications channels;

Perform other functions as needed.

Qualifications:

Master’s degree and 8 to 9 years of relevant experience; experience working with educational institutions in ASEAN countries is a plus;

Experience in training curriculum development and training delivery is preferred;

Prior experience at managerial level for USAID-funded project;

Excellent interpersonal and team work skills;

Strong organizational, communication, computer, and interpersonal skills;

Ability to work effectively with diverse stakeholders;

Ability to communicate professionally in fluent English.

Can travel to Lower Mekong Countries as needed.

This is a local hire position and is open to Thai citizens and non-citizens with valid work authorization. A competitive benefits package and salary will be provided in local currency. This is a full-time position for 12 months with the possibility of extension based on availability of funding.

Interested qualified candidates are requested to submit their CV and cover letter to COMET_Jobs@edc.org by September 30, 2015. To ensure the timely review of your credentials, please insert “Senior Institutional Specialist” in the subject line of the email.  Only short-listed candidates will be contacted.