Senior Specialist, Early Childhood Development, Asia

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The Senior Specialist will be part of the Education and Child Development team with a central focus in the area of early childhood development in Asia. Working closely with the Asia Advisor for ECCD as well as the team for Early Childhood Development globally, this person will provide technical support (design, implementation and evaluation of ECCD programs) to selected country offices in the Asia region. Primary focus of this position will be on Pakistan and Afghanistan, where Save the Children is implementing large ECCD programs, as well as on India, China and Indonesia, where smaller but strategic projects are currently implemented with potential for growth and expansion in scope. The purpose of the technical assistance is to ensure quality programming.

The Asia ECCD Senior Specialist reports to the Asia ECCD Advisor and will be based in Asia, exact location is flexible.

Responsibilities

• Supports a portfolio ECCD programs in Asia (primarily focusing on Pakistan, Afghanistan, China, India and Indonesia) at various stages of growth and implementation. With guidance from Asia ECCD Advisor, provides assessment, design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation support to these programs and expands our ECCD evidence base
• Identifies best practices from field programs, documents and promotes uptake more broadly within SCI programs
• Supports writing and review of proposals in the region, with a focus on opportunities from AusAid and other major donors for Save US and Save Australia
• Assists in achieving ECCD results outlined in the Education Global Initiative, extending capacity of members, and ensuring quality across SCI ECCD programming

Requirements
• Masters Degree in Human Development, Developmental Psychology, International Education (with focus on young children), or Cultural Anthropology with ECCD specificity. Doctoral degree in a related field preferred.
• Minimum of 5-7 years’ experience in early childhood development with a deep understanding of holistic development and cultural variation ECCD programs and child rearing practices.
• Minimum 2-3 years of experience with implementing and/or overseeing child development programs in low resource settings, preferably in the Asia region
• Experience with working and living in Asia is a must, preferably experience working in Pakistan and/or Afghanistan
• Applied research experience, ideally in a development setting and/or Asia region
• Able to develop program materials related to ECCD, including training packages, curriculum guides, job aides, among others.
• Able to integrate literature and field-based promising practices that create sustainable, scalable, innovative and culturally relevant early learning opportunities for young children
• Fluency in English (knowledge of Urdu and/or Dari /Pashto preferred)
• Computer proficiency
• Strong interpersonal, cross cultural, oral, and written communication skills including public speaking
• Strong organizational skills and attention to detail

Save the Children is the leading independent organization for children in need, with programs in over 120 countries, including the United States. We aim to inspire breakthroughs in the way the world treats children, and to achieve immediate and lasting change in their lives by improving their health, education and economic opportunities. In 2010, we improved the lives of over 64 million children in need in the United States and around the world. Our goal is to reach more than 74 million children annually by the year 2012. Join our dedicated and diverse staff committed to improving the well-being of children.

Save the Children provides an attractive benefits package including competitive salaries, a matching retirement plan, health and welfare benefits, life insurance, an employee assistance program, generous time off and much more.
We are an equal opportunity organization dedicated to our core values of Accountability, Ambition, Collaboration, Creativity and Integrity.

Apply on-line at www.savethechildren.org under “Careers”