Adviser: Open Schooling

**Adviser: Open Schooling** **Grade**: C1 **Reports to**:Director: Education **Type of Contract**:Fixed Term **Duration of Contract**:3 years **Location**:Burnaby, British Columbia **_Commonwealth of Learning (COL) helps governments and institutions to expand the scale, efficiency and quality of learning by using new approaches, appropriate technologies and open and distance learning methodologies. Headquartered in British Columbia, Canada, COL promotes innovation and works with international partners to facilitate learning in support of sustainable development. It is financed by voluntary contributions from Commonwealth Member States._** **Overview of the Position**: The Adviser: Open Schooling will develop and implement activities to promote secondary education using open, distance and technology-based approaches in accordance with COL’s Strategic Plan. This involves providing technical advice to institutions and organisations on policy and supporting the development of models, capacity and content to ensure that more boys and girls have access to quality secondary schooling. The Adviser will help develop creative models and work in partnership with diverse stakeholders in Member States to advance COL’s outcomes and impact. **Duties and Responsibilities**: - Conceptualises, manages and implements activities related to the Open Schooling initiative through creative approaches that harness the potential of open, distance and technology-enabled learning to increase access to quality education and training for girls/women and boys/men. This involves delivering on a strategic plan with achievable results, formulating an annual action plan with budgets based on the plan, providing regular updates on all activities, authorising expenditures within assigned budgets and defined limits that achieve value for money, and actively participating in evidence building through the monitoring and evaluation of all activities on an on-going basis within a Results-based Management (RBM) framework. - Manages the implementation strategy for assigned activities and project(s). This includes working as a team with the Education sector and other staff to ensure a cohesive approach to activities within the programme, collecting evidence of approaches used, identifying new ideas, selecting partners and managing consultants, maintaining good relationships with key stakeholders, leveraging other sources of support including raising additional funds, and organising logistics. - Provides guidance and direction to a diverse range of stakeholders on the design and implementation of open schooling models/systems and policies to provide cost-effective and quality secondary education, especially for those from remote and marginalised communities. The emphasis is on innovation and technology to leverage available resources for maximum impact. - Contributes to COL's overall mission and corporate life in planning, stakeholder engagement, and internal processes by providing advice in areas of expertise and by representing COL’s interests at international forums. - Ensures direct report(s) have clear work plans and conducts performance appraisals on staff who work in the area. - Performs other duties related to COL’s programme or activities as required. **Direct Reports**: Programme Assistant (shared) Consultants **Qualifications and Experience**: **_Qualifications_** - Post-graduate degree in Education or related discipline. - Qualification in open and distance learning and/or development is desirable. **_Experience _** - Seven years of relevant professional experience of working in open, distance and technology-enabled learning which demonstrates strong knowledge of trends, discourse, policy issues and technical expertise. - Knowledge and experience in secondary schooling at national and regional levels. - Experience of implementing strategic plans. - Exposure to international development. **Skills and Competencies**: - Innovation & Creativity: injects originality into daily work through research, personal knowledge, and networking relationships; thinks "outside the box"; brainstorms and encourages new ideas and solutions; takes appropriate risks. - Prudence: sets an example by consistently modelling high standards of performance, honesty and integrity especially with appropriate use of funds; ability to mobilise, prepare and manage financial budgets in an effective, efficient and judicious manner to deliver ‘value for money’. - Professional Judgment: possesses an in-depth understanding of the programme goals; is sought out by others for advice in an area of specialisation; has the expertise to be perceived as a thought leader and be a credible interlocutor in the field; ability to develop realistic, relevant and achievable plans including monitoring and evaluation strategies; demonstrates a "can-do" and positive approach. - Networking: ability to develop and maintain a network of contacts in government agencies and