Programme Officer (ECD)

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Position: Programme Officer (ECD)
Job Location:  Nyanza District, Rwanda

About the AIM Program

The Mastercard Foundation Accelerating Impact for Young Women (AIM) in Partnership with BRAC is equipping 2 million adolescent girls and young women (AGYW) with age-appropriate entrepreneurship, employability, and life-skills training, as well as the tools to start and scale their own businesses. The nine-year program (2021-2030) applies BRAC’s proven model using microfinance, youth empowerment, agriculture, education and skills development to improve lives and livelihoods. It currently operates in seven African countries: Sierra Leone, Liberia, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, Ghana, and Kenya. Based on the AGYW age, needs, and circumstances, AGYW are placed on one of two pathways in the AIM program: an education pathway or a livelihood pathway.
In the AIM project, the inclusion of Early Childhood Development (ECD) micro-enterprises as a pilot initiative is an innovative and community need-based solution where young women aged 18 to 35 will receive support in terms of knowledge, skills and capital to become micro-entrepreneurs. These women will provide quality child care services for young children in their own communities in Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda and Liberia. The knowledge and expertise of the BRAC Play Lab model will be used in the form of curriculum, play space and materials design, training, management and monitoring to set up the childcare micro enterprises.

About the Role

The Programme Officer will supervise the assigned Play Labs/ECD centers and coordinate with project staff and beneficiaries to ensure all project objectives are achieved on time and according to agreed standards. The role includes daily monitoring of Play Labs/ECD centers, overseeing children’s participation and progress, and ensuring the quality and equity of Early Childhood Development activities, especially for the most vulnerable children.

Key Responsibilities

Community mobilization and facilitation:

• Ensure communities, government, and other stakeholders clearly understand the project’s objectives, priorities, and approaches.

• Use participatory methods to help children, communities, and government stakeholders identify their own needs, challenges, and priorities.

• Promote strong community ownership and active participation in Play Lab activities.

• Oversee procurement, logistics, and administrative tasks for the ECD project in the area, in line with BRAC policies.

• Work closely with project staff to maintain internal control systems and resolve day-to-day field-level issues.

Effective project activities delivery based on standards:

• Ensure close consultation with sector authorities, ECD micro entrepreneurs (play leaders / caregivers), children and BRAC`s technical staffs during project implementation

• Ensuring market survey and child survey to set up the micro enterprise ECD center.

• Identify potential ECD entrepreneurs from AIM participants, and select the ECD center or play lab house according to set criteria.

• Ensure that children’s attendance, fee collection, and necessary records are properly maintained at the center.

• Ensure children’s attendance at play lab is more than 90%

• Organize monthly parents and community meetings at play lab centers

• Support the ECD micro entrepreneur to set up the ECD center and installment of the indoor and outdoor play space.

• Ensure play lab materials and equipment are with quality and well maintained to enhance the overall quality of play labs

• Maintain the caseload of the enrolled children at the play lab centers and ensure children are well performing in the centers

• Follow up with micro entrepreneurs (Play leaders/ Caregivers) on pay regular installments of the cost-sharing approach agreed with BRAC.

• Monitor all project activities closely on a regular basis, document and share monitoring reports to Area Manager

• Conduct field visit to play lab centers by 100% of the work

• Attend staff meetings and develop monthly refresher module

• Effective monitoring the works done by micro entrepreneurs.

• Ensuring the recruitment and development of staff and ECD micro entrepreneurs.

Effective delivery of training and play-based curriculum:

• Support the delivery of training for Play Leaders based on the project’s ECD curriculum.

• Ensure training sessions follow the approved play-based curriculum and meet the quality standards set by BRAC.

• Provide ongoing coaching and follow-up support to Play Leaders to strengthen their facilitation skills and classroom practices.

• Assist in implementing curriculum activities in Play Labs/ECD centers, ensuring age-appropriate and inclusive learning experiences.

• Collect feedback from the field to inform curriculum improvement and share insights with the technical team.

• Receive all the project training for own capacity buildings.

Coordination, Networking and Advocacy to project:

• Establish good working relations with project team, government and stakeholders at districts and regional level

• Participate and organize project meetings and stakeholder meetings at streets and play lab centers

• Enhance self - empowerment of children, parents and communities in play lab centres