Consultant (Rwanda), Education Outcomes Fund (EOF), Hosted Fund, 36 Months, Kigali, Rwanda, Req:580421
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Job no: 580421
Contract type: Consultant
Duty Station: Kigali
Level: Consultancy
Location: Rwanda
Categories: Education
UNICEF works in some of the world’s toughest places, to reach the world’s most disadvantaged children. To save their lives. To defend their rights. To help them fulfill their potential.
Across 190 countries and territories, we work for every child, everywhere, every day, to build a better world for everyone.
And we never give up.
For every child, EDUCATION
There are few greater challenges faced by the global community than the twin crises of learning poverty and youth unemployment. In response, the Education Commission and the Global Steering Group for Impact Investment came together with our founding CEO Amel Karboul to create the Education Outcomes Fund (EOF).
EOF is a UNICEF-hosted fund with a mandate to champion Outcomes-Based Financing (OBF) for education at all levels. We aim to improve the education and employment outcomes for children and youth, by bringing together governments, public and private funders, implementing partners, and impact investors to achieve tangible, verified outcomes. We are backed by a range of world leaders who support us to shape our approach and achieve our ambitious aims.
Since its inception in 2018, EOF has established itself as a leading global player in OBF and the only dedicated centre of expertise for OBF in education and skills. With successful programs already underway in Basic Education in Ghana and Sierra Leone, EOF is now preparing to launch programs in Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) in Rwanda, South Africa, and Sierra Leone, and a Skills for Employment program in Tunisia.
Since our inception in 2018, EOF has:
- Become the first outcomes fund hosted by the United Nations within UNICEF, as a scalable platform to partner with governments around the world.
- Partnered with governments in Ghana and Sierra Leone to establish large-scale outcomes funds in Quality Basic Education, mobilising ~USD 50M for these programmes from partners such as FCDO, KOICA, Bank of America and Hempel Foundation.
- Established a USD 47 million partnership with the LEGO Foundation, to develop a portfolio of OBF programmes in early childhood care and education across a diverse range of countries, as well as to amplify the movement and ecosystem of partners around this approach.
- In partnership with the Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs and Bank of America, EOF is launching our first Skills for Employment programme in Tunisia, focusing on end-to-end youth support from training to job placement and retention.
- Championed a new way for private impact investors to contribute to our programmes, assuming the financial risk and supporting implementing partners to achieve results. Our first programmes attracted 2-3x of the required impact investment, suggesting that the model is appealing to the private sector.
- Had our innovative approach featured in the Stanford Social Innovation Review, FT, Economist, Brookings, and more.
- Established a Learning & Engagement team which focuses on community building efforts, including the launch of the Collective Learning Initiative, bringing together actors in the OBF and early childhood care and education spaces to jointly surface learnings.
- Already started to change minds: from governments changing their sectorial strategy to embrace OBF and co-financing programme budgets, to international NGOs becoming more data-driven and focused on impact.
How can you make a difference?
The Consultant (Rwanda) will provide strategic and technical guidance to EOF on the management of EOF’s early childhood programme in Rwanda. The Consultant (Rwanda) will report to EOF’s Programme Manager and work closely with EOF’s central team. An estimated 12 mission travels are required within Rwanda to visit sites of the programs’ implementation. This will be an estimated 4 travels per year of the assignment. Each mission travel will be for an estimated 5 working days.
DESCRIPTION OF ASSIGNMENT
Deliverable |
Description |
Estimated number of working days |
Deadline/ timeline |
Deliverable 1: 15 capacity-building workshops with government partners and implementing partners on outcomes-based funds. |
Deliver at least 15 workshops for government partners and implementing partners on the EOF program in Rwanda. This should cover the fundamentals of outcomes-funds, its key differences from other program models, and the implications for the implementation of EOF’s program in Rwanda. Each workshop is estimated to be 1-day in length. |
45 (3 days per workshop) |
Four workshops by the end of 2025 An additional six workshops by the end of 2026 |
Deliverable 2: A 20-25 pages report on the program’s first year of implementation incorporating key insights and challenges. |
Produce a report focused on the program’s first year of implementation (April 2025 – March 2026), informed by conversations with government partners, each of EOF’s implementing partners, EOF’s independent evaluator, and other key program stakeholders. This should be an estimated 20-25 pages, and cover: Program stakeholders include the National Child Development Agency (NCDA) and Ministry of Education (MINEDUC), implementing partners, and wider stakeholders in the early childhood sector (multilateral agencies, donors, NGOs, research organisations). |
40 | First draft by the end of February 2026. Final version by the end of March 2026 |
Deliverable 3: A proposal (estimated 20-page slide deck) for the program’s long-term sustainability incorporating stakeholders; input and program evidence. Two workshops conducted to inform the proposal. |
Develop a proposal (estimated 20-page slide deck) for the program’s sustainability beyond the end of the implementation period. This should consider the broader ECCE system in Rwanda and lessons-learned from implementing the program and incorporate feedback from key program stakeholders (implementing partners, donors, government partners), and EOF’s central team. The Consultant will be expected to run at least two half-day workshops with key program stakeholders in order to gather feedback and input to develop realistic sustainability proposals. The proposal should involve embedding evidence emerging from the programme into government policy and defining with government the goals after the project, including sustainability of the ECD centres under the project and design of future iterations. |
40 |
First draft by the end of August 2027.
|
Deliverable 4:
|
Produce contact reports (estimated 1-2 pages) following meetings with potential donors identified by EOF’s central team. Support EOF’s fundraising team to identify potential leads by preparing for meetings, attending discussions, and summarizing key points, actions and next steps. |
90 Estimated 1 day per contact report |
Most of the meetings (at least 60) by the end of December 2025. The remainder by the end of June 2026 |
Deliverable 5: Pre-reading materials prepared, and governance meetings successfully facilitated, leading to resolution of key challenges. |
Develop technical guidance and pre-reading materials (estimate 20-slide PowerPoint) and facilitate governance meetings involving government, grantees (service providers / investors), the independent evaluator and donors. The aim of these meetings is to resolve challenges that may arise between government, service providers and the evaluator, actively communicating with all parties to find solutions. This will include providing technical guidance based on sector best practices, the context needs and government priorities. |
72 Estimated 9 meetings across the assignment, 8 days per meeting |
3 governance meetings by the end of 2025
|
Deliverable 6: Site visits to EOF’s implementing partners conducted, with detailed reports (estimated 5-pages each) summarizing the key observations from the site visits. |
Conduct site visits (in coordination with EOF’s contracted independent evaluator) to a sample of program sites (5 sites per visit), ensuring program implementation aligns with standards. Write detailed site visit reports summarizing activities, successes, challenges, and recommendations for improvement. Reports must be shared with stakeholders within one month after visits. |
120 (8 days per site visit) |
15 occasions through the program: • 5 by the end of 2025 • An additional 4 by the end of 2026 • An additional 5 by the end of 2027 • The final visit by the end of the assignment |
Deliverable 7: A comprehensive 30-page report on the program’s third year of implementation reflecting key insights and sustainability considerations |
Produce a 30-page report on the program’s third year of implementation (April 2027-March 2028) incorporating insights from key stakeholders: government partners, implementing partners, EOF’s independent evaluator, and others. This should be an estimated 30 pages, and cover: Program stakeholders include the National Child Development Agency (NCDA) and Ministry of Education (MINEDUC), implementing partners, and wider stakeholders in the early childhood sector (multilateral agencies, donors, NGOs, research organizations). |
45 |
First draft by the end of November 2027. Final version by the end of March 2028. |
TOTAL ESTIMATED WORKING DAYS |
452 |
To qualify as an advocate for every child you will have…
- An advanced degree in political science, economics, finance, business, education, international development, international public policy, project management, social sciences, communications, or a related field, is required.
- A minimum of 8 years’ experience in managing strategic development programmes with the Government of Rwanda, ideally in the education sector.
- Direct experience of working with the Government of Rwanda, ideally in the education sector.
- Experience leading a team and managing multiple stakeholders across complicated projects.
- Fluency in English and Kinyarwanda is required.
DESIRED REQUIREMENTS
- Experience working in the Rwandan education sector is strongly preferred.
- Prior experience working with international organisations in development and donors in Rwanda is preferred.
- Experience in innovative finance, particularly Outcomes Based Funds, is strongly preferred.
For every Child, you demonstrate…
UNICEF's values of Care, Respect, Integrity, Trust, Accountability, and Sustainability (CRITAS).
To view our competency framework, please visit here.
UNICEF is here to serve the world’s most disadvantaged children and our global workforce must reflect the diversity of those children. The UNICEF family is committed to include everyone, irrespective of their race/ethnicity, age, disability, gender identity, sexual orientation, religion, nationality, socio-economic background, or any other personal characteristic.
UNICEF offers reasonable accommodation for consultants/individual contractors with disabilities. This may include, for example, accessible software, travel assistance for missions or personal attendants. We encourage you to disclose your disability during your application in case you need reasonable accommodation during the selection process and afterwards in your assignment.
UNICEF has a zero-tolerance policy on conduct that is incompatible with the aims and objectives of the United Nations and UNICEF, including sexual exploitation and abuse, sexual harassment, abuse of authority and discrimination. UNICEF also adheres to strict child safeguarding principles. All selected candidates will be expected to adhere to these standards and principles and will therefore undergo rigorous reference and background checks. Background checks will include the verification of academic credential(s) and employment history. Selected candidates may be required to provide additional information to conduct a background check.
Remarks:
Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted and advance to the next stage of the selection process.
Interested candidates are required to fully complete their application profile, upload a cover letter and their financial proposal that outlines the daily fee rate in USD and anticipated travel costs, as the consultancy assignment requires travel within Rwanda.
Applications with incomplete profile and without a financial proposal will not be considered.
Individuals engaged under a consultancy will not be considered “staff members” under the Staff Regulations and Rules of the United Nations and UNICEF’s policies and procedures, and will not be entitled to benefits provided therein (such as leave entitlements and medical insurance coverage). Their conditions of service will be governed by their contract and the General Conditions of Contracts for the Services of Consultants. Consultants are responsible for determining their tax liabilities and for the payment of any taxes and/or duties, in accordance with local or other applicable laws.
The selected candidate is solely responsible to ensure that the visa (applicable) and health insurance required to perform the duties of the contract are valid for the entire period of the contract. Selected candidates are subject to confirmation of fully-vaccinated status against SARS-CoV-2 (Covid-19) with a World Health Organization (WHO)-endorsed vaccine, which must be met prior to taking up the assignment. It does not apply to consultants who will work remotely and are not expected to work on or visit UNICEF premises, programme delivery locations or directly interact with communities UNICEF works with, nor to travel to perform functions for UNICEF for the duration of their consultancy contracts.
Advertised: South Africa Standard Time
Deadline: South Africa Standard Time