Organization: Dexis Professional Services
Type: Full Time
Application Deadline: 05/31/2023
Region: Global
Location: United States
Theme: Evaluation & Learning, International Development, Peace & Security, Program Design, Program Monitoring, Women, Peace & Security, Youth, Peace & Security
Job Description:
Dexis is a professional services firm that solves the most pressing social challenges in complex environments, paving the way for a more secure and prosperous world.
Dexis embraces diversity, equity, and inclusion and strives to build and maintain a safe environment where we celebrate diverse backgrounds, treat everyone with respect, and value the unique lived experiences each person brings based on their race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender identity, religion, disability, military or veteran status, national origin, age, marital status or family status and related conditions.
At Dexis, you will experience a corporate culture of inclusiveness, fairness, and trust. You will be given the means and mentorship needed to succeed, and your creativity will be rewarded.
About the Position
Dexis is recruiting for an Education Finance Specialist who will be embedded within USAID’s Center for Education, Bureau for Development, Democracy and Innovation. The Specialist will support the education finance portfolio by establishing advisory groups, developing and managing education finance activities under the CATALYZE mechanism, and providing technical support to education finance-relevant issues across the Center through the Education Support Initiative 2 (ESI 2) institutional support contract.
USAID’s Bureau for Development, Democracy and Innovation integrates technical expertise with values-driven, cross-cutting priorities and modern approaches to the way USAID performs its work. It provides client-centered technical services to USAID’s Missions worldwide, supports programming to innovate, learn, and address emerging issues, and provides technical leadership within the Agency and externally to enhance development impact.
The Bureau’s Center for Education (DDI/EDU) leverages its expertise, partnerships, and global perspective to guide and influence the education sector, advancing U.S. Government development priorities.
All members of DDI are measured on how they foster a climate of respect in interactions with others, value differing perspectives, and treat others in a fair, equitable, and culturally sensitive manner. All members of the Bureau are expected to value diversity, equity, and inclusion in performing everyday duties and responsibilities.
Responsibilities
The Education Finance Specialist will work on key education finance priorities, developing a logical framework based on the education finance framework; partner with colleagues to provide effective and efficient services to USAID regional bureaus and Missions through training, strategy, and programmatic considerations. The Specialist will be responsible for supporting the work of the Senior Education Finance Specialist and key global initiatives, such as the Partnership with Private Investors in Education, International Financing Facility for Education.
Responsibilities will include the following:
Technical Support Leadership
- Provide technical leadership, in conjunction with multi-sectoral advisory teams to USAID education programs on design, implementation, coordination and analytical considerations of education finance-related programs.
- Facilitate the inclusion of good practices and global lessons learned in the execution of USAID-funded education finance activities.
- Provide ‘just-in-time’ support to USAID regional bureau colleagues and field Mission officers on the analysis, design, implementation, and promulgation of education finance-related research, training, and program design considerations.
- Build professional development, training, tool development, and technical assistance on evidence-based approaches in education finance.
- Contribute to the design, management and technical oversight of education finance-related sector assessments, situational analyses, and research studies, particularly those designed to increase the agency’s understanding of how to better mobilize financing for education and how to use finances effectively in education.
- Participate in discussions and technical fora related to education finance.
Education Finance Portfolio Management and Reporting
- Support management of the education finance portfolio activities with the Senior Education Finance Specialist and other Center staff including: managing communications and partnerships across the Center and other Operating Units (OUs), regional and Mission-based Task Managers, as well as the Contracting Officer’s Representative (COR), providing oversight and technical support to Task Managers at region and mission levels, ensuring technical quality and rigor in activity designs and implementation.
- Ensure that the education finance portfolio has strong reporting for aggregation up to the Agency and Congressional levels, the impact of investments are tracked appropriately and that knowledge products convey the overall impact of the portfolio.
- Prepare education finance-related policy briefs that include recommendations on using evidence on how to better mobilize and use finance in education to see better education outcomes.
- Review and summarize professional literature on key education finance issues to identify and promote in agency policies, in research and learning agenda, and in pilot activities.
- Assist colleagues in the Washington and mission offices to establish education finance-specific research priorities and schedules.
- Provide, in close collaboration with the advisory team and Evidence and Learning colleagues, development of a set of diagnostic tools and key metrics in education finance.
- Contribute to the development of reports, presentations, and products that capture the evolution of the Agency’s impact on education finance results worldwide.
- Provide support with taskers and briefers as related to education finance activities.
Knowledge Management, Communication and External Engagement
- Collaborate with EDU colleagues and a range of external partners to develop, compile/stage, and promote education finance-related knowledge products and events that will increase the use of research and evidence in the design and implementation of USAID’s education programs.
- Liaise with the EDU specialists to expand internal and external collaborators’ knowledge of noteworthy tools, knowledge products, dialogues, exchanges, professional development opportunities, and policy developments that can enhance and inform the successful implementation of financial sustainability in education programs.
- Support management of the Education Finance Network, a community of practice for diverse education stakeholders.
- Support the development, with the relevant Center colleagues, of strategic partnerships and alliances that will contribute to the accomplishment of the education finance portfolio and learning agenda
- Liaise via engagement colleagues with international partners (including UIS, GPE, ECW, academic institutions, bilateral agencies, foundations, the private sector, researchers, and implementing partners) to provide significant contributions to global or regional flagship studies or initiatives on the implementation of key education finance studies and initiatives.
- Participate in international conferences and deliver public technical presentations on a variety of topics related to education finance.
Other Duties as Assigned
Support priorities, tasks, and work streams within the Center.
Qualifications
- Bachelor’s and six years of professional experience, or Master’s degree and four years of professional experience required. Degree in Finance, Economics, International Education, or other related field preferred.
- Ability to obtain and maintain an active secret clearance.
- Demonstrated skills and experience in research, writing and analysis.
- Prior experience in public or private finance activities, with a preference in education.
- Excellent interpersonal and communications skills and the demonstrated ability to successfully and effectively liaise with people within and across departments in a diverse and inclusive environment required.
- Advanced skills in Google Workspace, Microsoft Office, and other products and applications intended for the sharing of documents and information among multiple team members required.
Dexis is on a mission to help solve today’s most pressing global political, social, and economic challenges and create a world where all people are safe and prosperous. As a Dexis employee, you will be challenged, empowered, and mentored. Our motto is “find a way or make a way” — that’s how Dexis goes “all in.” How will you?
If you are passionate about this opportunity, apply now!
Only those applicants who meet the above criteria will be contacted for interview.
Dexis is an Equal Opportunity Employer, and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, sex, national origin, religion, pregnancy, disability, age, genetic information, military service, veteran status, ethnicity, citizenship, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, childbirth and related medical conditions, including lactation, or any other protected class under applicable law.
If you are hired for a position that is paid from the Dexis home office, you will be required to submit proof that you have received the COVID-19 vaccine unless you qualify for a legally recognized medical or religious exception to the vaccine requirement. This does not apply to AL, AZ, FL, KS, MT, NH, ND, or TX residents.