School Improvement Project Officer

About So They Can: So They Can Tanzania is registered as an International Non-Governmental Organization, with its’ offices and operations in Babati District, Manyara Region. So They Can Tanzania was founded by So They Can International, based in Australia and New Zealand. Our Vision: To change the future of children and communities living in poverty through education. Our Mission: To provide quality education to children living in poverty through improved learning conditions, teacher training and development, child wellbeing and health, and women’s empowerment through inclusive partnerships with the community and governments.

So They Can Tanzania runs the Umoja Education Collaborative program, in 28 government primary schools and 5 secondary schools in 4 Wards (Mamire, Endakiso, Qash and Gallapo) of Babati District Council. We focus on Teacher professional development, Student well-being, Capacity building of school boards and management, Government partnerships, Community and stakeholder engagement, School improvement and, Quality Early Childhood Development.

So They Can has a zero tolerance approach to child abuse and exploitation in all its forms and promotes children’s rights as set out in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (1989). To guide this, a Child Protection Policy (CPP) is in place to ensure children’s rights are protected by So They Can staff and representatives.

ABOUT THE ROLE: JOB TITLE: School Improvement Project Officer

REPORTS TO: Education Program Manager

LOCATION: Babati District, Manyara Region

DURATION: Permanent, subject to a minimum of 6 months probation

ABOUT THE SCHOOL IMPROVEMENT PROJECT: So They Can collaborates with the Babati District Council, Wards and Village Councils and communities, to i) renovation existing classroom buildings, ii) construct new classrooms and teacher’s offices, iii) drill water boreholes to ensure a sustainable supply of clean water, and, iv) provide other learning resources, such as desks, tables and chairs for students and teachers, cooking pots, etc.

KEY DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES:

1. School Renovation and Construction Works:
   1. Coordinate all School Improvement projects in So They Can program schools, in collaboration with all key stakeholders.
   2. Coordinate the Community contributions towards projects in a timely manner.
   3. Prepare Schedule of Works for each project, supervise and ensure timely completion of all projects within approved budgets and quality standards.
   4. Ensure timely reporting of all projects.
   5. Be the link between So They Can and Stakeholders (including local authorities, communities, and the school), maintaining a good relation at all times.
   6. Identify infrastructure needs of all program schools and prepare costs for So They Can, as part of meeting our Sustainability Model.
2. Other Projects:
   1. Identify need, and coordinate implementation of other School improvement projects.
   2. Review and ensure that all activities are within the approved Annual Activity plan for the School Improvement project up to December 2023.
3. Other Duties:
   1. Support the Child Protection Policy dissemination at the School level.
   2. Support timely collection of monthly data reports using available tools.
4. Reporting:
   1. Provide timely information and photos/ videos/ impact stories from the projects as will be requested from time to time.
   2. Participate in meetings with potential partners to share your expertise.
   3. Use the organization MEL system to report on implementation of all your activities on a timely basis.
   4. Prepare a lessons learnt report from each project to help improve in future projects
5. Administration Work:
   1. Participate in weekly staff meetings on a timely manner and provide updates.

Required Skills and experience:

• Commitment to safeguard and protect Children
• Commitment to So They Can Vision and Mission
• Minimum two years of relevant technical skills and experience on construction works, and/or quantity survey
• Graduate degree in civil engineering or quantity surveyor, or relevant field of study
• Experience working with children is an added advantage
• Experience working with Government funded projects is an added advantage
• Knowledge, skills and/or experience in community engagement
• Competent in use of computer programs for reporting including Word and Excel. Understanding of other tools is an added advantage
• Ability to work independently
• Fluent written and spoken English and Kiswahili