Youth Leadership and Inclusion Lead/ Program Manager

Youth Leadership and Inclusion Lead/ Program Manager – Vietnam – YSEALI

Position system title and grade: Youth Leadership and Inclusion Lead/ Program Manager– Grade 11
Position Location: Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam
Project Name: Young Southeast Asia Leaders Initiative- Mekong Program (YSEALI-Mekong)
Anticipated Start Date: December 20, 2022

EDUCATION DEVELOPMENT CENTER (EDC)

Education Development Center (EDC) is a global nonprofit that advances lasting solutions to improve education, promote health, and expand economic opportunity, with a focus on vulnerable and under-served populations.  Since 1958, we have been a leader in designing, implementing, and evaluating powerful and innovative programs in more than 80 countries around the world.

EDC promotes equity and access to high quality education and health services and products that contribute to thriving communities where people from diverse backgrounds learn, live, and work together. We support an inclusive workplace culture that embraces many perspectives and broadens our understanding of the communities we serve, enhancing and enriching our work.  

EDC is committed to equity, diversity, and inclusion in the workplace.

We are looking for candidates who share EDC’s commitment and understand the importance of cultural responsiveness in today’s context.

Project Description

USAID’s Young Southeast Asian Leaders Initiative–Mekong Program will strengthen the leadership capacities and networks of youth leaders in Southeast Asia, empowering them to lead with confidence and to claim their right to a sustainable and just future.??

The leadership development program will provide the knowledge, training, and exposure to empower Southeast Asian youth to act on environmental issues, help integrate them into the web of climate, biodiversity, and sustainability actors in the region in order to contribute to the sustainable development of the Mekong region.??

The program will 

1. Build the leadership capabilities of youth in Southeast Asia with focus themes of climate change, environment, and biodiversity within the Mekong sub-region countries of Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, and Vietnam,  
2. Strengthen ties among Mekong sub-region countries, other ASEAN countries (plus Timor-Leste), and the United States, and  
3. Nurture a community of leaders who work locally and across borders to address shared issues relating to the focus themes.  

Focus themes of the program are: 

• Climate change – advance equitable and ambitious actions to confront the climate crisis with dual climate change priorities of mitigation (reducing emissions) and adaptation (improving resilience to climate impacts) 
• Environment - Ensure that the environment and the natural resources upon which human lives and livelihoods depend are managed in ways that sustain productivity growth, a healthy population, as well as the intrinsic spiritual and cultural value of the environment. 
• Biodiversity - Conserve biodiversity and manage natural resources in ways that maintain their long-term viability and preserve their potential to meet the needs of present and future generations. 

YSEALI-Mekong will be hosted by the Vietnam National University - Ho Chi Minh City (VNU-HCM), and will partner with local, regional, and international relevant stakeholders. 

Position Description

Under the supervision of the Chief of Party, the Youth Leadership and Inclusion Lead/Program Manager will lead overall technical oversight and guidance for the program’s leadership development training content and delivery.

S/he will work closely with VNU-HCM and other project curriculum partners to adapt existing curricula and develop a blended learning model that meets the needs of youth and program objectives. S/he will oversee delivery of the core curriculum, manage coaches, collaborate with the VNU-HCM instructional team, ensure the quality of teaching and learning materials and that all learning experiences apply best practices in learner-centered instruction and distance learning. S/he will work with the program team to develop dynamic in-person learning experiences at program convenings.

The Youth Leadership and Inclusion Lead / Program Manager work with other senior personnel and counterparts within the VNU-HCM to develop selection criteria and recruit youth leaders to the program and ensure effective integration and implementation of gender equality, youth engagement, and social inclusion in program activities. S/he will develop and deploy fit-for-purpose learning approaches to close gender gaps, promote youth inclusion and improve youth decision making across program activities. The Youth Leadership and Inclusion Lead/Program Manager will work closely with the Chief of Party, other senior personnel to support institutional strengthening processes within the host higher education institution related to the curricular content, and program delivery. S/he will work with experts from EDC and partners to ensure activity relevance and quality.

S/he will also serve as the secondary/alternate point of contact with USAID/Vietnam and support the Chief of Party in the successful management of all administrative and programmatic functions and interventions in line with the YSEALI-MLP Activity.

He/she will oversee the performance of two staff who will coordinate closely with the project resource partners to deliver respective training courses.

Essential functions include (but are not limited to):

• Lead a collaborative curriculum development and adaptation process bringing together key program partners in coordination with home office technical assistance staff.
• Develop and ensure effective implementation of a learning management system within the portal in coordination with technical colleagues. .
• Oversee delivery of the core curriculum, manage coaches, ensure the quality of teaching and learning materials and that all learning experiences apply best practices in learner-centered instruction and distance learning.
• Develop dynamic in-person learning experiences at the convenings in collaboration with the program team.
• Oversee the selection of the self-directed learning courses, tailored by pathway.
• Organize and manage the selection committee. Develop selection criteria to ensure effective integration and implementation of gender equality, youth engagement, and social inclusion in program activities.
• Work closely with other senior program personnel and counterparts within the host higher education institution and organizations in the Network of Champions to recruit youth leaders to apply to the program.
• Ensure approaches that promote gender equality, youth engagement, and social inclusion are integrated into programming and effectively implemented; regularly identify and apply learning, refining approaches as needed to close gender gaps, involve youth in decision making, and promote inclusion across YSEALI-MLP activities.
• Work closely with the Communications Coordinator, Network of Champions and alumni network on enrollment campaigns and promoting activities and successes of youth leaders.
• Manage the development of materials/tools and conduct training sessions for program participants and trainers.
• Identify peer leaders in different groups, support and guide peer leaders in post-training activities.
• Work closely with the Green Partnerships and Mentorship Lead and coaches in the development and implementation of the Leadership in Action phase of the program to ensure alignment with training components of the program.
• Coordinate with the Green Partnership & Mentorship Lead in fostering the collaboration with respective departments or units of the Vietnam National University – Ho Chi Minh City, other USAID projects, and relevant active programs/initiatives on youth development.
• Support access to quality education opportunities, skills development for employment and self-employment opportunities for youth.
• Collect successes stories (youth, mentors) for annual reporting and fostering further partnerships.
• Collaborate with other project’s teams, including financial and administrative staff.
• Support social and gender inclusion in the activities.
• Collaborate with the M&E team to ensure timely collection of information.
• Contribute to ad hoc, monthly, quarterly, annual and other reports.
• Contribute to project’s activities planning. 
• Perform other tasks as required by the project.

Qualifications

The candidate for the position of Youth Leadership and Inclusion Lead/Program Manager shall have at a minimum the following qualifications: 

Education:

• Master’s degree and 8 to 9 years of progressively responsible and directly relevant experience

Skills and Experience:

• Minimum of seven years of experience in youth-related program design, activity implementation, and technical service provision.
• Experience with (or demonstrated understanding of) high quality youth leadership development preferred.
• At least five years of experience in educational design, curriculum development and training delivery. Experience with online learning preferred.
• Demonstrated experience and knowledge of capacity development and professional development of staff, local partners and government counterparts.
• Experience leading activities that reduce gender and social inclusion barriers in programs greatly desired.
• Demonstrable experience with inclusive education, distance learning, designing and managing education and/or youth development programs, with a focus on positive youth development required.
• Experience working within higher education institutions within Vietnam desired.
• Excellent leadership, administrative, management, presentation, reporting, and communication (both oral and written) skills and the ability to implement projects with diverse subject matter.
• Ability to manage multiple teams and complete numerous tasks with a high degree of organization.
• Ability to travel in the Mekong and ASEAN regions.

Language

• Fluency in English and Vietnamese (reading, writing, listening, speaking) required.

Application Instructions:

Job closing date: December 20, 2022 - open until filled

To apply, Applicants are encouraged to visit the Careers Page [1] at: https://go.edc.org/YLIP-Vietnam-YSEALI [2]

Due to the volume of applications submitted, only finalists will be notified.  No phone calls, please.

See https://www.edc.org/careers-edc [3] for further details.

This announcement is made possible by the support of the American People through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). The contents of this notice are the sole responsibility of Education Development Center, Inc. (EDC) and do not necessarily reflect the views of USAID or the United States Government.