Senior Technical Advisor, Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE), CATALYZE

About Palladium:

Palladium is a global company working to design, develop and deliver positive impact on the lives and livelihoods of people around the globe; broaden access to health, water, power, and infrastructure; build enduring, sustainable, and transformative institutions and market systems to address global challenges; and conserve the natural world. We operate in over 90 countries and have a workforce of 4,000 talented, motivated, and diverse staff of all religions, races, languages, and gender identities.

This Opportunity:

CATALYZE is a $250 million 8-year program, designed to mobilize $2 billion in private capital, especially to underfinanced social sectors (such as education) and higher risk countries (especially low-income and post-conflict countries) around the globe, complemented by a cross-cutting inclusion of gender-lens investing. CATALYZE serves as a “platform of platforms” that provides services to many missions and bureaus that “buy in” to tap the CATALYZE investment and pay-for-results project management expertise. Our aim is for investors to explore and find commercially viable opportunities and approaches to creating jobs, developing sustainable social services, tightening, and rationalizing supply chains, and advancing inclusive growth – ultimately, reducing the need for development institutions to provide donor funding.

The COVID-19 pandemic has catapulted the issue of care of children into the global spotlight. Care of children can span a wide range of models, ranging from home-based care to center-based care (including community-based care, faith-based care, privately provided care or publicly supported care), to informal or family arrangements. USAID’s CATALYZE EduFinance activity is investing in early childhood care and education (ECCE) to increase the quality of and access to early childhood care, resulting in improved learning and development outcomes for children, increased women’s economic opportunity and employment, increased workforce development opportunities and increased business productivity. As USAID increasingly moves into this area, there is extensive need for overseeing, managing, and providing technical assistance to ECCE programs sponsored by USAID, as well as developing new programs and contributing to thought leadership in the sector. This includes working in the care economy, early childhood development (ECD), transition from early childhood care to pre-primary, and pre-primary education. As part of this process, there need to coordinate and collaborate with stakeholders across the ECCE system, including donors and multinational institutions already working in the ECCE space.

The Senior Technical Advisor, ECCE will be a core member of the CATALYZE EduFinance technical team responsible for unlocking commercial capital for investments in the ECCE sector in developing countries served by USAID. The Senior Technical Advisor, ECCE will work closely across the CATALYZE EduFinance Team to lead, design, and oversee interventions (including co-investment, research, and technical assistance) in the ECCE sector that improve the risk-return profile of education businesses to develop and execute a pipeline of investor-grade deals in early childhood care, and that achieve other critical development objectives (e.g., improving access to quality and affordable child care; strengthening women’s economic empowerment; skills development in the care economy; and job creation). Target CATALYZE EduFinance investments must achieve measurable improvements for students from low- and low-middle-income households.

Location:

The position is based in Palladium’s Washington D.C. office.

You and Your Career:

If you are passionate about early childhood development, women’s economic empowerment, creating and leading innovative and high-value public-private partnerships, and blended finance, and if you have expertise in international education, learning, and early childhood development, the care economy, project management, and social impact, then we are interested in hearing from you.

Reporting and Supervision:

• 
  The role reports to the ECCE Senior Manager, EduFinance CATALYZE
  
• The role may have direct reports, including an Associate and/or field staff
  
• The role will be required to liaise closely with members of the home office Project Management Unit, field staff, implementing partners, and clients
  
• The ECCE Specialist is a member of the Economic Growth Practice, Americas Business Partnership, Palladium International LLC

Primary Duties and Responsibilities:

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  Provide technical leadership, assistance, and guidance to the EduFinance team, CATALYZE and its partners throughout the development of ECCE project co-creation and development processes
  
• Lead the design and technical direction of international development projects for USAID and other international donors
  
• Maintain strong and mutually respectful relationships with clients, partners and consultants that can provide technical expertise to Palladium-managed projects
  
• Provide thought leadership (writing blogs and white papers, conducting speaking engagements, etc.) and work with others to promote and market Palladium's technical capability
  
• Serve as Senior Technical Advisor on one or more USAID field or HQ projects. This includes managing and overseeing ECCE programs in USAID priority countries that increase women’s economic empowerment and private sector investment in ECCE, and that strengthen education, learning, and early childhood development outcomes. As part of this responsibility, oversee and manage subcontractors, grant recipients and consultants to ensure that their performance meets or exceeds technical requirements
  
• For assigned portfolio projects, interface with clients and other project stakeholders to plan, implement, review, and report on projects as needed and requested
  
• Direct and provide support to project work planning, budgeting, and progress/financial reporting
  
• Design and develop new task orders and buy-ins for EduFinance particularly in the ECCE sector (this includes developing the Performance Work Statements and other necessary components of new task orders and buy-ins)
  
• Manage and oversee a team of technical and program specialists in the ECCE sector, in countries where Palladium / EduFinance is implementing the ECCE projects. These specialists may be Palladium employees or consultants
  
• Serve as senior liaison to key donors and stakeholders in the ECCE space, efficiently linking the EduFinance team with key contacts
  
• Serve as a resource for technical guidance to the EduFinance team and its partners in the ECCE sector
  
• Engage with investors, education entrepreneurs, governments, financial intermediaries, USAID, and other donors in target countries to foster interest and identify investable opportunities in education
  
• Develop and maintain relationships with the EduFinance Community of Practice and potential investors in education, as well as consultants and partners who can provide technical expertise
  
• Contribute to project work planning and budgeting, project management, and monitoring evaluation and learning in the ECCE and blended finance space (MEL)
  
• Contribute to research, analysis, and publication of technical studies, case studies, policy, and program briefs to demonstrate thought leadership, as well as supervising these efforts of direct reports
  
• Utilize an adaptive management approach to advice project senior management to quickly adopt and scale cost-effective strategies and activities
  
• Ensure agile program implementation in line with MEL findings through leadership of a collaborate, learn, and adapt (CLA) approach
  
• Work closely with the CATALYZE EduFinance Team to manage project activities, provide technical leadership and coordinate with key stakeholders
  
• Other duties as required

Key Competencies Required:

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  Demonstrated experience, technical leadership, and expertise in childcare, care economy, early childhood education, innovative financing, and women’s economic empowerment, as well as experience in blended finance
  In-depth knowledge of the existing ECCE body of research and best technical practices
  
• Established relationships with key donors and stakeholders in the ECCE space at senior level
  
• Demonstrated experience convening diverse stakeholders and driving innovative partnerships
  
• Strong experience in monitoring, evaluation, and learning
  
• Evidence of strong communication skills, both interpersonal and written, to fulfil the diverse technical and managerial requirements of the project
  
• Knowledge of and demonstrated leadership in USAID programming in the education sector and key policies including the
• Private Sector Engagement Policy, Education Policy and USAID terminology, processes, and tools
  
• Ability to communicate effectively and professionally in English, and strong proficiency in a language that’s predominant where CATALYZE EduFinance implements activities (Spanish, French)
  
• Willingness and ability to travel and work in developing countries (and elsewhere) a minimum of 6-13 weeks per year, when travel and health conditions allow
• Travel requirements are expected to be around 20-25% in the countries where the ECCE projects are being implemented, as well as in potentially new countries / anticipated new buy-ins
• This will be an 80% LOE position

Equity, Diversity & Inclusion - Palladium is committed to embedding equity, diversity, and inclusion into everything we do. We welcome applications from all sections of society and actively encourage diversity to drive innovation, creativity, success and good practice. We positively welcome and seek to ensure we achieve diversity in our workforce; and that all job applicants and employees receive equal and fair treatment regardless of their background or personal characteristics. These include: (but are not limited to) socio-economic background, age, race, gender identity and expression, religion, ethnicity, sexual orientation, disability, nationality, veteran, marital or Indigenous status.

Should you require any adjustments or accommodations to be made due to a disability or you are a neurodivergent individual or for any other circumstance, please email our team at accessibility@thepalladiumgroup.com and we will be in touch to discuss.

Safeguarding - We define Safeguarding as “the preventative action taken by Palladium to protect our people, clients and the communities we work with from harm”. We are committed to ensuring that all children and adults who come into contact with Palladium are treated with respect and are free from abuse. All successful candidates will be subject to an enhanced selection process including safeguarding-focused interviews and a rigorous due diligence process.