Refugee Education Transition Advisor

The Refugee Education Transition Advisor (initially titled Advisor) is a long-term position through March 31, 2028, with the GIZ Global Programme Refugee Inclusion Accelerator (RISE) project office in Ethiopia. Operating with planned transition into a Joint Project with UNHCR, the Advisor provides high-level technical advisory services to the Ministry of Education (MoE), the Benishangul-Gumuz Regional State (BGRS) Bureau of Education, and the Refugees and Returnees Service (RRS). The role leads GIZ's technical assistance to transition refugee schools into Ethiopia\'s national education system in alignment with the Makatet Roadmap. Key duties focus on education systems strengthening, institutional capacity development in BGRS, policy framework design, teacher qualification pathways, and multi-stakeholder donor coordination.

Strategic Technical Advisory & System Development

• Provide strategic advisory services to the Ministry of Education, BGRS Bureau of Education, RRS, and government partners on implementing refugee education inclusion under the Makatet Roadmap.

• Support government-led system integration by developing institutional frameworks, policy recommendations, operational guidelines, and tools for national education planning, budgeting, monitoring, and quality assurance.

• Lead the design of sustainable qualification and accreditation pathways for refugee incentive teachers in collaboration with teacher education institutions and accreditation authorities.

Capacity Development & Field Implementation (BGRS Focus)

• Lead institutional readiness assessments across schools, woredas, and regional education offices in Benishangul-Gumuz Regional State.

• Design and execute tailored capacity development measures, including technical workshops, training programs, coaching, and on-the-job advisory support.

• Undertake frequent duty travel to BGRS and other refugee-hosting regions across Ethiopia.

Technical Assistance Coordination & Knowledge Management

• Manage short-term national and international technical assistance consultants, ensuring high-quality and timely delivery of assessments, policy papers, and technical concepts.

• Facilitate inter-agency technical working groups, aligning initiatives between government bodies, UNHCR, World Bank, and humanitarian/development partners.

• Mainstream cross-cutting themes—including gender equality, protection, and social cohesion—across all technical activities while documenting lessons learned and progress reports.

• Master's Degree in Education, Education Planning, Education Management, Teacher Education, Public Policy, Political Science, or a closely related social science discipline.

• Minimum of 5 years of relevant professional experience in education sector development, education systems strengthening, or national education reform within international development cooperation.

• Demonstrated experience providing direct technical advisory services to national/regional government ministries and supporting institutional change.

• Proven track record in coordinating multi-stakeholder processes across government bodies, international donors, and implementing partners.

• Specific experience in teacher professional development, education planning, or education quality frameworks is highly desirable.

• Experience working within refugee education, forced displacement, or emergency-to-development transition contexts is a distinct advantage.

• Policy & Domain Knowledge: Deep understanding of Ethiopia\'s education sector, refugee inclusion policies, the Makatet Roadmap, and transition frameworks.

• Languages: Excellent written and spoken fluency in both English and Amharic.

• Technical & Soft Skills: Strong analytical capabilities, stakeholder coordination, public policy drafting, project management, and basic computer proficiency (MS Office, email).

• Workstyle Attributes: Strong networker, ability to work under pressure across complex inter-agency setups, and a genuine passion for education and student development.