Project Summary:
Creative Associates leads the USAID-funded West Bank and Gaza (WBG) Basic Education Activity, which will strengthen education services for Palestinian children of KG 1 through Grade 6 that enable them to thrive and reach their full developmental potential. Under the Basic Education Activity, USAID seeks to work with the private sector, non-formal, non-governmental, community-based, UN, and civil society partners to strengthen early childhood and primary educational opportunities through high-quality early childhood education services and supplemental support structures to strengthen foundational pre-primary and primary education for children in the West Bank, Gaza, and East Jerusalem. Specific areas of focus anticipated include strengthening foundational skills in literacy, numeracy, social-emotional learning (SEL)/soft skills, building teacher and student resilience capabilities and assets, and strengthening pathways between non-formal to formal education.

Position Summary:
The Gaza Start-up Consultant will work closely with the Chief of Party (COP), Deputy Chief of Party (DCOP) as well as with our Gaza Lead (in Gaza) and with the HQ Senior Project Director (SPD) to lead a planning process for BEA’s work in Gaza. This includes: outreach to BEA partners and potential partners in Gaza, identification of activities and information gathering/assessments that can happen in Gaza during the conflict to help lay the groundwork for future programming, coordination with the local education cluster and with other humanitarian organizations in Gaza to find synergies and ensure we are not duplicating efforts, leading efforts to procure and store required goods/resources which will support BEAs programming post ceasefire, developing a concrete implementation plan laying out activities that can happen during the conflict, preparation activities to be ready post-conflict, and a path forward during a ceasefire. The Gaza consultant would also liaise
with our Gaza staff on the ground and support recruitment of new Gaza staff and consultants as needed.

Primary Responsibilities:
• Understand the BEA cooperative agreement and the approved implementation plan as the groundwork for how to start planning for Gaza implementation.
• Support recruitment of the Gaza team.
• Coordinate with BEA partners and potential partners to identify an appropriate division of labor and how to most effectively provide services. Support SOWs for new partners.
• Lead a process of identifying what the Gaza team can do now to prepare for implementation post-ceasefire (assessments, identification of former teachers, university students etc. that can serve as teachers in camps, identification of existing SEL/psychosocial support resources, etc.)
• Develop and lead a plan for preparation and implementation in Gaza (i.e. what can happen now to be ready including procurement of goods, identification of transportation routes, etc.) and what are the steps that need to happen upon a cease fire.
• Coordinate with other sectors, such as child protection, health, and infrastructure, to ensure a holistic and integrated educational recovery and development approach.
• Prepare reports and plans which identify concrete actions, timelines and roles/responsibilities to guide the team in effective Gaza implementation aligned with the cooperative agreement.

Minimum Skills & Qualifications:
• Advanced degree (MA or Advanced Diploma) from an accredited university in Education, Early Childhood Education, humanitarian response or related field.
• Minimum eight (8) years of working experience in crisis and conflict contexts and leading humanitarian response or education efforts in these settings.
• Experience working in developing and/or humanitarian contexts within the Education sector and an understanding of the local context.
• Experience implementing or starting up programming in conflict or immediate post conflict contexts.
• Experience working on USAID-funded programs.
• Strong leadership and coordination skills.
• Proven expertise in strategic planning for crisis and conflict responses, and program implementation in complex and challenging environments.
• Strong communication skills, both verbal and written.
• Working proficiency in English.

Desired Skills and Qualifications
• Fluency in Arabic strongly preferred
• Experience working in Gaza and West Bank.