Senior Education Planning Specialist

Organizational Context

UNRWA is the largest UN operation in the Middle East, with over 30,000 staff across five areas. This role, based at Headquarters within the Education Programme, reports to the Director of Education. It is central to high-level strategic decision-making and shaping the Agency’s education agenda across all fields, serving as a key link between strategic planning, data systems, and policy development. The incumbent provides technical leadership and may coordinate staff on complex, cross-field initiatives.

Job Purpose

The Senior Education Planning Specialist plays a pivotal role in supporting UNRWA's strategic education agenda, contributing significantly to high-level decision-making and shaping the Agency’s educational direction across all fields of operation. This position serves as a critical link between strategic planning, robust data systems, and effective policy development. The incumbent works closely with HQ divisions and field education teams to influence core processes such as resource allocation, school mapping, and system-wide reforms. The role provides essential technical leadership across various functions, potentially involving the guidance, mentoring, and oversight of staff and consultants on complex, cross-field initiatives. The ultimate contribution is to ensure UNRWA's education efforts are aligned with global standards like Sustainable Development Goal 4 and UNESCO guidelines, optimizing resource use, developing cost-effective financial strategies, and enhancing educational quality for one of the world's most vulnerable communities.

Responsibilities

The incumbent supports the development, revision, and implementation of UNRWA's multi-year education strategy and operational workplans, ensuring alignment with Sustainable Development Goal 4 and UNESCO/IIEP guidelines. This involves preparing financial simulations for staffing needs, cost-saving scenarios, and quality enhancement investments, alongside developing and implementing cost-effective financial strategies for optimal resource use. The role leads the annual class formation/school mapping processes across five fields, coordinating with field offices to ensure correct application of norms for class size, space utilization, and staff allocation. A key aspect is the development and use of algorithms and digital tools to automate projections and optimize resource use, supporting the modernization of the Education Management Information System (EMIS). The specialist oversees the development of monitoring and evaluation frameworks to track progress toward education goals and policy implementation, contributing to indicator analysis, data validation, and trend reporting. This includes assessing policy impacts and feasibility studies, guiding the preparation of annual education sector performance reports, policy briefs, and recommendations for leadership, while ensuring the integration of equity, gender sensitivity, and inclusion. Furthermore, the role provides technical assistance and capacity building to HQ and field-based education and planning staff, developing planning templates, SOPs, guidelines, and training materials. It also supports workshops and cross-field learning exchanges, establishing partnerships with universities and international organizations to enhance national education planning capacities and promote data-driven decision-making.

Work Experience

At least 7 years of progressively responsible professional experience in school mapping/class formation, education financing, or EMIS development is required. Demonstrated experience in education planning, policy analysis, or large-scale programme implementation, preferably within a ministry, international organization, or research institute, is essential. Proven experience in quantitative and qualitative analysis, including Excel or planning software, is also required. Experience applying international education frameworks such as SDG 4, UNESCO’s Education Policies, and IIEP methodologies in programme design or evaluation is necessary. Experience in multi-stakeholder coordination, participatory planning processes, and drafting clear and concise policy reports and technical documents is also required. Desirable experience includes education emergency response planning and knowledge of Arabic.

Skills

Planning and Organizing, Deciding and Initiating Action, Leading and Supervising, Relating and Networking, Formulating Strategies and Concepts, Delivering Results.

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