Learning and Scaling Lead, South Africa

Organizational Context

The Education Outcomes Fund (EOF), hosted by UNOPS, is a global initiative dedicated to transforming education and skills financing and delivery. It partners with governments, donors, and implementers to enhance education system effectiveness, equity, and accountability through an outcomes-based model. EOF aims to ensure investments lead to measurable improvements in learning and employment, particularly for disadvantaged children and youth, by fostering systems change and aligning incentives.

Job Purpose

The Learning and Scaling Lead will play a crucial role in developing and executing a comprehensive learning, scaling, and evidence synthesis agenda within the South African context. This position is designed to translate program evidence into actionable operational insights and inform policy recommendations. By coordinating data collection, analysis, and knowledge sharing among various stakeholders, including government counterparts, implementing partners, and evaluators, the Lead will ensure that program learnings contribute to adaptive management and strategic decision-making. The ultimate goal is to enhance the effectiveness and impact of education and skills development initiatives, driving sustainable improvements in learning and employment outcomes.

Responsibilities

The Learning and Scaling Lead will contribute to designing a robust learning, scaling, and evidence synthesis agenda, defining learning priorities and research questions. This includes developing and implementing tools and dashboards for tracking progress and standardizing reporting for real-time evidence sharing. The role involves coordinating data collection and evidence generation with government, evaluators, and partners to identify effective practices and lessons learned. Synthesizing monitoring, evaluation, and operational data into policy-relevant insights will support program adaptation. The Lead will also facilitate cross-partner knowledge exchange through workshops and documentation, and contribute to reports with actionable recommendations for strategic decision-making and policy development. Furthermore, the position will support program scale-up by identifying learning priorities, assessing system readiness, and developing scaling frameworks, while monitoring and documenting scaling efforts and presenting findings to stakeholders.

Work Experience

A minimum of 7 years of relevant work experience is required with a Bachelor's degree, or 5 years with a Master's degree, in education, skills-for-employment, development, or policy programs. Experience working with national or provincial governments, preferably in the education or development sectors, is essential. Experience with outcomes funds, performance management, or large donor-funded programs is an asset.

Skills

Analytical Skills, Problem Solving, Project Planning, Risk Management, Stakeholder Management, Data-Driven Decision-Making, Effective Communication.

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