Senior Education Project Officer

VACANCY ANNOUNCEMENT 

Position: SENIOR EDUCATION PROJECT OFFICER

(Work Location – Thakhek, Khammouane Province)

This position is available to LAO nationals only

About CRS

Catholic Relief Services is the official international humanitarian agency of the Catholic community in the United States. CRS works to save, protect, and transform lives in need in more than 100 countries, without regard to race, religion or nationality. CRS’ relief and development work is accomplished through programs of emergency response, HIV, health, agriculture, education, microfinance and peacebuilding.

About CRS Lao PDR

Since 1994, Catholic Relief Services (CRS) has been dedicated to supporting communities in Lao PDR. Our ongoing strategic programs prioritize health, nutrition, quality education, and resilient livelihoods.

As an integral part of the extensive CRS global network operating in more than 120 countries, we work towards enhancing lives and upholding human dignity both locally and globally. Aligned with our overarching Vision 2030, which focuses on empowering youth, nurturing families, promoting inclusive development, building resilience, and advocating for justice, CRS Lao PDR engages with various partners, including government entities, civil society organizations, and businesses. Through these collaborations, we aim to empower Lao communities to realize their full potential and flourish.

Project Summary: 

The School Lunch and Literacy Program (SLLP) is a five-year project funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) McGovern-Dole International Food for Education and Child Nutrition Program. The project will be executed by CRS as a sub-recipient of the World Food Programme (WFP), in collaboration with the Ministry of Education and Sports (MOES). It will be rolled out across more than 300 primary schools in 7 districts in Khammouane, Savannakhet, Bokeo, and Sekong, benefiting over 21,500 students. Key project activities include providing school meals, promoting education for all, conducting teacher training, enhancing school readiness, implementing WASH in schools, and improving school governance.

Job Summary

The Senior Education Project Officer leads education activities in Khammuane province, managing a team of Education Officers. The position oversees provincial-level program quality, monitors implementation progress, guides team performance, and ensures timely delivery of education activities. Key responsibilities include team supervision, budget management, government relationship building, and ensuring alignment between project expected deliverables, and government education priorities. The Senior Education Officer plays a crucial role in translating technical guidance from Education Advisors into practical implementation strategies while managing day-to-day operations and team development.

Roles and Key Responsibilities

• This role will oversee technical activities such as school readiness camps, provision of literacy materials, and formative assessment support to teachers and administrators. It will also lead training for teachers and volunteers, manage the budget for field-based work, as well as  report on activities throughout the majority of the project cycle, including start-up, implementation, and close-out, in accordance with donor requirements, good practices, and CRS program quality standards and principles.
• Supervise and manage talent effectively. Monitor team well-being and teamwork. Perform performance management for direct reports, provide coaching, strategically develop individual growth plans, and assist in hiring project staff.
• Throughout the project cycle, make sure learning appropriately supports project activities. By organizing project assessment activities in accordance with MEAL Policy, you may promote accountability. Take the initiative to find problems and disclose them so that plans and implementation timelines can be updated.
• Represent the organization with donors, INGO working groups, UN, relevant local partners and relevant local government and community actors for literacy and education. Coordinate activities required for ensuring the financial, material and human resources for the quality implementation of the project, to conduct periodic budget reviews and follow-up with partners on timely submission of financial reports to facilitate proper tracking of resource use.
• Engage and strengthen partnerships relevant to the project’s literacy components, applying appropriate application of partnership concepts, tools and approaches, also identify staff capacity needs and technical assistance needs of partner organizations and contribute to capacity strengthening and required interventions to support quality project implementation.
• Support with MEAL of trends analysis reports and disseminate results. Ensure proper and accurate data collection for literacy activities.  Ensure knowledge management by proper document retention, per agency and donor requirements.
• Coordinate on-time reporting for education activities, including monthly report; government quarterly report and annual report with accurate and up-to-date data; and high standard of performance.

Basic Qualifications (BQs) and experiences:

• Bachelor’s Degree required. Master’s Degree in the field of Education or equivalent would be a plus.
• Minimum of 4 years of work experience in project management, ideally in the area of education, and preferably with an international NGO.
• Additional experience may substitute for some education.
• Experience working with government stakeholders at various levels and strengthening community partnerships.
• Experience using MS Windows and MS Office packages (Excel, Word, PowerPoint), Web Conferencing Applications, and information management systems.

Required Languages – Written and spoken fluency in Lao required. English proficiency required, with advanced English proficiency highly preferred. Proficiency in other languages spoken in Khammuane a plus.

Travel – The position is based in Khammuane province with frequent travel – up to 60% – to target villages and CRS offices in Khammuane and/or Vientiane.

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities (KSAs)

• Critical thinking and creative problem-solving skills with ability to make sound judgment.
• Strong relationship management skills and the ability to work effectively with local stakeholders. Representation abilities.
• Ability to contribute to written reports
• Proactive, results-oriented, and service-oriented
• Attention to details, accuracy and timeliness in executing assigned responsibilities

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience working on early child literacy and early childhood education projects is strongly preferred. Literacy-focused experienced is highly desired.
• Staff supervision experience.
• Ability to contribute to the development of technical proposals, a plus.
• Experience analyzing data and contributing to evaluation reports.

Agency Competencies (for all CRS Staff):

• Agency competencies clarify expected behaviors and attitudes for all staff. When demonstrated, they create an engaging workplace, help staff achieve their best, and help CRS achieve agency goals. These are rooted in the mission, values, and guiding principles of CRS and used by each staff member to fulfill his or her responsibilities and achieve the desired results.
• Personal Accountability – Consistently takes responsibility for one’s own actions.
• Acts with Integrity – Consistently models values aligned with CRS Guiding Principles and mission.  Is considered honest.
• Builds and Maintains Trust – Shows consistency between words and actions.
• Collaborates with Others – Works effectively in intercultural and diverse teams.
• Open to Learn – Seeks out experiences that may change perspective or provide an opportunity to learn new things.
• Agency Leadership Competencies:
• Lead Change – Continually looks for ways to improve the agency through a culture of agility, openness, and innovation.
• Develops and Recognizes Others – Builds the capacity of staff to reach their full potential and enhance team and agency performance.
• Strategic Mindset – Understands role in translating, communicating, and implementing agency strategy and team priorities.

Supervisory Responsibilities: 4 Education Officers in Thakek.

Key Working Relationships:

Internal – Program Manager, Education Technical Advisor, School Meals Project Manager, WASH Project Manager, MEAL Officer, Child Literacy Technical Advisor, Operations and Admin team, Head of Programming, Head of Operations

External – Government of Laos partners (Ministry of Education and Sports officials and staff at the national, provincial, and district levels), Savannakhet Teacher Training College, School Administrators in target provinces, peer agencies working in child literacy development and programming.

APPLICATION INFORMATION: To apply for this position, please submit an application letter stating your expression of interest along with your most current CV by emails to: LA_HR@crs.org.

Closing date for applications: Sept 12, 2025, Only short-listed candidates will be contacted.

CRS’ talent acquisition procedures reflect our commitment to protecting children and vulnerable adults from abuse and exploitation.

CRS IS AN EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER.