About IREX

IREX is an independent nonprofit organization dedicated to building a more just, prosperous, and inclusive world by empowering youth, cultivating leaders, strengthening institutions, and extending access to quality education and information. Founded in 1968, IREX has an annual portfolio of over $140 million, work in more than 100 countries worldwide with offices in 20 countries, and a global staff of over 600.  

Position Summary

IREX seeks a qualified Capacity Development Advisor to support an anticipated, USAID/LAC Bureau-funded activity, the LAC Regional Fund for Basic Education. The primary goal of the activity is to expand inclusive access to quality basic education for marginalized and vulnerable learners sustained over time. The Capacity Development Advisor may be based in the El Salvador, or Guatemala. The project will accomplish this goal by managing a regional fund which will have three main components: 1) a grant facility that provides sub-grants to local organizations to expand their work in inclusive education and/or fund their ideas for promising innovations; 2) a technical assistance component to strengthen the capacity of local organizations to work with USAID, monitor and adapt their interventions, and increase access and improve quality of education for marginalized groups; and 3) a component that seeks to generate, disseminate, and use evidence and learning from the local education sub-grants. The activity will closely monitor and evaluate improvements in inclusive access and quality of education with an emphasis on improved foundational skills for marginalized groups, especially in, but not limited to, the early primary grades. 

The activity will work through local organizations across the LAC region, focused on but not necessarily limited to countries in which USAID has a presence in education through regional or bilateral programming. These countries currently include: Colombia, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, select English-speaking Eastern and Southern Caribbean countries, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, and Paraguay. USAID anticipates that the activity will issue multiple calls for sub-grant applications during the life of the activity, and the USAID LAC Team will seek concurrence for each call from the USAID Missions, relevant ministries of education, and other donor partners working in the countries of interest. It is possible and probable that one call could include a subset of the above-listed countries, while another includes a different subset of countries, depending on the inclusive education contexts in each of the target countries. 

This position is contingent on project award. 
 

• The Capacity Development Advisor will report directly to the Chief of Party. In close collaboration with the Chief of Party, the Capacity Development Advisor will lead in the design and implementation of capacity strengthening support to sub-grantees under Objective 2. Capacity strengthening interventions for local organizations.   

• Serves as the project expert on capacity development; designs, implements, manages, and monitors capacity strengthening interventions.  Activities may include a complete diagnostic of local education organizations and sub-grant recipients to identify the capacity of those institutions to (1) work with USAID and other donors and (2) manage and implement large grants of over $500,000 and (3) monitor and adapt their interventions to increase access and improve the quality of education for marginalized groups.  

• The Capacity Development Advisor will also manage the deployment of targeted capacity strengthening services tailored to the needs of those local institutions to support their readiness to access and manage funding from international donors. 

• Advises local organizations on how to apply lessons learned from implementation to scale, expand to new geographies, plan and implement MEL activities and DEI approaches in staffing and programming, advertise their work, and find resources to sustain their organizations.   

• Designs, develops, and disseminates tools, resources, and technical assistance to conduct an eligibility checklist and/or Non-U.S Organization Pre-Award Survey (NUPAS) for future awards.  

• Leverages adult learning techniques to provide impactful organizational capacity development services to local organizations to include in-person and virtual (synchronous or asynchronous) training, shadowing, technical support, mentoring, and coaching.  

• In collaboration with the Chief of Party and MEL Director, monitors and measures the impact of capacity development activities, identifying lessons learned and opportunities to scale interventions to maximize impact. 

Skills and Experience

• A master’s degree in international development or related field with at least nine (9) years of experience leading adult learning, training, and/or organizational development activities for donor-funded projects; or a bachelor’s degree with at least ten (10) years of relevant experience required. 

• Proven experience strengthening the capacity of local organizations to access, track, manage, and monitor USAID or other donor funds. Experience designing and implementing collaborating, learning, and adapting (CLA) activities, and measuring improvements in organizational performance strongly preferred.  

• Experience assessing the impact of capacity strengthening interventions over time to identify lessons learned and scale successes. 

• Existing familiarity with USAID’s Localization Strategy 

• Commitment to inclusive programming that encourages full participation of individuals regardless of gender, disability status, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity or other marginalized status.  

• Experience working in one or more of the following countries in the LAC region is required: Colombia, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, English-speaking Eastern and Southern Caribbean countries, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, and Paraguay. 

• Excellent ability to communicate effectively on the technical aspects of implementation with a wide variety of stakeholders.  

• Proven track record of working effectively with other projects, media, civil society, high-level host country host government counterparts, and other international partners.  

• Effective oral and written communication skills. Fluency English and Spanish (written and spoken) required. 

• Strong representational and organizational skills. 

• Work authorization in the country of preferred location, El Salvador, or Guatemala.