Project Officer

OVERVIEW
**Post Number**: ED/PA 252
**Grade**: P-3
**Parent Sector**: Education Sector (ED)
**Duty Station**: Paris
**Job Family**: Education
**Type of contract**: Project Appointment
**Duration of contract**: 1 year
**Application Deadline (Midnight Paris Time)**: 27-JUN-2025
**UNESCO Core Values**: Commitment to the Organization, Integrity, Respect for Diversity, Professionalism
Within the Division of Policies and Lifelong Learning Systems (ED/PLS), the Section of Education Policy (EDP) contributes to driving education transformation through four dimensions: (a) legal and normative, (b) policy review and planning, (c) data and information management, and (d) assessment and alignment for learning, these across all levels of education starting from early childhood. As such, EDP’s work aims to promote and advance the right to education, evidence-based policies and practices, sound governance and management, accountability and reforms for the continuous improvement of system performance and student learning outcomes. This includes support to design, review and scale-up of national efforts and initiatives for better alignment of and transformation in legal and regulatory frameworks, policies and planning, management and governance systems, data and accountability systems, learning pathways, quality assurance and learning assessment systems, including in emergency contexts. Long Description
Within the data and information management work strand, EDP’s key programmatic activities include the following:
Development of tools and guidelines for strengthening data and information management systems in education (EMIS).
Fostering international dialogue on and reinforcement of international standards and tools on national education sector management, governance, data management and M&E systems.
Reinforcement of the coherence of UNESCO’s interventions on sector management, governance, data management and M&E.
Provision of technical backstopping services to UNESCO’s network and technical assistance to Member States for efficient transformation of Education Management Information Systems.
The cross-cutting nature of data systems for evidence-based decision-making positions EDP as a key enabler of ensuring coherence across UNESCO’s programmatic interventions in education. In view of the continued expansion of the Education in Emergencies (EiE) portfolio, there is a pressing need to further consolidate EDP’s role—not only to provide strategic support to EiE programming and to strengthen the integration between emergency response and long-term resilience-building, but also as a means of enhancing organizational efficiency and promoting more cost-effective delivery of UNESCO’s mandate in education.
Within this context, EDP is seeking for a Project Officer willing to contribute actively to the implementation and delivery of the above data and information management programme, notably in education in emergency (EiE) contexts. Long Description
Under the overall authority of the Assistant Director-General for Education, the guidance of the Director of the Division and of the Chief of Section, and the direct supervision of the SeniorProject Officer in charge of EDP’s portfolio on sector management, governance, data management and M&E systems, the Project Officer will be responsible for providing technical support in the implementation of the section’s programmatic activities and initiatives on data systems in education and monitoring and evaluation, notably in education in emergency contexts. The Project Officer will provide technical and capacity development support to UNESCO’s network and Member States to strengthen Education Management Information Systems (EMIS) and institutionalize EiE data into EMIS, improve data literacy, monitoring and evaluation (M&E), and evidence-based planning, programming, and advocacy.
The Project Officer will notably provide targeted technical assistance to projects in Member States affected by conflict and crisis—including, but not limited to, Sudan, South Sudan, Ukraine, and refugee-hosting countries—supporting efforts to enhance the availability, quality, and use of education data in emergency and protracted crisis contexts. The position will contribute to reinforcing UNESCO’s leadership in EiE data systems and knowledge generation at both global and field levels, supporting the systematic integration of EiE data into EMIS and advancing the humanitarian-development-peace nexus approach.
The Project Officer will also contribute to EDP global workstreams on education management, EMIS and e-governance and collaborate closely with internal and external partners to strengthen education data systems, with particular attention to crisis-sensitive design and implementation.
In particular, the incumbent will perform the following essential duties:
1. Programme and project implementation
Support the GPE System Capacity Grant (SCG) project in Sudan for establishment of an integrated M&E system under the Tran