Technical Lead for Content and Delivery, Ahlan Simsim

The Ahlan Simsim early childhood development (ECD) initiative was launched in 2018 as a partnership between the IRC and Sesame Workshop with inaugural funding from the MacArthur Foundation and later the LEGO Foundation. It reached more than 4 million children and caregivers with ECD services and programs, and generated a library of high quality ECD content, and resource bank of impactful program models. Partnerships with Ministries of Education, Health and Social Development have resulted in co-designed ECD programs that are now embedded within government services.  

Ahlan Simsim seeks to reach children and families where they are with effective, scalable, and sustainable interventions to support child development, including NGO and government-delivered early education for children and support and training for caregivers using engaging multimedia content. Ahlan Simsim has developed and will continue to co-design and support partner-led interventions with key public and private stakeholders working across the many sectors that serve children and families, including health, protection, and livelihoods. For more information, please visit: https://www.rescue.org/ahlansimsim. 

In its next phase, the Ahlan Simsim initiative will expand and deepen its interventions to bring vital early learning and nurturing care to more children and families affected by crisis and conflict in the MENA region, with substantial new funding expected in July investing in Jordan, Lebanon and Syria, complemented by other smaller grants. The Ahlan Simsim initiative is supported by multiple funders and comprised of multiple grants and projects, with an overarching aim of supporting the youngest children and their caregivers with high quality impactful programs and resources. The IRC’s Ahlan Simsim manages and implements core regional ECD grants, and provides ECD technical support and guidance to country programs on additional country-specific grants.  

Reporting to the Project Lead for Ahlan Simsim, the Technical Lead for Content and Delivery (TLCD) for Ahlan Simsim will provide technical direction and leadership for the creation and implementation of high-quality ECD programming and content within the region, including oversight over the varied forms of program delivery including in-person, remote, direct and in partnership, and digital product development.

The TLCD will work in close collaboration with IRC’s Education Technical Unit and technology teams such as Signpost and Information Technology, and other relevant global, regional and country program functions such as partnership and monitoring, evaluation and learning.

The TLCD is responsible for three key objectives:

1.High-quality Content Development and Utilization: Oversee the technical deployment, adaptation and effective utilization of IRC’s existing ECD content, resources and materials and technical development of new content in the MENA region.

2.Program Delivery: Provide technical guidance and oversight for Ahlan Simsim ECD program design and implementation in the region, ensuring that programs are responsive and of high quality, evidence-based, cost-effective and scalable.

3.Digital Technology and Innovation: Ensure that programs and content reach children, families and service providers across a range of contexts through the most effective channels, leveraging digital technology products appropriately – whether integrated into other in-person or remote programming or stand-alone digital solutions.

RESPONSIBILITIES

1. High-quality Content Development and Utilization: Oversee the technical deployment, adaptation and effective utilization of IRC’s existing ECD content, resources and materials and technical development of new content in the MENA region.

• Oversee the curation of existing content and the adaptation of existing IRC-led content for child-facing programs (including preschool, and early learning programs) and caregiver-facing programs (including parenting programs, caregiver-support programs, and caregiver focused social media outreach), content for teachers, service providers and supervisors/coaches/trainers (including teacher training, ECD content integrated into primary healthcare services, etc.)
• In cases where new content is needed, develop and implement a clear strategy for development of new content along with testing, implementation and improvement in close collaboration with the Ahlan Simsim Project lead, country team focal points and the Director of ECD within the Education Technical Unit
• Ensure content is of consistent quality and aligned across delivery routes – in person, phone-based, via digital technology etc.
• Oversee processes ensuring all ECD content is culturally and linguistically relevant, and designed to enhance children’s learning outcomes in ways that are cost-effective and scalable
• Provide input and ECD technical guidance for Sesame Workshop-led media content, where relevant.

2. Program Delivery:Provide technical guidance and oversight for ECD program design and implementation in the region (utilizing in-person, hybrid and remote modalities including leveraging digital technology), and ensure that programs are responsive and of high quality, evidence-based, cost-effective and scalable.

• Work in collaboration with IRC’s Technical Advisor for ECD supporting the MENA region to establish detailed technical support plans for country-level implementation outlining defined roles and responsibilities
• Work with country teams to ensure content and program models are aligned with local or national standards for ECD and pre-primary education
• Lead collaboration with IRC’s ECD country program teams members to guide them in content adaptation, testing, development and deployment
• Ensure alignment with programmatic standards for program implementation, in line with the results from evidence reviews, contextual analyses and field testing
• Work with relevant internal and external technical staff to ensure appropriate, timely guidance is provided for multi-sectoral and integrated ECD program implementation and design
• Collaborate with internal and external technical experts to finalize guidance for gender equity standards and disability inclusion across ECD program models
• Provide training and ECD technical support for relevant country and regional staff and for partners
• Analyze data from country implementation to inform decision-making and report on key strategic metrics of success in ECD, in close collaboration with IRC’s Technical Advisor for ECD supporting MENA

• Ensure that the Ahlan Simsim Project Lead and relevant team members, including key focal points within the Education Technical Unit are aware of successes and challenges and provide regular updates.

3.Digital Technology and Innovation: Ensure that programs and content reach children, families and service providers across a range of contexts through the most effective channels, leveraging digital technology products appropriately – whether integrated into other in-person or remote programming or stand-alone digital solutions.

• Cultivate innovative thinking and solutions for the wider Ahlan Simsim team and country teams to reach children and families (including the most marginalized) in innovative ways. This includes – but is not limited to – digital technologies.

·Responsible for overseeing the ECD digital strategy and ensuring success of ECD digital projects. The portfolio includes a content management system and digitization of content, teacher mobile application (Kadr), child/caregiver mobile applications (Ziko), an automated messaging service (chatbot) mass messaging platform, and social media platforms (FamilyCornerIRC).

• Manage a Digital Products Team of three staff, including product development and social media management.
• Ensure alignment of Ahlan Simsim digital technology products with client needs and that digital products are integrated into other programming where feasible and where they meet identified needs and opportunities.
• Work closely with the ECD Partnerships, Policy, Advocacy and Communications Lead to cultivate strategic partnerships that leverage Ahlan Simsim’s innovative portfolio of program models and digital technology assets.
• Work in close collaboration with IRC’s Education Technical Unit and IT, including the Education Technology Advisor and global/regional IT focal points to share challenges, key learnings and ensure Ahlan Simsim is leveraging opportunities and insights from other Education Technology (EdTech) initiatives within the organization.

Cross-cutting: Growth, Representation and Project Management: Represent IRC as the regional ECD Technical Lead for Ahlan Simsim at strategic meetings and events; Work closely with the Project Lead and Lead for Partnerships, Policy, Advocacy and Communications to establish and strengthen productive and beneficial relationships with ECD-focused organizations and networks, technical experts, government agencies and donors within the region.

• Raise understanding and the profile of the Ahlan Simsim initiative and IRC’s ECD portfolio within the region, both internally and externally
• Represent and advance IRC’s profile externally in innovation and technology fora and events in the region
• Identify and participate in strategic forums in ECD that offer high value and returns for resources invested
• Stay abreast of the regional policy environment and identify critical entry points for IRC to influence polices to be able to achieve our ECD goals and outcomes
• In coordination with the Ahlan Simsim Project Lead, and relevant Sesame Workshop teams, establish purposeful regional partnerships – to improve the quality and reach of our programs and to reform policies in the sector
• Assist in the writing and development of proposals and budgets and engage with strategic donors
• Manage the Ahlan Simsim technical and digital technology projects and grants by maintaining workplans and spending plans and contributing to project implementation meetings to provide updates, identify challenges, and discuss solutions.

Key Working Relationships:

• Position Reports to: Project Lead, Ahlan Simsim
• Position Directly Supervises: Digital product development and management and social media management team of three; may supervise ECD technical staff and consultants as needed.
• Indirect/Technical Reporting: Director for ECD (IRC-HQ)

Other Internal and/or external contacts:

• ·Internal: Works closely with Technical Units, particularly ECD Director and MENA Technical Advisors and Regional Leads; Coordination with relevant global functions including those related to digital technology.

·External: Sesame Workshop; donors, international, national and local partners, community representatives.