Technical Lead – Higher Education Quality and Governance, USAID/Malawi, Youth Prosperity Through Agriculture Pathways

About Palladium:

Palladium is a global company working to design, develop and deliver positive impact on the lives and livelihoods of people around the globe; broaden access to health, water, power, and infrastructure; build enduring, sustainable, and transformative institutions and market systems to address global challenges; and conserve the natural world. We operate in over 90 countries and have a workforce of 4,000 talented, motivated, and diverse staff of all religions, races, languages, and gender identities.

This Proposal Opportunity:

Palladium is seeking a Technical Lead – Higher Education Quality and Governance for an anticipated USAID-funded agriculture higher education strengthening program expected to begin in 2024. The USAID/Malawi Youth Prosperity Through Agriculture Pathways Activity aims to increase Malawian youth’s contribution to the country’s economic growth. The activity will increase access to higher education with a specific focus on agriculture training, improve the quality, governance, and relevance of agriculture training institutions’ systems, and increase economic growth opportunities for graduates.

Under the supervision of the Chief of Party (COP) or Deputy Chief of Party (DCOP), the Technical Lead – Higher Education Quality and Governance will manage project objectives and activities related to improving the quality and governance of post-secondary agricultural education. The Technical Lead will guide activities that strengthen national and institutional higher education governance and management systems and improve the quality/relevance of practical outcome-based training and courses in agriculture. The Technical Lead will ensure the project remains on schedule with the approved workplan and meets project milestones and deliverables. They will liaise with key stakeholders, including youth, public and private higher education institutions, TVETs, the National Council for Higher Education, private sector employers and others. The Technical Lead will develop and compile quarterly and annual reports on relevant activities. This role requires previous experience working with higher education institutions in Malawi.

*This is a proposal position and is contingent upon award from USAID.*   

Primary Duties and Responsibilities:

• Provide technical leadership and oversight for Intermediate Result 2 activities. Intermediate Result 2 focuses on improving the quality and governance of post-secondary agricultural education
• Design, develop, and implement sustainable initiatives with local partners to update and strengthen post-secondary training and courses to align with labor market demand
• Support initiatives to strengthen national and institutional higher education governance and management systems, including accreditation, quality assurance and data management
• Ensure interventions reflect high technical quality and international best practices
• Direct and coordinate technical team to ensure that education quality and governance goals and objectives are met
• Ensure the sustainability of program activities
• Ensure strong collaboration with other government institutions, educational institutions, donor activities, private sector, and other implementing partners
• Support the development and review of project work plans and reports

Key Competencies Required:

• Experience engaging and supporting post-secondary educational institutions in Malawi, including TVETs, private higher education institutions, and universities
• Demonstrated understanding of the education system in Malawi and the governance challenges and opportunities the system faces
• Demonstrated creativity and willingness to test new innovative approaches
• Demonstrated commitment to working with and through local stakeholders to ensure sustainability
• Demonstrated knowledge and expertise in the implementation of projects with a focus on youth, education, and/or agriculture workforce development
• Strong leadership and communication skills
• Demonstrated ability to be flexible and respond to emerging opportunities and overcome barriers
• Attention to detail and ability to effectively and efficiently perform multiple tasks and balance competing priorities often within a required timeframe

Equity, Diversity & Inclusion – Palladium is committed to embedding equity, diversity, and inclusion into everything we do. We welcome applications from all sections of society and actively encourage diversity to drive innovation, creativity, success and good practice. We positively welcome and seek to ensure we achieve diversity in our workforce; and that all job applicants and employees receive equal and fair treatment regardless of their background or personal characteristics. These include: (but are not limited to) socio-economic background, age, race, gender identity and expression, religion, ethnicity, sexual orientation, disability, nationality, veteran, marital or Indigenous status.

Should you require any adjustments or accommodation to be made due to a disability or you are a neurodivergent individual or for any other circumstance, please email our team at accessibility@thepalladiumgroup.com and we will be in touch to discuss.

Safeguarding – We define Safeguarding as “the preventative action taken by Palladium to protect our people, clients and the communities we work with from harm”. We are committed to ensuring that all children and adults who come into contact with Palladium are treated with respect and are free from abuse.  All successful candidates will be subject to an enhanced selection process including safeguarding-focused interviews and a rigorous due diligence process.