INOVASI 3 - Program Officer (Consultant)

 

Background of The Project:
Indonesia’s Vision 2045 sets the goal for Indonesia to transition from a resource-based economy towards an advanced service, technology, and knowledge-based economy by the centenary of its independence (2045). The 2025-2045 National Long Term Development Plan emphasises the urgency of Indonesia’s human resource development to fully realise 2045 goals.

Faced however with persistent low student performance that is emblematic of a learning crisis, significant improvement in student learning will be required to reach Indonesia’s 2045 goals. Government of Indonesia (GoI) has started an ambitious program of education reforms. Successive education ministers have set out to modernise the education system through reforming the national curriculum and teaching and assessment approaches, to produce citizens with strong foundational skills, open minds, and inclusive values.

Australia is a long-term supporter of the Indonesian basic education sector, with continuous investments supporting education quality improvements for the past two decades, including through the INOVASI program (Phase 1 2016-2020; Phase 2 2020-2023) that focused on supporting acquisition of literacy and numeracy foundational skills in early grades classrooms; exploring local problems and solutions; and generating evidence to inform government policy development and practices.

This third phase of INOVASI (2024-2027) builds upon the existing program’s approach and lessons learned and takes the focus on the development of foundational skills through to the end of the primary grades. Phase 3 will engage with priority issues of Australia’s development policy: gender equality, effective inclusion of children with a disability, responses to the climate change challenge in education. It will focus on the challenge of policy implementation and the gaps that exist between national policies and practices at district and school levels and use the well attested-success of INOVASI’s local problem-based approach to continuously support policy development for effective fit between policy and implementation context.

INOVASI Phase 3 is implemented in 25 districts and cities across Indonesia, in the provinces of West Nusa Tenggara, East Nusa Tenggara, North Kalimantan, East Java, West Java, and Maluku. The program also works in Ibu Kota Nusantara (IKN)

The Program is managed by Palladium on behalf of the Government of Australia through the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT).

2.     Purpose of the Position: 
The Program Officer Consultant assists and supports INOVASI program activities, including assisting leadership team, senior management members and advisers, in carrying out day to day activities, as well as assisting program teams in the area of program support, administration and activity implementation. In addition, the Program Officer serves as liaison officer with GoI counterparts, such MOECRT and MoRA. He/she works closely and collaboratively with other program support and operations team members and coordinates with other program technical team members and external parties as needed. The position is based in INOVASI office in Jakarta and may be required to work from INOVASI offices in MoECRT or MoRA when necessary
Duties: Under the direct supervision of the Activity Coordinator, and in coordination with other program support and operations team members, the Program Officer Consultant will:

Coordinate and serve as liaison officer between INOVASI and MoECRT and MORA key counterparts, as assigned by INOVASI Head of Operations and Activity Coordinator. The position may be required to work at times from INOVASI offices in MoECRT or MoRA if needed. Keep the leadership, senior management and program teams updated about important commitments and developments with the key GoI counterparts and .As assigned by Activity Coordinator, complete a broad variety of secretarial and administrative tasks for leadership team and senior management members and advisers, including INOVASI counterparts when needed:Managing the calendar of appointments and assist in organising and coordinating meeting agenda between the leadership team, management team, strategic advisers and visiting consultants, MoECRT, MoRA and DFAT;Composing and preparing correspondences, including some that may be be confidential;Arranging complex and detailed travel plans, itineraries, and agendas;Compiling documents for travel-related meetings;Preparing presentation materials, briefs and memos on key programmatic issues;Tracking, maintaining and keeping all program documents and reference materials;Managing process of submitting and receiving approval requests, travel reimbursements, and expense claims;Process documents with MoECRT, MoRA and GoI counterparts and follow up with MoECRT and MoRA for signing or approving such documents, including program report, letter requests, or BAST reports;Prepare notes and minutes of meetings, edit and finalise the draft for circulation to the meeting participants and follow up on action points as appropriate.As part of program support team, work closely with other Program Officers, other members from the operations and program teams to ensure that all program activity arrangements are fully supported and in compliance with Palladium and DFAT regulations and policies; as well as be prepared to support other members.Support INOVASI team in planning and coordinating program and logistical aspects of program activities and workshops such as all-staff meetings, including but not limited to the development of terms of reference, travel plans, travel itineraries and agendas; reservation of flights and accommodations; resource person approvals, datasheets and payment claims; short term personnel  work orders and payment claims;  travel requests; budget preparation; accommodation and local transport; workshop agendas, and invitations and follow up on confirmation of participation of resource persons.Ensure all payments made to government official resource persons as part of program implementation are correct and follow the relevant GoI regulations and INOVASI Ways of Working with Government.Serve as liaison point between the Jakarta-based and provincial-based teams when required, ensuring smooth flow of communication and clear information.When required, provide logistics and operational support to local and international visiting consultants and program visitors, including travel itineraries and agenda; reservation of flights, accommodation and local transport; travel request; and briefing package;When required and assigned by Head of Operations, provide operational and program implementation support to INOVASI provinces, including traveling to INOVASI provinces and districts to support provincial teams when needed.When required, process visas for long term expatriate employees, in coordination with relevant government ministries, and manage the visa tracking sheet to ensure all necessary visas and permits are approved and obtained before the expiration dates;When required, assist in administrative office functions including program travel, accommodation bookings, transport, catering and international travel;When required, support the partnerships and grants team in corresponding with grantees, processing grantee documentations, including conducting due diligence on grantee administrative and implementation documents and procedures;When needed, support other operations units in ensuring accurate and efficient management of correspondence, program documents including finance and procurement documents, invitations, files, records and databases of contacts in relation to various counterparts, government officials and consultants;When required, and in collaboration with the Procurement and Grants Specialist, support the procurement of goods and/or services related to events with any external parties, such as workshop and meetings, including but not limited to contact with catering, event organizer, and other vendors involved;Follow established operational processes and procedures in accordance with relevant Palladium and DFAT requirements and principles, including Commonwealth Procurement Rules, Value for Money, financial management, accounting, fraud control and audit requirementsProvide training to INOVASI staff or to INOVASI partners when required on areas related to program implementation support, including on-the-job trainingLiaise with provincial and program teams to support the development of monthly budget forecasts. Review budget forecasts provided by provincial, program and operational teams and compile them in the INOVASI budget template.Liaise with and provide input to the program teams when required in relation to accuracy of forecast figures and estimations. Seek clarifications on budget forecasts and follow up with program team to adjust budget forecasting when needed to ensure budget forecasts are realistic.Support the Head of Operations in reviewing program activity budgets and PACs when needed, and provide feedback to provincial and program team on costing if required. Provide feedback on activity budgets to support budget authorisations by Head of Operations.Provide training to INOVASI staff or to INOVASI partners when required, including on-the-job training, to support INOVASI staff and partners in development of budget estimations and tracking of program implementation.Other duties as may reasonably be required by the Activity Coordinator and Head of Operations, consistent with the incumbent’s qualifications and experience.

3.     Duration of the contract/Timeline:
The duration of the contract is one year with maximum 180 of billable workdays, with a possible of extension subject to satisfactory performance assessment.
Qualifications and Experience: The Program Officer Consultant will possess the following qualifications and experience:

Holds a Bachelor’s Degree (S1) in a field relevant to the position.Brings a minimum of five years' experience in office management, operations, and/or administration, particularly within the support functions of a large-scale international development organization.Demonstrates the ability to work effectively both independently and as part of a team.Possesses advanced proficiency in Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and web browsing tools.Exhibits excellent oral and written communication abilities.Capable of operating under pressure and with minimal supervision.Highly self-motivated with the agility to respond to rapidly changing demands.Exceptionally organized, with a keen attention to detail and the ability to follow through.Skilled in multitasking, setting priorities, and meeting deadlines efficiently.Strong interpersonal skills, capable of effective interaction in a cross-cultural context.Fluent in Bahasa Indonesia (both written and spoken). Proficiency in English is preferred.

4.  Working with children
Is this position likely to come into contact with children?               ☒ Yes             ☐  No

Application closes on Tue, 25 Feb at 23:59 Jakarta Time

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.

Women are encouraged to apply