Officer, Policy & Partnership 

Monrovia, Liberia 

Bridge Liberia

In 2016, Liberia’s President and its Ministry of Education announced Partnership Schools for Liberia (PSL), an innovative public private partnership designed to transform the primary public education system. Eight education providers - with proven track records in delivering high-quality education - were paired with public primary schools across Liberia; while teachers remained on the Government payroll. After a change of  national Government, PSL became the Liberian Education Advancement Programme (LEAP). 

LEAP is now in its sixth year; supporting 312 schools overall across the country; within that we support 60,800 students. Our schools are based in some of the most remote counties, such as Maryland in the south-east.

Government teachers have been re-trained, supported and equipped to succeed in the classroom. Four Independent Studies and Randomised Control Trials have  shown the efficacy of the programme. For us there was a statistically significant improvement in learning outcomes.  In a gold standard RCT, students supported in our programme were found to benefit by an equivalent of 2.5 years more of learning in just 3 years.

LEAP was designed to be self-sustaining once the Ministry of Education raises its education budget to $100 a child per year; until that moment it remains reliant on philanthropic support.

Today, we work across the country, in all of Liberia’s 15 counties, to ensure that all children have access to a high quality education and that Sustainable Development Goal 4 focussed on Quality Education becomes a reality for all children in Liberia. 

You will join a group of dynamic and passionate Liberians taking concrete action to help address the education crisis in Liberia and ensure a better future for the children of Liberia.

Policy & Partnership Department

The Policy & Partnerships team (P&P) leads our movement to transform the lives of millions of children through education. We lead pioneering efforts to revitalise Government-led delivery of education across the world. We engage with visionary political and Government leadership to help shape policy, strengthen delivery and impact complex education systems through public private partnerships..

About the Role

As the Officer, Policy & Partnerships, you will help the programme to handle a wide range of operational  and administrative tasks. You are a highly resourceful team-player, who is comfortable working in a complex environment, sometimes under pressure, while remaining flexible, proactive, and efficient. You possess a high degree of self-confidence and executive presence, exercise discretion and diplomacy in all stakeholder interactions, have the ability to proactively anticipate and manage challenges, be a self-starter with strong abilities to manage multiple responsibilities. You will need to remain flexible to changes in schedule and work hours (including flexibility to work unconventional hours, as may occasionally be required). You have strong written and verbal communication, administrative, and organizational skills.  You will report to the Director, P&P, supporting work across the department..

What You Will Do

• Support Policy & Partnerships team – Support with  administrative and cross-functional activities include project management and coordination, facilitating service requests with Bridge Liberia teams and vendors, calendar and mailbox management, travel and transport arrangements, time and expense management, meeting coordination, stakeholder liaising, and providing back-up support for other members of the team both internal and externally including legislators, Members of Parliament, Local Government Officials, Ministry officials, etc.
• Stakeholder mapping and engagement – Manage broader strategic stakeholder management with NGO/donor/think tank/academic and other important 'influencers'. Both in the hopes of obtaining material support for our communities and also managing our broader relations/standing with this important community;
• Support strategy drive – Expected strategic activities include conducting research, liaising and working with teams across the Policy and Partnerships team to produce quality deliverables, acting as rapporteur and co-ordinator for high-level /important meetings especially those involving diverse external stakeholders/parties and assisting to build and maintain key relationships that are a priority for Bridge Liberia Programs.
• Support the P&P management  to establish and implement short- and long-range goals, objectives, policies and operating procedures for government and stakeholder relations; monitor and evaluate program effectiveness; and effect changes required for improvement.

What You Should Have

• Professional working experience in a similar area (minimum 3 years).
• Experience at fast-paced organizations (additional experience in/with public institutions would be an advantage).
• A degree from an accredited College or University.
• Excellent verbal and superior writing and report presentation skills.
• A strong proficiency with Calendars, Document management, Spreadsheets and Analyses. 
• Understands the complexities of working with people in multiple locations (both in-person and virtually).
• Can plan and conduct complex and sensitive administrative and operational duties.
• Experience working in or with government agencies, is preferred.

You’re also

• A detailed doer – You have a track record of getting things done. You’re organized and responsive. You take ownership of every idea you touch and execute it to a fine level of detail, setting targets, engaging others, and doing whatever it takes to get the job done. You can multi-task dozens of such projects at once and never lose sight of the details. Likely, you have some experience in a start-up or other rapid-growth company.
• A networking mastermind – You excel at meeting new people and turning them into advocates.  You communicate in a clear, conscientious, and effective way in both written and oral speech. You can influence strangers in the course of a single conversation. Allies and colleagues will go to bat for your ideas. You have an existing network from prior experience in the country, preferably in the regulatory, education, or business sectors.
• A creative problem-solver – Growing any business from scratch comes with massive and constant challenges. On top of that, Bridge works in often fragile, sometimes volatile low-resource communities and with complex government systems. You need to be flexible and ready to get everything done effectively, quickly, and affordably with the materials at hand. 
• A relentless advocate – The children we serve and teachers we empower never leave your mind. You know them, get them, have shared a meal with them (or would be happy to in the future). You would never shrink back from shaking a parent’s hand or picking up a crying child, no matter what the person was wearing or looked like. Every decision you make considers their benefit, experience, and value.
• A malleable learner – You believe you can always do better. You welcome constructive criticism and provide it freely to others. You know you only get better tomorrow when others point out where you’ve missed things or failed today.
• A data-driven decision-maker – When making decisions, you don’t rely on your intuition alone. You collect data, you analyze it and make decisions with clear justifications.
• A curious investigator – You ask why a lot. You don’t just take what you see and accept it. You wonder why it is that way, and are aware that the world we see is created by human choices and actions – and it could be different. You wonder, and see the world as wonderful even when you want to change a part of it that is unjust.