The Education Practice at Oxford Policy Management is currently seeking a Consultant (Education Finance & Planning) on a permanent basis. The Education practice manages and develops education sector analysis and planning; education systems; public finance management; costing and cost-effectiveness analysis; and monitoring and evaluation in education. The position can be located in any of the following OPM offices: United Kingdom, Kenya, Tanzania or New Delhi, and will involve occasional international travel as required for projects.

 We are an international development consultancy working to improve lives through sustainable policy change in low- and middle-income countries. Our vision is for fair public policy that benefits both people and the planet. Through our global network of offices, we work in partnership with national stakeholders and decision makers to research, design, implement and evaluate impactful public policy. We draw on our local and international sector experts to provide the very best evidence-based support. We deliver projects with expert knowledge and experience and can be relied upon for excellence in all aspects of project delivery. We work collaboratively, with ambition, to help deliver impactful public policy that will bring about lasting change. The department oversees the management and technical delivery of education consultancy projects in the region and globally; supporting strategic direction and business development.

The successful candidate will report to the leader of the Education finance and planning hub. The successful candidate will be eager to contribute to (and, in some cases, lead) the technical delivery of education consultancy projects, including project management, acquisition and sharing technical learning across projects in Education. The candidate will have a strong understanding of public education systems and will have the opportunity to work on a range of education planning and financing reform across low- and middle-income countries, with a focus on sub-Saharan Africa.

The successful candidate will manage projects (or project workstreams) to achieve objectives for project impact and quality, business development, and learning and external influencing. Establishing and managing relationships with multiple clients and building work with new clients will be an important part of this role.

As a Consultant (Education Finance & Planning) at OPM you will:

• Hub development: Work with the Education finance and planning hub lead to expand OPM’s portfolio of education finance, planning and systems reform projects and contribute to refining the hub’s strategy.

• Technical contributions: Deliver high quality technical work on projects in the hub and the practice. This includes the following areas (not exhaustive):
  • Data and evidence-based advocacy: contribute substantially to the design and delivery of diagnostic studies for strengthening public financing systems in education such as budget analysis, fiscal space analysis, public expenditure reviews and public expenditure tracking surveys.
  • Sector planning and design: provide analytical support in the development of national and sub-national education sector analysis and education sector plans.
  • Systems reform: analyse government budgeting and planning systems and processes and identify opportunities to prioritize efficient financing of education.  
  • Capacity building and training: develop content and deliver training to government and donor partners on improving education planning and financing.
  • Economies in education: undertake costing and cost-effectiveness studies of education interventions.

• Project Management: Lead or manage key education projects or projects workstreams and deliver them to high standards within planned timelines and budget.
• Business Development: Define, develop, and deliver tenders and business opportunities for key clients in line with practice acquisition and diversification targets.
• Influencing: Represent OPM and the education practice externally on key policy questions, through writing, presenting, discussing, hosting roundtables, or meetings.

Key qualifications/experience/skills/behaviours:

Technical qualifications and capabilities:

• Qualification: Minimum of a master’s degree in a relevant discipline such as economics, public administration, statistics, development studies, or a related field. Any professional qualifications in finance will be an added advantage.
• Experience: Minimum of 5 years’ professional experience in development consulting, of which at least 2 years in areas of public finance management, sector planning or systems strengthening.
• Costing, Development Finance and Planning skills: Experience in analysis of development statistics, macroeconomic data and budget data in low- and middle-income countries. Practical experience in any of the following areas is preferred - costing and cost-effectiveness studies, education sector analysis, education sector plans. Experience of working embedded in government to support in planning, budgeting and systems strengthening is an added advantage.
• Business development: Experience of contributing to tenders and business development in a relevant consulting environment for key clients e.g. FCDO, USAID, UN, EU, Foundations. Strong sector and market knowledge of key education funders and trends in education finance and sector planning is preferred.
• Communication: Excellent written and oral communication skills, with high levels of attentiveness to diverse audiences; ability to communicate complex technical issues to diverse audiences in a clear and simple manner
• Language: Ability to work in English (essential), and preferably at least one relevant foreign language

Behavioural capabilities:

• Highly motivated and self-driven, with a keen interest to drive impact in the education sector.
• Excellent attention to detail and analytical rigour, with a problem-solving mindset
• Switch comfortably between detail and the bigger picture
• Good at prioritising changing and competing demands and tasks, while consistently delivering quality work
• Excellent problem solving, organising and management skills.
• Strong interpersonal and communication skills; collaborative and constructive approach to working with others, builds effective relationships internally and externally.

Desired qualifications/experience:

• Client management (preferred): Experience of directly working with senior donor and government counterparts in delivering technical work; experience of leading technical and commercial discussions with senior government officials and staff of international aid agencies.

• • Management experience (preferred): Demonstrated project and people management experience, within a consulting environment; Experience in managing budgets and financial management of projects is preferred.

• We enable colleagues’ capacity to grow professionally through enhanced learning resources, opportunities to work cross functionally, and space to engage with a range of internal and external industry events. 
• Our non-hierarchical culture values support, collaboration, intellectual curiosity, and a rich diversity of perspectives.
• We provide an exceptionally generous annual leave entitlement and a hybrid working model to encourage and enable healthy work/life balance.
• Wellbeing resources including a global Employee Assistance Programme and access to the UnMind app.

We are strengthened by the diversity of colleagues across our global business and are committed to being an equal opportunities employer, promoting a diverse and inclusive workplace for all. Our recruitment practices reflect our ambition to make the international development sector more inclusive and firm belief that our work delivers the best outcomes when we actively include a diversity of perspectives and experiences. 

If you share our vision for fair public policy that benefits both people and planet, we would love to hear from you. Please submit your application through our careers’ site by the closing date OR We review and interview applicants on a rolling basis and encourage you to apply by way of CV via our careers site at the earliest. We may close this advertisement before the published closing date, should a suitable candidate be identified.

Unfortunately, we are unable to provide visa sponsorship for this role and candidates must have a pre-existing right to work in country for their application to be considered.

Oxford Policy Management is committed to promoting equity, diversity, and inclusion at every level of the business.