Consultant for providing technical support to Tinkering with Tech initiative

Consultant for providing technical support to Tinkering with Tech initiative This role is offered by UNICEF to support the scale‑up of the Tinkering with Tech (TwT) project in Montenegro. Job no: Contract type: Consultant Duty Station: Podgorica Level: Consultancy Location: Montenegro Categories: Education UNICEF works in some of the world’s toughest places, to reach the world’s most disadvantaged children. We help them defend their rights, save their lives, and fulfil their potential. Across 190 countries and territories, we work for every child, everywhere, every day, to build a better world for everyone. And we never give up. For every child, quality education. In close cooperation with partner institutions and international organizations, UNICEF initiated and supported systemic and comprehensive reforms of the education system. Key reform initiatives include a comprehensive Education Reform Strategy (2025‑2035), a teacher professional development system assessment, and an Education Digitalisation Strategy (2022‑2027). This includes the integration of digital tools and technologies in education. The flagship initiative in digital education is the Tinkering with Tech program, conducted in partnership with UNICEF Learning Innovation Hub, Micro Bit Foundation, and the Global Office of Research and Foresight (Innocenti). The TwT initiative aims to develop key 21st‑century skills among students and spark interest in STEM through playful interaction with micro:bit devices, fostering creativity, collaboration, problem‑solving, and innovation through hands‑on interdisciplinary learning. In 2024, the Bureau for Education, with support from UNICEF, successfully implemented the pilot phase of TwT in Montenegro. The pilot, acknowledged by the Learning Innovation Hub among four participating countries globally, included 12 primary schools, 23 teachers, and 549 fifth‑grade students. Teachers received face‑to‑face training and continuous mentoring through a Community of Practice hosted on Microsoft Teams. Students designed projects addressing climate action and sustainable cities, culminating in a Grand Challenge event. Building on this success, the Tinkering with Tech project will be expanded to include more schools, teachers, and students during 2025/26 to ensure sustained implementation of quality digital solutions as part of the national Education Digitalisation Strategy. Key Activities Support the Bureau for Education in developing a transparent process for selecting additional schools in all three regions of Montenegro, including readiness checks and briefing schools on expectations, timelines, and support channels. Coordinate among partner institutions and organizations (UNICEF‑BES‑Learning Innovation Hub‑Micro Bit Foundation‑schools). Maintain regular communication with the Learning Innovation Hub and provide ongoing support to the UNICEF Country Office team and the Bureau for Education. Ensure pedagogical alignment and quality; coordinate translation/localisation and deliver bilingual (MNE/ENG) files ready for print and digital. Prepare reference briefs for schools on design thinking, micro:bit integration, and safe/ethical use of technology/AI. Co‑plan and facilitate a preparatory meeting with representatives of participating schools; capture decisions and next steps in joint notes. Support the organisation of the National Tinkering withTech Launch, including participant roster, invitations, agenda, speaker briefs, and run‑of‑show; develop and deliver relevant project presentations. Support school leadership teams in all selected schools to embed Tinkering with Tech initiative into school year annual planning and Continuous Professional Development plans. Co‑design and co‑deliver a practical teacher training (3‑day trainings for two groups of teachers), along with international and BES trainers; support development of training materials, hands‑on activities, and evidence of learning for accreditation. Prepare set of accreditation files for the training certification at the national level. Plan, set up and administer an online Community of Practice with BES focal points through structured channels, resource library, peer demo lessons, regular Q&A/office hours; facilitate regular online meetings and maintain other means of synchronous and asynchronous communication, with regular detailed reports prepared for BES, UNICEF and Learning Innovation Hub. Provide ongoing support to teachers by organising and facilitating joint in‑person meetings at the BES premises. Plan and conduct scheduled joint school support visits with the BES focal point for all participating schools (at least 22 schools), including meetings with school principals, classroom observations, and teacher coaching sessions. Develop and use shared classroom activity observation and teacher coaching tool and provide feedback summaries to teachers and principals. Provide technical and methodological support to teachers in 22 schools (expected 66 teachers) through various online and offline channels to introduce design thinking and basic programming concepts, and promote effective classroom use of micro:bit devices. Administer and configure the UNICEF Montenegro instance of the Learning Passport Platform for the TwT initiative; host TwT content, convert and upload core materials, administer basic course settings, enrolment, and certificates; share monthly usage snapshots with BES and UNICEF. Maintain a shared monitoring & learning dashboard (training completion, Community of Practice engagement, visit notes) and regularly propose improvements. Support the research component (contextualise survey instruments, coordinate with schools, schedule data collection, assist the research agency on logistics/quality, review the draft assessment), ensuring consent and data‑protection standards. Co‑organise the Final Event/Grand Challenge with BES; develop a detailed event program, agenda, participant roster, and invitations, and provide guidance and support to schools in preparing student project presentations that showcase their results. Design and prepare certificate templates for teachers, students, and schools, a post‑event report for BES and UNICEF, and a promotional package for BES’s social media channels. Project Duration 1 December 2025 – 30 June 2026 (105 working days over a seven‑month implementation period). Task/Milestone Deliverables & Output Timeline Project design, selection process criteria, project launch and alignment with school‑based annual planning : Selection criteria developed and process implementation note prepared; internal readiness‑check template; online school briefings. Pedagogical alignment and quality check: bilingual (MNE/ENG) trainer guide, handouts & slides; terminology list prepared. Development of reference brief on design thinking, micro:bit integration, safe/ethical AI in line with UNICEF recommendations. Preparatory meeting for the launch and National Launch organisation; event agenda and detailed plan developed; project presentation prepared. Developed guidance note for school annual/CPD plans. By 15 December 2025 (7 days): Teacher training; design, accreditation & delivery support – Finalised 3‑day teacher training program, agenda and materials; set of accreditation files for training certification prepared; teacher training delivery along with international experts; report prepared from two 3‑day training sessions with specific guidance for further support teachers. By 25 December 2025 (15 days): Community of Practice (CoP) establishment and facilitation – MS Teams Community of Practice, with structured channels, document library, and discussion space established and moderated; at least 14 weekly maintenance and update of CoP, including various types of asynchronous and synchronous communication constantly maintained and facilitated; 7 bi‑weekly online Teams meetings prepared and facilitated, with detailed reports prepared for BES, UNICEF and Learning Innovation Hub. By 30 April 2026 (15 days): School support visits and meetings – Observation/coaching tool for school visits created; at least 22 school visits (meeting with school principal, class observations and coaching sessions with technical (micro:bit and basics of programming) and methodological support, with reports prepared for each visit; planning, organising and facilitating two joint meetings with teachers at BES premises. By 1 May 2026 (25 days): Research support – Coordinate data collection with research agency; support to instruments development and contextualisation; ensure communication with school, teachers and parents, consent & quality assurance (documented). By 5 May 2026 (5 days): Final event (Grand Challenge) – Detailed event program and agenda developed; support to schools on student project presentations preparations (3‑min videos) prepared for sharing; schools’ showcase guidance created; preparation of the presentation of project results; certificate templates created for teachers, students and schools; post‑event report prepared for BES and UNICEF; promotional package for BES’s social media created. By 20 May 2026 (6 days): Learning Passport Platform (Digionica) administration and adoption for the TwT initiative – Learning path/dedicated space for the TwT initiative configured on the Country Office Learning Passport instance; capacity‑building session for teachers conducted on the use of Digital School platform services; three learning courses created and fully managed, including enrolment and certificate issuance; seven monthly analytical reports produced on the use of Digital School platform courses related to the TwT initiative. By 1 June 2026 (17 days): Overall quality assurance for implementation of the TwT initiative and final report (approved and accepted by UNICEF) – Maintained project action/risk tracker (updated continuously); coordination of partners (UNICEF–BES–LIH–MBF): bi‑weekly coordination notes (at least 10); final report delivered. By 20 June 2026 (15 days): (Completion milestone; no additional deliverables listed). Education University degree in social sciences. An advanced university degree (Master’s or higher) will be considered an advantage. Certified teacher trainer. Experience A minimum of 15 years of relevant professional work experience in the education sector. In‑depth knowledge of the Montenegrin education system. Proven experience in teaching, classroom observation and mentoring in primary or secondary schools. Experience in coordinating multi‑stakeholder projects and maintaining effective communication among education partners and institutions. Experience in administration and moderation of the Learning Passport Platform or similar online learning systems. Expertise in providing methodological and technical support to teachers, particularly in the areas of digital learning, coding, and micro:bit‑based classroom practice. Proven experience in establishing or moderating online teacher communities of practice. Experience in designing, facilitating, and evaluating teacher training and professional learning activities. Experience in educational or social research, including the development, piloting, and contextualization of research instruments, and proven experience in coordinating field data collection in school settings. Excellent organizational and facilitation skills required. Excellent knowledge of English and Montenegrin, including writing and presentation skills. Previous work experience with UN/UNICEF or other international organizations will be considered an advantage. Language Fluency in Montenegrin and English are required. Other Excellent writing skills, presentation skills, strong strategic and analytical skills. Ability to work with different stakeholders. Demonstrates tact and a high sense of responsibility and discretion. Demonstrates integrity and high ethical standards. Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability. The consultant must have proof that they possess a teacher trainer certificate in one or more of the following areas of relevance to the project: digital education, civic education. Payment Schedule The payments will be made upon successful completion of the deliverables 2, 3, 6 and 8, submission of invoices as per above delivery schedule. All deliverables should be produced in English and final product in both local and English language. UNICEF reserves the right to withhold all or a portion of payment if performance is unsatisfactory, if work/outputs is incomplete, not delivered or for failure to meet deadlines. Mandatory E‑learning Ethics and Integrity at UNICEF Prevention of Sexual Harassment and Abuse of Authority (PSEAA) Prevention of Sexual Exploitation Abuse (PSEA) General Information Security Awareness Course (before travel) Fraud Awareness (within 30 days after contract signature) Qualifications & Evaluation Criteria Technical criteria – Technical evaluation process / Maximum points: 70Desk review of CVs – 75 % of total evaluation – max. 75 points• Education: 15 points• Previous experience: 50 points• CV, Motivation/cover letter, other: 10 points Financial criteria – maximum points: 25Applicants submit a lump‑sum financial proposal; scores calculated by lowest offer / financial offer of the candidate x 25. Advertised 14 Oct 2025 Central European Daylight Time Deadline 28 Oct 2025 Central European Standard Time Seniority level Entry level Employment type Full‑time Job function Information Technology Industries: Non‑profit Organizations #J-18808-Ljbffr