[Consultancy] SCALE Learning Partner

Position title: SCALE Learning Partner

Position location: South Sudan

Reports to: Project Director, SCALE

Duration: 4 years (annual contracts, renewable)

Budget: $50,000 USD ($16,000 USD available for the first contract)

Start Date: 21st July 2026

Deadline End Date: 11th August 2026

Introduction 

WUSC is a Canadian global development organization working to catalyze positive education and economic outcomes for young people. We collaborate with a diverse network of partners, volunteers, students, schools, governments, and businesses who share our vision of a more inclusive, equitable world. Together, we foster youth-centered solutions that enable young people—particularly women and displaced populations—to thrive and belong. WUSC operates in 30 countries across Africa, Asia, the Middle East, Latin America and the Caribbean, and in Canada, delivering a diverse portfolio of development projects in collaboration with multilateral and bilateral donors.

Background to WUSC’s work in South Sudan

In South Sudan, WUSC is implementing the Strengthening Collaborative Action and Learning for Education (SCALE) project, funded by Global Affairs Canada (GAC). SCALE is a five-year initiative that aims to improve equitable access to quality education for adolescent girls and young women (AGYW) in South Sudan by addressing barriers to enrolment, retention, learning and transition. 

SCALE adopts a systems strengthening approach, recognizing that sustainable improvements in girls' education require coordinated changes across schools, communities, education institutions and policy environments. 

Alongside implementation, SCALE seeks to generate robust evidence on how change happens within education systems operating in fragile and conflict-affected contexts. The project therefore embeds a comprehensive learning agenda designed to:

• Strengthen adaptive management throughout implementation;
• Improve programme quality and effectiveness;
• Generate evidence on promising practices;
• Contribute to national policy dialogue;
• Support scaling of successful innovations; and,
• Contribute to the global evidence base on girls' education.

To support this ambition, WUSC is seeking an independent Learning Partner to lead the implementation of the project’s learning agenda.

Purpose of the Assignment 

The Learning Partner will work collaboratively with the SCALE team to design, implement, facilitate a learning system that enables continuous learning, adaptation and improvement throughout implementation. Rather than conducting isolated research studies, the Learning Partner will support an ongoing cycle of evidence generation, collective reflection, adaptive decision-making and knowledge mobilisation. 

The Learning Partner will bring technical expertise in research, learning and adaptive management to help answer the project's priority learning questions, facilitate reflection, and translate evidence into practical recommendations for programme implementation and policy influence.

The project's priority learning themes and indicative research questions are provided in Annex 1.

Objectives  

The Learning Partner will work collaboratively with the SCALE team (WUSC and its partners) to:

• Refine and operationalise the project's learning agenda to align with changing implementation contexts.
• Design and implement a robust, contextually appropriate learning approach.
• Generate actionable evidence that informs programme adaptation.
• Centre the experiences and perspectives of adolescent girls within learning activities.
• Produce accessible learning products for a range of audiences.
• Support knowledge sharing and evidence uptake within the consortium and across the education sector.

Scope of Work 

The Learning Partner will be expected to undertake the following activities:

A: Inception and Learning Design 

The Learning Partner will:

• Review the draft learning agenda.
• Refine research questions where appropriate.
• Co-develop an overarching learning strategy and implementation plan.
• Recommend methodologies that are appropriate to the South Sudan context & available resources.
• Develop research protocols and data collection tools.
• Advise on ethical considerations and safeguarding requirements.

B: Learning and Evidence Generation 

Working collaboratively with the SCALE team (WUSC and its partners), the Learning Partner will:

• Design and undertake agreed learning activities.
• Lead targeted qualitative and mixed-methods research.
• Analyse evidence from primary research alongside routine monitoring data and other available evidence.
• Identify emerging lessons and implications for programme implementation.

C: Adaptive Learning 

The Learning Partner will facilitate processes that enable learning to inform implementation throughout the project.

This may include:

• Periodic learning reviews;
• Reflection workshops;
• Sense-making sessions;
• Documentation of programme adaptations; 
• Support for evidence-informed decision-making;
• Support post-adaptation monitoring and course-correction tracking.

D: Knowledge Management and Uptake 

The Learning Partner will synthesise findings into accessible products tailored to different audiences.

Indicative products may include:

• Learning briefs
• Policy briefs
• Case studies
• Technical guidance notes
• Presentations
• Research reports
• Communications materials

The Learning Partner should advise on the most appropriate suite of products to maximise uptake and influence.

E: Capacity Strengthening 

Where appropriate, the Learning Partner will strengthen the SCALE team’s capacity to generate, interpret and use evidence through mentoring, joint analysis and facilitated reflection.

Approach

The SCALE team has identified priority learning themes and questions (Annex 1); however, it does not wish to prescribe the methodological approach.

The methodologies included within the learning framework are intended as illustrative examples only. Applicants are encouraged to propose innovative and contextually appropriate approaches that best address the learning questions while demonstrating methodological rigour and value for money.

The consortium particularly welcomes approaches that:

• centre adolescent girls' voices and lived experiences;
• use participatory and locally led research methods;
• integrate learning into programme implementation;
• are feasible within fragile and conflict-affected settings;
• generate practical recommendations for programme adaptation and policy influence.

Deliverables

Deliverables will be jointly agreed during the inception phase. The Learning Partner will be expected to deliver, at a minimum:

• Inception Report, including refined learning approach and workplan.
• Research protocols and tools.
• Periodic learning briefs.
• Facilitation of learning and reflection workshops including the documentation of key action points. 
• Participant feedback and validation reports demonstrating how findings were shared back with and verified by adolescent girls and local communities. 
• Thematic learning outputs (e.g., case studies, policy briefs ect) 
• Program Adaptation Tracker to document, monitor, and report on all implementation course corrections 
• Final synthesis report.

Applicants are encouraged to propose any additional deliverables that would strengthen learning uptake and influence.

Required Expertise

The Learning Partner should demonstrate:

• Experience delivering learning partnerships for complex development programmes, including within South Sudan.
• Expertise in girls' education, gender equality and inclusive education systems.
• Strong qualitative and mixed-methods research expertise.
• Experience facilitating adaptive management and organisational learning.
• Strong knowledge of translation and communications skills.
• Strong knowledge of Conflict sensitive MEL programming (Do No Harm)
• Experience working in fragile and conflict-affected contexts; experience in South Sudan is highly desirable.
• Demonstrated commitment to ethical research and safeguarding.

Applications

Interested applicants are invited to submit the following by 11th August 2026 to WUSC Bamboo HR system using this page

1. Technical proposal outlining the proposed approach and methodology;
2. Financial proposal detailing all associated costs. The financial proposal should allocate costs per year, and show reimbursable costs and personnel costs; 
3. Evidence of relevant experience in similar assignments, including in South Sudan.

WUSC’s activities seek to balance inequities and create sustainable development around the globe; the work ethic of our staff, volunteers, representatives and partners shall correspond to the values and mission of the organization. WUSC promotes responsibility, respect, honesty, and professional excellence and we will not tolerate harassment, coercion, sexual exploitation or abuse of any form. Successful applicants will be required to undertake an enhanced criminal record check where appropriate.

WUSC is an equal opportunity employer. We welcome and encourage applications from people with disabilities. Only those candidates selected for an interview will be contacted. No telephone calls please.

Annex 1