Senior Associate, Literacy Field

Senior Associate, Literacy Field

Room to Read

Rajasthan, India

Position Overview:

The Senior Associate, Literacy Field leads the planning and execution for all work related to implementing Room to Read’s Literacy program at the field level and provides strategic, technical and management support. They will oversee the quality of implementation, coordination, development and reporting of the Literacy program for a set of schools. They would identify quality issues related to program design and management and discuss them with the country office, keeping supervisor in loop and provide solutions at the field level. They would be the point person with respect to teacher training and capacity building of program staff at the state level. They will report to the Officer- Literacy Field and will have dotted reporting to the Instruction Design and Technical Support (IDTS) unit at the country level. This position will involve frequent travel to field locations as well as regular interaction with education officials, school administrators, teachers and students. They would serve as the main point of contact for the school and local government officials and coordinate the work of other RtR staff in their jurisdiction.

Roles & Responsibilities:

Program Understanding:

• Have an excellent understanding of Room to Read’s Literacy program design and the ability to defend the program in various forums;
• Good awareness of literacy programs, their design and strategies operating in project region;
• Oversee the quality of program implementation and adherence to program guidelines for the set of schools under his/her jurisdiction.

Technical Assistance and Advocacy:

• Serve as a technical resource at the state/district level and participate proactively in technical assistance discussions. Attend government meetings, discussions and committees on literacy and use those forums to advocate for enabling policies and government orders in support of RtR literacy program. Represent Room to Read in different forums and advocate the importance of reading and need for libraries for children;
• Regularly communicate and work with government counterparts to build awareness and understanding among them with respect to the Room to Read literacy program and its main features;
• Participate in the state level discussions organized by government counterparts and advocate for RtR approach through developing good understanding of state curriculum, text books and various education projects/programs;
• Provide technical assistance to schools in teaching-learning by using instructional materials designed and produced especially for teachers and make suggestions for improving quality and utilization of these materials;
• Enable senior bureaucrats and government counterparts to lead statewide change initiatives around Foundational Literacy.

Program Coordination and Monitoring:

• Responsible for managing the implementation of the Literacy program for the set of schools under his/her jurisdiction, ensuring timely, efficient and well-coordinated implementation, adhering to the program and budget guidelines;
• Responsible for managing relationships with school, community, government counterparts and donor in their jurisdiction and respond to issues that may arise in these relationships;
• Ensure effective utilization of program budget through proper planning and tracking of planned activities. Ensure that financial and procurement norms are adhered to and efforts are made to be reduce cost to the extent possible, without compromising on the quality;
• Analyze various data and information emanating from the field, develop programmatic co-relations and flag off issues for larger discussion. Undertake at least one action research project every year;
• Monitor and maintain high level of data quality coming from field and generating reports as and when required;
• Manage a set of PC, including their performance evaluation, capacity building and coaching.

School Visits:

• Make regular visits to program schools, observe classroom transactions, library activities, speak to teachers and headmasters and supervise the functioning of the PC;
• Identify design and quality issues, including problems being faced by PC. Discuss these issues with the country office (keeping State Manager in loop for any operational issues) and based on that provide solutions at the field level.

Training, Workshop and Meeting:

• Provide technical oversight to the PC and support them in their monitoring visits and communication with government teachers and schools. Identify gaps in their capabilities and plan for their capacity building in discussion with the IDTS unit;
• Act as the point person with respect to teacher training and capacity building of program staff at the state level. Plan for and lead all teacher trainings at the state level.
• Participate in IDTS workshops on material development, training module development and training of trainers;
• Attend review meetings at the national level and provide reflective feedback on program implementation and design issues. At the same time acts as the conduit for transferring innovative ideas and practices from the national level (or from other states) on to the field.

Planning, Reporting and Documentation:

• Responsible for preparing regular (monthly, quarterly and yearly basis, including program data) qualitative reports and documenting case studies and best practices;
• Responsible for high stake donor reporting, developing their annual work plan and its implementation;
• Responsible for literacy program AWP&B, IC and development of program tracking system for timely and quality implementation of activities;
• Support the State Manager in strategic planning and advocacy, technical assistance, quality assurance, sustainability planning and future expansion decisions;
• Participate in any other activities which may be required to be undertaken to fulfill the objectives of the organization.

Qualifications:

Required:

• Bachelor Degree in education/social sciences or equivalent;
• Master Degree in education/ social sciences or equivalent preferred;
• Minimum 3-5 years of relevant experience in the education sector;
• In-depth knowledge about language and reading practices and approaches;
• Strong written and oral communication skills;
• Critical thinking and analytical skills;
• Good interpersonal skills and a team player;
• Proven track record of achieving results;
• Proven ability to work effectively with schools and communities;
• Ability to travel regularly to project sites in remote locations.

Preferred:

• Prior success working closely and building relationships with diverse groups of people;
• Prior experience of working in a non-profit organization that is focused on maintaining high quality work and low overhead;
• Prior experience in a fast-paced, growth-oriented global or regional organization;
• Ability to juggle multiple priorities simultaneously and take initiative;
• Prior experience living and/or working in rural areas;
• Prior experience working with schools, teachers, administrators and government officials;
• Experience in successful implementation of a wide range of tasks as well as developing and implementing improvements in a prior position.

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