 |
| Head Education Specialist Vacancy at Opportunity International |
RESPONSIBILITIES include the following. Other duties may be assigned.
Team & Program Management
- Prioritize the support and growth of individual team members, team cohesion, and culture.
- Responsible for achieving country-level targets, quarterly/termly team target reviews, and annual staff performance reviews.
- Manage effective communications across multiple digital channels, team meetings, one-on-one meetings, and other coordination support.
- Prioritize actions to enhance program delivery based on internal and external research, feedback from school/partners, and the wider team.
- Provide regular recommendations to the leadership team to continuously refine and improve delivery processes.
- Leverage the extensive and varied expertise embodied by the ES team to meet program needs best, and review/reallocate individual responsibilities.
- Created linkages between special projects (pilots, research, etc.), the ES team, leadership, and global team.
Cluster Development & Management
- Ensure ES are equipped to promote effective collaboration between school leaders, teachers, and cluster members in training cluster leadership to perform their role, including the self-assessment of assigned clusters using the Hargreaves criteria.
- Lead the planning and implementation of Introductory Seminars to bring new schools and clusters into the EdQ program, in collaboration with the ES team, EdQ Project Management Associate, and financial institution partners.
- Support the team in delivering approximately two cluster meetings per cluster per annum.
- Support ES colleagues in timely reporting on all required activities systematically using agreed approaches (i.e., Fulcrum app, report writing, etc.).
Pathways to Excellence
- Ensure all ES follow the developed procedures in supporting school leaders with their School Self-Assessments.
- Support school leaders in developing and monitoring the School Development Planning process each annum.
School Leadership Professional Development
- Oversee preparations, logistics, and implementation of the School Leadership Professional Development (SLPD) training, with support from the EdQ Project Management Associate.
- Ensure ES team are properly trained and supported to deliver high-quality trainings to school leaders.
Teacher Mentor Professional Development
- Oversee the effective approaches to teacher development, mentor training, and on-going support by the ES team.
- Ensure the schools have the materials and capability required to train replacement mentors when existing mentors leave.
- Seek ways of improving the effectiveness of mentor in the clusters.
- Provide training to the ES team on using adult facilitation/coaching and training of trainers to bring consistency of practice to the work with cluster teachers and mentors.
Measurement & Evaluation
- Collaborate with the Director of Operations and local M&E team to implement the EduQuality M&E framework to drive program learning and improvement.
- Assist the ES team in supporting M&E activities through coordination with school leaders and data collectors/enumerators.
- Gather and document learnings and effective practices from the field on a regular basis, with the goal of continual improvement in service offerings, for dissemination to the larger network of partners.
- Publish or contribute to publications, where applicable, to share outcomes, program design, and effectiveness of interventions with the broader financial institution and educational communities.
- Liaise with learning partners, as necessary, who are engaging with the work of EduFinance for the study and reporting of impact.
Financial Institutions
- Liaise with financial institution partners to maintain quarterly/termly reporting and coordination.
Materials & Product Development
- Support developing and reviewing new EdQ products/materials to ensure alignment with in-country curriculum and teacher standards, context, language, and culture.
SUPERVISORY RESPONSIBILITY
- Team of 5 Education Specialists.
QUALIFICATIONS
- Postgraduate degree in school-based education or education development. Graduate degree preferred.
- At least 10-15 years of relevant education experience in education development, pre-primary and primary education, early literacy and reading development, special education, and school leadership and teacher professional development.
- At least 10 years of experience managing a diverse multi-functional team.
- Leadership in large-scale education program implementation.
- Strong writing, data collection, and ICT skills (e.g., Microsoft Office products, EdTech, mobile tablets, etc.).
- International education experience or training is preferred.
- Ability to manage contract negotiations with external vendors and internal work-related expenses is required.
- Experience working within cross-cultural global organizations and INGOs preferred.
- Knowledge of and experience with USAID-funded projects is preferred.
- An understanding of and a commitment to advancing the mission and core values of Opportunity International
LANGUAGE SKILLS
- Written and verbal fluency in English and Swahili, additional 1 or 2 local languages preferred.
- Must be able to attend & fully participate in meetings conducted in English.
TRAVEL REQUIREMENTS
- Access to a personal vehicle for 40% domestic travel; 10% international travel
- Able to travel with minimal notice and maximum flexibility
- Willing to travel independently and without escort or planning support
ABOUT OPPORTUNITY INTERNATIONAL
Opportunity International is a global non-profit that has been
empowering people to work their way out of poverty since 1971.
Opportunity provides 18.7 million people with innovative financial
resources, training, and support to grow their small businesses and send
their children to school. In 2022, Opportunity International and its
partners helped fund 5,600 schools that reached 1.6 million children,
and they released more than $2.6 billion in capital across 30 countries.
Discover more at opportunity.org or join the conversation
on Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, and Twitter.
ABOUT EDUFINANCE
Opportunity EduFinance is a nimble, fast-moving, and rapidly
expanding core function of Opportunity International’s global footprint.
EduFinance aims to get more children into better quality schools. It
does this by increasing access to capital for affordable private schools
and parents, and by boosting the capacity of school leaders and
teachers in low- and middle-income countries (LMIC). It does this in
over 29 countries and is growing rapidly.
