Program Officer, Education and Special Projects

In this position you will be expected to provide guidance, direction, and technical assistance to MLEYF programs around evidence-based theory and best practice in education including digital learning, curriculum planning. You will provide guidance and design programs and proposals that demand for innovative approaches to resolving early childhood development and education development challenges. You will be responsible to lead on excellence, thought leadership and visioning around delivering highquality education to children and families of the rural areas and other persons of concern where Maple Leaf Early Years Foundation (MLEYF) implements projects and programs. You collaborate with colleagues in the organization to drive a superb education strategy and curricula to ensure that all programs and projects are theoretically sound, and work with multidisciplinary teams to ensure our content is both educational and highly engaging. You will at times be expected to represent the organization in relevant forums, bringing expertise to diverse audiences.

RESPONSIBILITIES

  • Lead and develop curricula and content ensuring alignment with intended project outcomes in collaboration with other educators and team members within the organization or otherwise as appropriate, including research teams, funding partner representatives, advisors, and other collaborators with MLEYF. This will frequently include playing a leadership role in curriculum/content training planning and execution
  • Assist in hiring and on boarding new staff ensuring doing so without stereotyping or discrimination
  • Provide educational leadership for content review on different platforms in collaboration with the communication/media and social media teams
  • Provide leadership for RFP review and selection related to new content development in collaboration with the leadership team of the organization and colleagues
  • Research, plan and facilitate training sessions for staff and leadership where necessary and appropriate
  • Represent the organization as an education expert , engaging with stakeholders in the public sector, private sector, and academia, ensuring updated practices are being implemented in the early childhood and basic educational programming

PROJECT DIRECTION

  • Take the lead and assist the ED in designing programs that directly support the demand for projects that MLEYF plans and implements with innovative approaches to resolving early childhood and basic education challenges. Such will be used for grant seeking and fundraising
  • Develop monitoring materials, develop, and implement monitoring plans and interpret stakeholder feedback in a way that informs project improvements in partnership with representatives of partners, funders, and members of Education Clusters
  • Ensure the execution of administrative processes related to our education and special projects including managing timelines, submitting reports, and coordinating communication with the different teams on the different projects/programs

MANAGEMENT

• Support, mentor and manage staff of the education and special projects assigned to you to effectively deliver on content leadership, program planning and project direction responsibilities

APPRAISAL, TRAINING, DEVELOPMENT, AND INDUCTION OF STAFF

→ Supervising and participating in arrangements for the appraisal of the performance of teachers in the different learning centres

→ Participating in the identification of areas in which staff would benefit from further training and undergoing such training

→ Ensuring that all staff in the learning centres have access to advice and training appropriate to their needs, in accordance with the policies of MLEYF

→ Ensuring that newly qualified teachers and those returning to teaching after a break in service have access to adequate support in their first year of service or resumed service

→ Develop content and facilitate staff training sessions as directed by the ED

→ Ensuring the training of teachers during their induction periods in accordance with the requirements of the governing body, and making recommendations at the end of such periods as to whether such teachers have met the requirements

RELATIONS WITH THE GOVERNING BODY (MLEYF)

  • Attending meetings of the governing body and making reports to them in connection with his/her responsibilities as they may properly require either on a regular basis or from time to time
  • Advising and assisting the governing body in the exercise of their functions
  • Advising the governing body on the adoption of effective procedures to deal with incompetent teachers in the various centres and projects, and keeping the governing body informed of the general operation of such procedures
  • Reporting to the governing body on the professional development of all staff at the learning centres and special projects.
  • Supervising and accounting for those financial and material resources of the learning centres and special projects which are under the control of the TLC Heads and project leads
  • Supervising the measures for the security, maintenance, development, and effective supervision of the learning centre structures and their contents and of the premises and ensuring (if so required) that any lack of maintenance is promptly reported to the maintaining authority, camp administration or, if appropriate, the governing body. o Any other tasks as required of you from the ED and other senior management officers.

EXPERIENCE, SKILLS AND QUALIFICATIONS

  • University degree in Education or other related fields, and at least 2 years’ experience working in administrative capacity in a school setting.
  • Outstanding organizational and communication skills
  • Conversant with Microsoft Office and ability to prepare reports
  • Intermediate – expert level knowledge of Microsoft Word, Power Point Presentations and Microsoft Excel
  • Ability to design and conduct presentations and training workshops
  • Grant Proposal design and writing
  • Good knowledge of creating, operating, and maintaining a budget
  • Commitment to job responsibilities
  • Punctuality
  • Attention to detail
  • Supervisory and leadership skills