Job Opportunity for Associate – Children With Special Needs at Leadership For Equity (LFE) in Vijayawada, Andhra Pradesh

## Associate – Children With Special Needs

**About Leadership For Equity (LFE)**

Leadership For Equity (LFE), formerly known as the Leadership For Skilled Education Foundation, is a non-profit organization (NGO) based in Pune, Maharashtra.  LFE envisions public education systems that refuse to let children down. 

Our two-pronged approach focuses on building the capacity of government system leaders and influencing system processes. We partner with local and state education bodies to co-create programs that improve teaching and learning practices, enhance student well-being, and ultimately create an effective government education system.

Over the past six years, LFE has impacted 8 million students across Maharashtra by training over 2,100 system leaders and 40,200 teachers. We are also actively working in Haryana and Andhra Pradesh. 

**About the SALT Project**

Supporting Andhra’s Learning Transformation (SALT) is a multi-organizational project dedicated to improving the quality of teaching and learning in classrooms. The project aims to enhance human capital and achieve a sustained reduction in learning poverty across all districts of Andhra Pradesh.

The SALT project works in collaboration with the Department of School Education (DoSE), GoAP, and state-level administrative units, including the SCERT, SIEMAT, and the local network of DIETs. The project focuses on strengthening the people and processes within the public education system.

**Job Description and Responsibilities**

This Associate position, focused on Children With Special Needs (CWSN), plays a crucial role in the SALT project.  The key responsibilities include:

* **Designing Training Content:** Develop engaging and impactful training content, informed by an understanding of child psychology, pedagogy for children with learning disabilities and other special needs.

* **Conducting Needs Analysis:** Conduct thorough needs analysis and create a CWSN Diagnostic Report for the state.

* **Facilitating Training:** Travel across districts to facilitate and deliver teacher/school complex leader training using engaging, experiential, and creative strategies.

* **Research and Innovation:** Research evidence-based creative facilitation practices to align with training content, integrating a belief and culture of equity, inclusion, and well-being among all participants.

* **Stakeholder Engagement:** Build and maintain excellent relationships with target stakeholders to understand their needs and context, taking into account specific challenges around CWSN in rural areas across Andhra Pradesh.

* **Collaboration:** Collaborate with content associates to prepare a facilitation plan and scripts aligned to training content.

* **Training Implementation:** Lead training dry runs, participate in training site observations, and ensure timely collection and reporting of training data.

* **Reporting and Evaluation:** Contribute to project reports, support managers and implementation coordinators, and provide regular updates to organizational leadership and stakeholders.

* **Continuous Improvement:** Conduct observations and user interviews to gather feedback on training programs and adjust plans as necessary.

* **Team Participation:** Actively participate in all organizational team spaces and structures.

**Requirements**

* **Education:**  Degree in special education/teacher development or related social science/inclusion/equity/management discipline. A Master’s degree is preferred.

* **Experience:** 3-5 years of experience delivering large-scale CWSN-related training programs, preferably with the government or with government school teachers. Proven experience in teacher training and facilitating large groups on topics of CWSN. Experience working in Andhra Pradesh/Telangana would be preferable.

* **Knowledge, Skills & Capabilities:** 

    * Excellent written and oral communication skills in English.

    * Functional knowledge of Telugu is preferred.

    * Content development skills to develop video scripts, storyboards, and training sessions for Inclusive Education.

    * Ability to take the initiative and work autonomously in a semi-structured environment.

    * Belief in the potential of the public sector and its capacity to overcome systemic inequities and ensure improved outcomes for all citizens.

    * A basic understanding of social equity, development discourse, and education policy in India.

    * Adaptability to changing responsibilities and resourcefulness to respond to them.

    * High openness to learning and collaboration.

    * Strong ability to create outstanding presentations and work with Microsoft Excel & Google Suite.

    * Patience and resilience to persevere in the face of setbacks and uncertainties.

**Location and Compensation**

* **Location:** Vijayawada, Andhra Pradesh.

* **Compensation:**  In addition to being part of a young and dynamic learning team, the individual will receive a competitive compensation package at par with the non-profit sector benchmark for this position, commensurate with their experience and qualifications. The current compensation band offered, based on fit and experience, is 4-6 lakh INR per annum CTC.

**Applications from candidates identifying as part of the LGBTQIA+ community or PWD would be prioritized.**

**Leadership For Equity is an Equal Opportunity Employer and Prohibits Discrimination and Harassment of Any Kind. We do not discriminate based on caste, race, religion, color, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, or any other non-merit factor.**