Job Opportunity for District Lead – Tamil Nadu at STIR Education in Chennai

ABOUT STIR EDUCATION

We are an international NGO that is addressing the moral and economic imperative that every child, everywhere, should have a teacher who cultivates the joy of lifelong learning. At a practical level, that means we support governments to reignite intrinsic motivation in teachers and local officials, through teacher networks. Our vision is a world where teachers love teaching and children love learning. Since 2012, we have reached 200,000 teachers and 6 million children across 70 districts in India and Uganda.

OUR MODEL

We achieve this through a five-year learning partnership with an education system, where we align all levels of the education system (officials, teachers and children) around the goal of increasing intrinsic motivation.

Practically, this means that teachers undergo monthly network meetings with about 20 to 30 local peers. Through these meetings they’re supported to develop their practice in areas ranging from effective questioning to creating warm but orderly classroom routines – all designed to create a more effective relationship between the teacher and child. In doing so, they develop a sense of autonomy (the sense they can change things), mastery (sense of getting better as a professionals) and purpose (reconnecting emotionally with their peers and students) – the key drivers of intrinsic motivation.

District officials undergo a training and coaching programme that motivates and supports them to prioritise, run and monitor the teacher networks and a close partnership with the state or national government enables the government to align this intrinsic motivation approach within their priorities, structures and systems.

The approach is run by the government from day one and after about five years of partnering with an education system, we hope to have embedded a culture of improvement at all levels for the system to continue to strengthen itself. We typically allocate one member of our own staff per district to train, energise and coach the district officials running the approach, and a small team at the national or state level.

OUR VALUES

How we approach our work is as important as what we do, and our core values guide the way:

Humility – We don’t have all the answers upfront.

Ownership – We empower each other with high expectations and support.

Openness – We will listen, learn and improve, and lead through obstacles.

Purpose – We’re united by a shared vision we’ll build and achieve together.

THE OPPORTUNITY

STiR is looking for a District Lead in Tamil Nadu, reporting directly to the Senior Programme Manager – TN Programme, and to be a part of the TN Programme team. The District Lead (DL) role presents an opportunity for the right candidate to create a lasting impact on education in Tamil Nadu. As a DL, you will be responsible for advocating for the importance of teacher motivation; building excellent relationships with District and Block level officials to ensure they are prepared to lead the STiR programme effectively in their schools; creating and acting on a shared purpose to improve teaching and learning. The role requires travel to different districts and candidates from various parts of Tamil Nadu are encouraged to apply.

PRIMARY RESPONSIBILITIES

• Developing strong, purposeful professional relationships with key district stakeholders, and becoming trusted advisors on their improvement journey.
• Ensure deep relationships and a clear shared purpose with key district leaders, leading to increased ownership and systemic adoption of program.
• Nurture a team of government officials that lead program operations and take full ownership for necessary adaptations in implementation in a participatory & consensus oriented environment.
• Establish and routinize regular communication channels with a variety of district officials and engaging them in different levels of operational planning, programme design, etc.
• Cultivate a genuine partnership and find bright spots at various levels.
• Build capacity through regular coaching, mentoring, and investing energy in ensuring that various stakeholders within the districts experience connection.
• Implementing an impactful programme, quality assurance and acting as the chief advocate for intrinsic motivation across the assigned districts.
• Align officials in assigned districts around the importance of intrinsic motivation for improved teaching & learning. Drive the overall program in alignment with programme goals and track progress regularly.
• Define and embed different quality control parameters in collaboration with different district stakeholders, and take ownership for effective delivery of the programme on ground.
• Undertake field visits for necessary field-level interventions and to support districts to develop clear implementation strategies.
• Plan and facilitate high quality learning experiences (both in-person and in a blended mode when needed) to enable district core teams to implement program activities with desired quality.
• Ensure learning from different programmes of the Government & other NGOs are incorporated into the programme operation and delivery.
• Prepare documents/reports/presentations as per the programme requirement. Tell stories and equip others to tell stories that highlight the possibility of change.
• Build networks to embed an improvement / learning culture across assigned district(s).
• Create and execute an overall district specific communication package to create a sense of ownership and excitement among different stakeholders.
• Identify and create opportunities for reflection, peer-learning, collaboration, action-planning & feedback, and diffusion of best practices, both within and between districts.
• Use progress and impact data/stories to build momentum across your districts and build a data based impact driven culture.
• Contribute to wider activities in the state program and overall organisational goals.
• Rigorous documentation of programmatic impact through case-studies, and sharing this at relevant internal and external forums.
• Collaborating and working together with other district leads, team leads, and cross-functionally, as the need arises.
• Feeding back learnings from program delivery into team for ongoing program planning.
• Contributing to activities in the state and organisation such as advocacy events, reporting, etc.
• Model professionalism and growth mind set at all times – show that improvement is always possible and take responsibility for supporting the whole team to achieve its goals.

REQUIRED SKILLS AND EXPERIENCE

• At least 4 years of experience with at least 2 years in grassroots education / government relationships and a strong demonstrated interest in the education sector either through their work or as a volunteer and clear leadership and management experience. Candidates with even 2 years of relevant and exceptional experience are encouraged to apply.
• Strong identification with STiR values.
• Excellent influencing skills.
• Demonstrated leadership skill (self-initiative, self-motivation) and innovative thinking.
• Excellent planning and project management skills with an ability to manage multiple concurrent tasks and deadlines.
• Ability to communicate very effectively in Tamil and English.
• Strong attention to detail and ability to see things through to a very high standard.
• Ability to build strong relationships and connections with people of all levels of seniority.
• Demonstrated ability to work through others and collaborate to achieve goals.
• Ability to codify and share learning effectively.
• Understanding of how to effect behaviour change in teachers and government officials.
• Demonstrated capacity to learn, adapt and thrive in a fast-paced environment.
• Mastery in translating ideas into action.
• Strong understanding of the Tamil Nadu education system.
• Willingness to travel to different districts.

REMUNERATION AND BENEFITS

A consultancy fees of ₹ 78,224/- per month (₹938,688/- per annum) will be paid for your service (subject to relevant taxes at source), along with Medical Insurance for yourself, spouse and up to two children.