Room to Read
## Associate, Program Operations and Technical
**Location:** Giridih, Jharkhand, India
**About Room to Read:**
Founded in 2000 on the belief that “World Change Starts with Educated Children®,” Room to Read is creating a world free from illiteracy and gender inequality through education. We achieve this goal by helping children in historically low-income communities develop literacy skills and a habit of reading, and by supporting girls as they build life skills to succeed in school and negotiate key life decisions. We collaborate with governments and other partner organizations to deliver positive outcomes for children at scale. Room to Read has benefited more than 39 million children and has worked in 23 countries and in more than 182,000 communities, providing additional support through remote solutions that facilitate learning beyond the classroom. Room to Read aims to benefit 40 million children by 2025.
**Position Overview:**
The Program Associate (Technical and Operations), Foundational Literacy will oversee the project implementation and lead the agenda of system strengthening at the district and block level. The project duration is till March 2026, and the position will be responsible for quality implementation, coordination, development, and reporting of the variant of the Literacy program in Giridih district. The position will serve as the main point of contact for Cluster Resource Persons and Block level officials on technical support being provided under the project. The position will plan, coordinate, and execute the CRPs training, monitor teachers’ training, and orientation of government officials. The Program Associate will report to the District Project Lead. This position will be based in one of the allocated blocks and will involve frequent travel to field locations as well as regular interaction with education officials, school administrators, teachers, and students. The position will identify quality implementation issues related to project design and management and discuss them with the supervisor and provide solutions at the field level.
**Roles & Responsibilities:**
**Program Planning, Management & Implementation:**
* Develop a thorough understanding of Room to Read’s Literacy program design.
* Oversee the implementation of the project at the district level, ensuring timely, efficient, and well-coordinated implementation, adhering to the program and budget guidelines.
* Overall lead different online and offline trainings organized for government functionaries, teachers, field staff, and review meetings. Also, play the role of key facilitator for these trainings.
* Support the District Lead in strategic planning and advocacy, including 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.
**Technical Expertise & System Strengthening:**
* Stay updated regarding the changing trends and any new state-level policies, programs, or interventions, as announced by the government.
* Participate in workshops on material development, training module development, and training of trainers.
* Support the District Lead at the district level (including CDEO, ADPC, POs) and DIETs for system strengthening efforts.
* Attend review meetings at the block and cluster level and provide reflective feedback on program implementation and design issues and use those forums to advocate for enabling policies and government orders in support of the RtR literacy program.
* Provide technical support to CRPs during supportive supervision of teachers and project monitoring visits.
* Identify gaps in skills and plan for their capacity building in discussion with the team.
* Contribute in policy (NEP/NIPUN/NCF) level strategic discussion with the District/State education Department.
* Represent Room to Read in different forums and advocate the importance of reading and the need for libraries for children.
**Supervision & Reporting:**
* Make regular joint visits to project schools with key government officials from the block and district as per program design and in coordination with the supervisor, for supportive supervision and monitoring as per the defined template.
* Collect all the relevant information from the field related to program design and implementation.
* Submit weekly and monthly reports to the supervisor and CO as per the standard template.
* Analyze various data and information emanating from the field, develop programmatic co-relations, and flag off issues for larger discussion.
**Research and Monitoring:**
* Collaborate with the RME team to implement and maintain monitoring and evaluation efforts in the program.
* Synthesize and analyze data and write summary reports by program based on the M&E results.
* Identify key issues around program quality and links between monitoring and evaluation and quality assurance and improvement.
* Represent Room to Read in different forums and advocate the importance of our educational work in the developing world.
**Qualification & Experience:**
* **Required:**
* Bachelor’s Degree in education / social sciences or equivalent
* **Preferred:**
* Master’s degree in education / social sciences or equivalent
* Minimum 5 years of relevant experience in the education sector and research or both
* 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.
**Compensation:**
Room to Read offers competitive pay with excellent benefits. The non-monetary compensation includes a unique opportunity to be part of an innovative, meaningful, and rapidly growing organization that is changing transforming the lives of millions of children in developing countries on literacy and gender equality in education. Room to Read is a child safe organization.
**To be successful at Room to Read, you will also:**
* Have passion for our mission and a strong desire to impact a dynamic nonprofit organization
* Be a proactive and innovative thinker who achieves results and creates positive change
* Have a very high level of personal and professional integrity and trustworthiness
* Embrace diversity and a commitment to collaboration
* Thrive in a fast-paced and fun environment
Room to Read is proud to be an equal opportunity employer committed to identifying and developing the skills and leadership of people from diverse backgrounds. EOE/M/F/Vet/Disabled
To apply for this job please visit osv-rtr.wd5.myworkdayjobs.com.
