Job Opportunity for Program Manager – Collaboratives at Quest Alliance in Karnataka

Role and Responsibilities:

Program and Budget Management 

Develop the state plan and ensure its operationalisation and achievement of goals with quality
Ensure donor reporting happens as per timelines and with quality – capturing project learning and insights and making the report a tool for reflection for the donors 
Streamline the planning, implementation and review process with the partners
Ensure they have an annual plan in place with a budget forecast 
Ensure the 45 day reviews are in happening as per plan and are documented and followed up on – ensure that the systems change lens is applied to the reviews 
Ensure financial forecasting is in place for each project and the spent plan is as per forecast (no underspent/overspent) with maximum focus on the key constituency when it comes to prioritizing spent decisions
Anchor the financial management to ensure audit compliance, review of the monthly project spent report to check for consistency and discrepancies 
Ensure state reviews are streamlined with the thematic leads and other relevant stakeholders and become spaces for reflections and deepening the synergy between org, program and state strategy, ensure data and qualitative insights are being used to drive reflection and deepen the strategic thinking 
Anchor the content development of the HM change leaders, ensuring suitability from state context
Monthly field visits to interact with the learners, teachers, headmasters and district officials to gauge the effectiveness of the program from the stakeholder lens 
 

Advocacy, Strategy and Execution

Have strategic consultation with stakeholders in the Govt., CSOs and funder community
Represent organisation and participate in various forum and task forces formed by the Govt, CSOs and funders 
Develop concept notes, proposals and presentations on the existing/new strategies.
Support development of CSO strategy for engagement in the program implementation
Develop and sustain the relationship with the Government Education departments and other concerned departments 
Drive the advocacy agenda for the state as per the program plan – relationship building with the states education departments and facilitating engagement with the relevant stakeholders to drive adoption of program approaches and policy level change, every 6 months JPRMS are conducted and become strategic spaces for multi stakeholder dialogue – including the donor and the govt officials 
Work closely with the communication team to ensure that the project updates find a mention in the social media, have a social media calendar
Ensure that key staff at the state and district  Government have a clear understanding of and regular involvement in the programs 
Identify opportunities for joint activities with the  government staff (e.g. shared workshops etc.).
Share quarterly reports with the relevant  Government officials 
 

Systems and Processes 

Ensure that the team has a good understanding of the monitoring tools and dashboards
Ensure that the data coming in from monitoring tools is reviewed jointly by the team and is integrated in reviews with partners and within the team 
Ensure that the quality of monitoring data coming in is of good quality and leading to insights and reflections on the program strategy 
Ensure that all information related to the visits and achievements in the programme are recorded in the monitoring tools. 
Ensure that the team is looking at the data and decisions are being made accordingly
Prepare and facilitate the monthly review of the state plan with the team and with the extended team from central office
Ensure that the monthly planning and review meetings at the district level are organized and represented with program updates.
 

Organizational Processes and Policy Adoption

Be well versed with all organizational policies and ensure the same with the team 
Participate in the relevant working groups/organizational forums one is nominated/selected for
Ensure all regular compliance – timesheets, travel reimbursements etc – are followed by self and the team
 

Team Management and Growth

Ensure that all employees managed  have clear performance objectives and development plans. 
Serve as a role model at all times  
Coordinate training and other capacity-building initiatives for staff as required 
Ensure human resource policy and procedure is adhered to by team 
Ensure staff welfare with support from the People team
Ensure that all your team members  have a clear job description. performance objectives, development plans  they receive performance reviews 
Support, mentor and coach the team as part of their professional development and help them to be highly effective in their work. 
Lead the recruitment , induction and onboarding  of new member for your team you manage 
Ensure that the team works together to share learning and to exchange skills
Ensure that any incidents of child abuse, child marriage or any other violation of child rights are reported to the program lead 
 

Required skills and Experience: 

Minimum 7-8 years of work experience, in implementing blended learning content for school related projects 
Hands-on experience with working in education program management
Prior experience working in government schools and managing partners
Prior experience of facilitating training and workshops for the govt. Teachers and officials at district/state level
Willingness to learn and influence prevalent practices in education ecosystem
Deep understanding of the National Education Policy and State Curriculum Framework 
Excellent interpersonal, written and verbal communication skills in English and Kannada (preferred) 
Excellent IT skills
Willingness to travel extensively
Ability to work independently as well as collaboratively with other teams
Contact
Interested candidates are requested to apply for the role by filling up the application form given here.

Women candidates are encouraged to apply. Due to the enormity of applications received, only shortlisted candidates will be contacted.