Job Opportunity for Programme Manager – Training at Peepul in Bhopal

About Peepul

Peepul is an education-focused non-profit. We dream and work towards creating an education system in India that enables ‘every child to realize their potential.’ We work closely with governments at the national, state and local levels to transform government schools and government systems. The poorest children in India study in government schools and too many of them are falling through the cracks. We are determined to ensure that they receive a high-quality education to help them succeed in life.

We are restless, resilient and reflective. We aim high, we innovate, we work smart, we work as a team, and we use rigorous research to inform our work.

Job Description: Programme Manager – Training

Reports to: Programme Lead

Location: Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh

Start date: Immediate

Salary: Commensurate with experience

Role Context

To improve the quality of the public school system and improve learning outcomes, the Department of Education, Government of Madhya Pradesh (GoMP) is on an ambitious reform agenda. This reform agenda includes a focus on accountability and governance, structural administrative reforms, capacity-building of the state sector and learning from innovations and international best practices in pedagogy and delivery.

Peepul has partnered with the GoMP to strengthen learning outcomes from 2012 onwards through a deep partnership with the state. Through this partnership, we have also developed a deep understanding of the MP context, education landscape, and administrative support structures at the ground-level.
Peepul is now deepening this partnership with GoMP through a multi-year state-wide program for developing and implementing initiatives towards high quality education outcomes in ‘CM Rise Schools’, a flagship programme of the School Education Department, Government of Madhya Pradesh, to create exemplar public schools that provide high-quality holistic education to all children across Madhya Pradesh.

The CM Rise schools are envisioned to showcase quality teaching learning practices & innovative school management processes, and act as visual exemplars in the school system for all others to learn and derive motivation from.

The scope of work for this program is to

1. Support the design, creation and implementation of relevant academic structures and processes leading to excellent academic outcomes in CM Rise Schools through the academic year

2. Support the design and roll out of student assessments for CM Rise Schools, derive data and initiate action plans

3. Design and deliver capacity-building interventions for key stakeholders of CM Rise Schools (Teachers, School Leaders, Officers of the Education Department)

4. Support the setting up of accountability and motivation structures in the schools and wider ecosystem

5. Set up governance structures for the program

Role Description

The role of the Programme Manager – Training is critical to the success of the continued partnership with the Government of Madhya Pradesh towards achieving quality education for all, and to Peepul’s strategic objective of supporting quality improvement in the public school system in India.

As part of our support to the CM Rise Schools and other state priorities, the Programme Manager-Training will be primarily responsible for end-to-end ownership of content creation, curation and delivery of capacity building interventions for the key stakeholders towards setting up and running these schools effectively.

This person will work closely with the School Education Department, MP, SCERT and other state and district education authorities to design high quality and rigorous continuous professional development interventions.

This is therefore an exciting opportunity for a highly motivated individual to play a key role in an exemplar school project with enormous potential impact. The Programme Manager – Training must be an exceptional educator and facilitator with the skills and mindsets to conceptualize and execute capacity building interventions at scale.

The Programme Manager – Training will be someone who exemplifies flexibility, tenacity and enthusiasm to be able to create and enable highly engaging, rigorous and practical training modules for teachers, school leaders and academic officials in the state that inspire schools across the state and country to actively learn and inform change in their actions. Key responsibilities

To lead the design and delivery of the high-quality training content that will be at the heart of the CM Rise Schools Program

• Design and evolve the scope and sequence of the training curriculum for teachers, school leaders and education officials across the CM Rise Schools.

• Lead the instructional design of blended training content end-to-end including creating engaging digital learning resources that are need-based, relevant and rigorous.

• Build systems and process to set standards of content design and for capturing impact of trainings.

• Identify and map high-quality training content across multiple platforms and work towards curating and building a repository of professional development resources.

• Work with multiple knowledge partners across the state towards a productive collaboration

• Work with the internal M&E team to identify key outcomes and collaborate with different internal and external stakeholders to collect data to track progress towards these outcomes.

• Collaborate with the central Peepul codification team and other programmes to leverage existing resources, and relay back learnings from the programmes in Madhya Pradesh, to build strong repository of knowledge To advise and support the state on roadmap of Professional Development for key stakeholders

• Support the state government in setting up excellent as well as sustainable processes for continuous professional development of teachers, school principals and officers in the education department

• Present data backed research insights to the state government to support strengthening of the training domains of CM Rise Schools

• Conduct regular needs assessments to identify needs and challenges of the government schoolteachers and principals

• Liaison with state government institutions (e.g., SCERT, College of Teacher Education) to ensure a seamless communication flow between CM Rise Schools and the state education department around the training (and impact)

• Ensure buy-in of the training design and work with the field officials on effective implementation by leveraging the institutions to drive capacity building across the state.

• Support multiple state initiatives (for professional development) by providing key insights from the CM Rise Schools to shape and align interventions towards holistic professional development for key stakeholders.

To support the execution and implementation of the programme at scale

• Support Program Director/Program Lead in implementing the programme effectively at scale

• Build training and facilitation capacity within the team

• Collectively work with team members in the state towards high quality execution of the program on ground sharing key insights

• Codifying best practices from the program and disseminating them internally and externally towards building knowledge of the organization and allowing replication across the ecosystem

• Manage a team of project managers and project coordinators towards successful and smooth work execution

Person Specification

Experience:

• At least 7 years of total work experience

• Experience of classroom teaching preferably in elementary school system with strong experience of teacher training or school leadership capacity building.

• Experience of having designed and conducted trainings for stakeholders in public education system, preferably in Hindi

• Experience of having led content creation for professional development initiatives

• Experience of leading teams and supporting them through coaching and mentoring

• Strong working knowledge of Hindi and English (oral and written)

Behaviours and attributes:

• A strong desire to influence government education system, working with the existing government structures

• A deep understanding of the context and challenges of the government schoolteachers

• Strong facilitation skills with an ability to engage audience of various sizes and contexts.

• Ability to present complex content/sessions into simple, actionable points making it accessible to individuals with varying skill levels.

• Attention to detail, including proof reading and editing skills for materials shared internally and externally

• Ability to build strong and sustainable relationships across various government education functionaries

• Ability to iterate on sessions quickly, based on feedback, following a process of continuous improvement

• Bias to action, with an ability to step back and see the larger picture

• Intellectually curious, open to learning

• Flexible and adaptable style, responding positively to changing demands

• Strong interpersonal, written and oral communication skills

• Ability to build strong and sustainable relationships across all layers of government hierarchy

• Enthusiasm for taking on a start-up role, in what will be a fast-paced, growing, changing network

• Performance orientation – sets and achieves high standards for self and others

Recruitment Process

To apply, please send a copy of your resume along with a covering letter explaining why you are interested in applying for the role, to recruitment@peepulindia.org with a cc to nivedita.gupta@peepulindia.org, ensuring you specify the role you are applying for in the subject line of the e-mail. Please include the details of at least two referees within your application.

Selection

The selection process will involve written tests/assignments, interviews and live demonstrations of expertise (e.g., taking a demo training session), with the senior management team of the organization.

Reference checking & Probation

As Peepul is a children first organisation this role will be subject to enhanced background checks. Additionally, all new staff will be subject to a probation period of three months.