Job Opportunity for Project Lead – UP, State Reform at CSF in Gorakhpur

Position: Project Lead, State Reform Team (SRT)

Location: Gorakhpur, Uttar Pradesh

About State Reform Team

The State Reform Team (SRT) at CSF works with State Education Departments to reform education by implementing large-scale system-led projects with the goal of improving student learning outcomes. It along with its partners is currently supporting various states such Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, and Haryana to design and implement their state FLN (Foundational Literacy and Numeracy) Missions as part of the national NIPUN Bharat Mission. This includes building effective classroom pedagogy and strengthening governance enablers that are critical for the reform. 

As a part of its engagement with the Department of School Education, Govt of Uttar Pradesh, CSF has established its first Project Management Unit(PMU) in Gorakhpur, constituency of  Hon’ble CM, Uttar Pradesh. The  PMU works closely with and supports District Magistrate(DM), Chief Development Officer (CDO) and Basic Shiksha Adhikari(BSA), Department of Basic Education in accelerating progress towards Mission NIPUN. 

CSF is looking for a Project Lead  who would be based at Gorakhpur. They will report to Associate Director/ Senior Project Lead in the SRT team and lead a 3-4 member PMU based at Gorakhpur.  

Key responsibilities include, but are not limited to

Relationship management 

• Project Lead will be the face of the PMU in the district, leading the relationship with District Magistrate, Chief Development Officer (CDO), Basic Shiksha Adhikari and other key stakeholders.
• Operationalizing CSF’s district implementation theory of change on key governance and academic interventions under Mission NIPUN. 
• Building saliance for NIPUN and District PMU’s work  across stakeholders and platforms
• Forging alliances to further the PMU’s strategic and operational priorities. 

Project Management 

• Lead diagnosis, design solutions, and facilitate implementation through first principles problem solving
• Prepare and execute implementation plans with goals and milestones. Forge alignment  and unlock system’s  resources for driving execution.  
• Support SRT’s leadership in defining PMU’s strategy, tracking milestones.
• Identify operational bottlenecks and weaknesses, and devise resolution pathways.

Team Management 

• Lead the 3-4 member PMU
• Track member performance and quality of outputs, supporting team members with on-job training, need based inputs for attaining deliverables.
• Support the personal & professional development of team members.
• Ensure well-being of team members in the district.
• Salience building and communications
• Own the messaging on all external facing channels and ensure clarity, consistency.
• Drive saliance for the Mission and PMU’s work across district forums. 

Cross team collaboration.

• Identify and unlock resources, leverage expertise available across teams in CSF to further PMU’s priorities.

Required Qualifications, Skills and Abilities

• Bachelor’s degree required, from a reputed university; Master’s degree preferred.
• Prior experience working  with government stakeholders is required.
• 6 to 9 years of post-qualification work experience, preferably with a government entity with superb project delivery and management track record.
• Ability to analyze complex problems, craft possible solutions and recommendations.
• Action-biased and strong planning skills, ability to set priorities, plan & meet timelines 
• Excellent communication skills: Oral and written, in both English and Hindi.
• Ability to build and maintain positive and collaborative relationships with government stakeholders.
• Ability to lead a team of young professionals and driving them to attain outcomes. 
• Prior exposure to either the education sector, public/development sector, consulting will be preferred, however people with corporate experience but interest in education sector also encouraged to apply
• Mission Driven, optimistic and enthusiastic- believe in achieving transformational change

Compensation: Remuneration will be competitive with Indian philanthropy pay scales and will depend upon the candidate’s experience levels.