Job Opportunity for State Project Lead at Care India in Ranchi

POSITION/DESIGNATION

State Project Lead 

GRADE/LEVEL

Grade D

PROJECT/UNIT

Indian Partnership for Early Learning (IPEL)

PROJECT DURATION

5 years

POSITION DURATION

5 years (Till August 2026)

REPORTS TO

Technical Director- Foundational Learning

Key Working Relations

Chief of Party and Technical Director (s)- MEL, Financing & Private Sector Engagement; Policy & Advocacy

LOCATION

Jharkhand, Ranchi

TRAVEL

20% of total time (Delhi and field location)

ABOUT US

CARE is a not-for-profit organisation working in India for over 68 years, focusing on alleviating poverty and social injustice. We do this through well-planned and comprehensive projects in health, education, livelihoods and disaster preparedness and response. Our overall goal is the empowerment of women and girls from poor and marginalised communities leading to improvement in their lives and livelihoods.

During FY 2018-19, CARE India directly reached out to 37.2 million people through 43 projects across 14 states, covering more than 80+ districts. We are part of the CARE International Confederation, working in 100 countries for a world where people live with dignity and security.

CARE India seeks a world of hope, tolerance, and social justice, where poverty has been overcome and people live in dignity and security.

Our goal is to ensure that women and girls from the most marginalized communities are empowered, live in dignity and their households have secure and resilient lives. CARE India aims to accomplish this goal by working with 50 million people to help them have quality health, education, livelihoods and overcome the effects of disasters.

PROJECT DETAILS

India Partnership for Early Learning (IPEL) is a USAID funded project that aims to ensure all children (girls and boys) from Early childhood education to early grades (grades 1&2) are positively impacted in four Indian states (Bihar, Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh, South Delhi Municipal Schools). The ultimately goal of the project is  all children (age 3-6) attending AWCs/Balvatika/preschools attain school readiness by age 6;   and  children (age 6-8) attending early grades (1-2) acquire reading fluency and comprehension, number recognition, two-digit addition and subtraction, express emotions safely, and express understanding of emotions of others verbally or through pictures by end of grade 2 in four intervention states.     The project approach will influence practices of both government run and private schools in intervention states to ensure every child of the state is positively impacted. 

The project is designed to work very closely at national and state education/WCD department and its institutions to work, influence and advocate on the agenda of Early Childhood and Education and Foundational Learning and Numeracy (FLN).   IPEL project adopts a system strengthening approach using technical support model to work with state and national government. For this, IPEL project will set up a central and state level Project Management Unit, having experts on foundational learning, to engage, influence, and technically guide department of education and its key institutions for effective delivery of foundational learning and numeracy program in the state. The key technical area includes- Effective FLN content and materials for teachers and children, Robust and quality capacity building approach and review system, FLN vision, budget and financing, Quality educational monitoring and learners’ assessment tracking system and Empowered community engagement in each of the state. It will work towards addressing issues and challenges faced by marginalised children and girls in the states to ensure every child in the state attend the school and acquire learning. 

The project will also ensure state government develop robust system and mechanisms to positively support schools, teachers and children level over next 5 years in intervention states. Since The IPEL project objectives and goals are aligned with national mission- NIPUN BHARAT, it will also contribute to larger goal of National Education Policy and state priorities.

The project has formed a consortium of 4 organizations led by CARE to work with state government. This consortium will work closely with department of education/its institutions to ensure quality and effective delivery of Foundational Learning (FL) for both public and private schools. IPEL is a multiyear project that will work with state governments from the period of September 2021- August 2026.

JOB SUMMARY

State Project Lead has overall execution accountability for the five-year CARE USAID-India Partnership for Early Learning (IPEL) Project that runs from September 2021 – September 2026 and is accountable for delivering results at the state level.. State project Lead is expected to establish an effective relationship with department of education and WCD and other institutions to support roll out the project in identified state. The person will be accountable for setting up and operationalizing state level Project Management unit that has a mandate to provide technical guidance and handholding around foundational learning to the education department and its institutions. It is expected that project lead will build and nurture relationship with state level leadership and closely work with Central Management Unit of the project. 

S/he is a key member of Project Management Unit, which will coordinate interventions; develop implementation guidelines; measure project progress, performance, and impact; ensure cross-sectoral integration; and manage the integration of learning and innovation. The state lead will manage a team of experts as part of Project Management Team who will support project implementation, ensure compliance with all USG rules and regulations, and inform the overall direction and strategy of the project. S/he will also be accountable for representation with State government, and participation in senior-level partner and stakeholder events and meetings. S/he will oversee the preparation of quarterly and annual project activity reports, MEL reports, and other deliverables, as specified in the project framework and required by the state government. 

Job Responsibilities

Responsibility 1

Build State level Government relationship and Management 

• Establish, nurture, and maintain relationships with the Department of Education, SSA and SCERT.  

• Participate in government coordination meetings at regional and national levels to discuss program related issues.

• Engage and advocate on Foundational Learning and Numeracy to senior government officials of Education and WCD at the state level

• Set up Project Advisory Committee having membership of Secretary, Education and ensure its organization

• Externally to IPEL, serve as primary representative with key stakeholders and foster relationships with relevant counterparts/departments of the government, the locally represented multi/bi-lateral donors, foundations, international and national NGOs, private sector, CBOs, and other civil society organizations.

• Support and work effectively in coalitions, networks and social movements.

•Facilitate cordial media relations and act as CARE / IPEL spokesperson as required.

Responsibility 2

Management, Oversight and Guidance to Project Management Unit

•Oversee the functioning of Project Management Unit and its work with the state

• Overall responsibility for effective planning and implementation of the IPEL project activities in state, track the progress and ensure that the project delivers on its objectives and within the time framework and financial allocations . Coordinate with Central Management Team for any administrative and technical inputs on the project and government priorities

• Provide ongoing supervision, leadership, support, guidance, and mentoring to all project staff.

• Ensure that all program staff have appropriate individual operational plans linked to project priority and annual work plans.

• Promote and model a working style aligned with the organization’s core values that encourages optimal performance of project staff.

• Complete all performance management activities including performance planning, monitoring, and annual performance appraisals. Be Updated and ensure USAID compliance, financial and reporting requirement

• Ensure that CARE/ Project specific policies Gender, Equity, and Diversity principles are mainstreamed into the IPEL team values and operating guidelines

Responsibility 3

Oversee execution of program AWP, monitoring, evaluation, and reporting

• Participate in the design and implementation of project, policies and procedures as well as monitoring and evaluation systems to ensure the project meets its objectives and expected results.

• Ensure the IPEL PMU team follow AWP, monitoring and results framework a.

• Oversee effective implementation of a monitoring system to collect baseline and periodic data for tracking program performance and decision making.

• Plan and conduct quarterly technical working group and annual project review meetings to assess progress, adjust plans, and draw/disseminate lessons learned.

• Lead the project steering committee meetings.

• Respond and act upon internal audit recommendations.

• Ensure comprehensive and high-quality monthly/quarterly/annual project progress reports and ensure timely submission and approval of financial and narrative reports to the Central Project Management Team

• Ensure reporting, data quality of project in coordination and recommendation with CMU

Responsibility 4

Support in Building Partnership with Others and Ensuring USAID Compliance

• Keep up to date with developments of external programming of other agencies including best practices in-country and ensure CARE staff are applying these consistently under IPEL and other related programs.

• Lead in coordinating information dissemination activities that share project achievements and results with the aim of influencing decision and policymakers

• Prepare and deliver formal presentations to stakeholders about program progress, challenges, lessons learned and needed adjustments.

• Establish and maintain formal and informal communication mechanisms with government, community partners and other stakeholders

• Support Chief of Part (CoP) and Technical Director (FL) in fulfilling requirement of USAID compliance

• Establish and maintain formal and informal communication mechanisms with government, community partners and other stakeholders  

QUALIFICATION 

Master’s or advanced degree in Education, Management, or a closely related field

EXPERIENCE

• Minimum of 8-10 years of middle to senior-level management experience on donor-funded programs, particularly school quality program; teacher development, system strengthening
• Prior experience of working with national and/or state governments 
• Experience with two or more of the following specializations: School education, Early Childhood Education, Gender and Equity, Monitoring or Assessment system. 
• Demonstrated strong understanding of USAID’s Education Program and Strategy and gender programming.
• Also demonstrate understanding of National Education Policy of India and Current challenges and opportunities around foundational learning in India.

SKILLS & COMPETENCIES

Communication skills:

able to articulate and communicate well to all stakeholders (both verbally and in writing) in a manner that meets the different needs of different audiences 

Team Management & Collaboration / People skills: 

high social intelligence: able to engage and influence teams, create relationships of trust with stakeholders

adept at co-creation: naturally collaborative and solutions focused 

conflict resolution: comfortable with negotiating and resolving conflict; seeking clarity and testing assumptions

able to reflect, empathetic, and a good listener

Strategic Thinking and Analysis:

big picture / critical thinker (able to think clearly and rationally and select the best method as appropriate) / connector (able to spot gaps, establish needs and opportunities)

Change Management:

resilient: able to deal well with ambiguity, uncertainty, and change  

flexible: able to adapt well to shifting priorities     

Operational excellence (Project / Program / Process management):

able to successfully manage project/process deliverables in stipulated time and budget

able to incorporate feedback and continually work on project / process improvement