Job Opportunity for City Director at Teach For India in Kolkata

Working at Teach For India

Teach For India is on a journey to reach an India free of poverty and filled with love by ending educational inequity in our country. Twelve years into our journey we are a movement of 3800 Alumni working at all levels of the education system, who are reaching 1 in 10 children across the country. These Alumni have graduated from our two-year Fellowship Program where they taught in under-resourced classrooms to put 32,000 low-income children on a different life path. Today, we have 970 Fellows and are the largest pipeline of driven, skilled talent into the educational ecosystem in India.

In 2022, we embark on Phase 4, our fourth strategic phase. We have a bold and ambitious ten-year journey ahead of us that aims to grow 50,000 leaders, who will work collectively, and with love, to transform the lives of 1 in 10 low-income children in our regions, through an education that unleashes the potential of self, others and India. In this decade, five key priorities will lead us to this vision.

• Strengthen our core Fellowship to build strong teacher leaders who provide an excellent and equitable education to our children and continue to do so beyond the Fellowship
• Scale our impact by strategically introducing additional Fellowships as alternative pathways for leadership development
• Match the Alumni of our programs at an intersection of their interests and the needs of the system and our children
• Advocate for key issues that impact educational equity, and engage 3.5% of the population in the movement for educational equity
• Act collectively with our Alumni to learn about and address key issues in our regions.

Our work will only be completed when we have built a movement of leaders that is large enough to ensure that every child in India attains an excellent education.

We pride ourselves as being a passionate, idealistic, mission-driven team of individuals. We’re committed to learning and excellence in our roles, and to being deeply rooted in our core values.

What Teach For India Can Offer You

• The opportunity to be part of one of the most established and visionary movements in the education sector in India which is at a pivotal point in terms of expanding its scale and outreach across the nation and working with changemakers across the country.
• A challenging yet flexible workplace in which every individual employee’s Staff journey is tracked for excellence and leadership development.
• A work environment in which employees’ holistic well-being is a core priority, enabling people to be their best selves.
• Access to connections and resources from the global Teach For All network that includes partner organizations spanning 50+ countries across 6 continents.
• Remuneration that is competitive within the top quartile of the Indian NGO pay scales, and a benefits package that includes extensive medical insurance and maternity coverage for both parents.

Position Summary

This is an exciting opportunity for an entrepreneurial leader to create and lead a founding team for a new site. The City Director (CD), Kolkata will play a critical role in unleashing the potential and power of a local movement for educational equity in Kolkata. This individual will create and shape a vision for the city that is rooted in the local context and develop a long-term strategy that will fully realise the regional vision. The City Director, therefore, will have a four-fold charge for: 

• Ensuring that Kolkata’s Teach For India Fellows are not only driving transformational outcomes for children in classrooms, but that they’re growing as leaders. 
• Fostering a local, growing Alumni movement that is committed to providing all children an excellent education. 
• Building a local, enduring institution that promotes sustainable funding, talent, and operations. 
• Serving as a critical organisational leader for operations that span Teach For India’s vision and mission.

To achieve this four-fold charge, the CD will assemble a small and nimble local team to create an ecosystem of support for Fellows that enables them to be successful in their roles as teachers and future leaders of the movement. Together, the CD with the team will also work to foster a sense of community among Alumni in the city and mobilise them towards shared goals, while also building partnerships with a range of government, corporate, and civil society players to catalyse systemic impact and ensure the long-term sustainability of our efforts. Last but not least, the CD will play an integral role in building the capability and commitment of members of the Kolkata City Operations team to contribute to our mission in the long-term

Responsibilities

• Take strong initiative to envision, develop and update a contextualized vision for setting up Teach For India’s operations in Kolkata.
• As part of the founding team, direct & assist vertical leads in achieving fundamental objectives such as: (1) Conducting primary and secondary research to identify government and affordable private schools in the region. (2) Establish partnerships with government and schools by obtaining necessary approvals and MOUs to begin operations. (3) Initiate discussions with key stakeholders such as government officials, schools leads and other community members to build lasting relationships.
• Spearhead operations in Kolkata by developing and implementing a long-term strategy and operational plan that is designed to realise the vision of educational equity in the region. 
• Manage a growing team consisting of Program, Alumni, HR, Government, and Development leads towards short-term outcomes and long-term success. Ensure appropriate management of resources and performance management for talent to maximize performance
• Establish clear accountability and decision making rights that are aligned with the strategic plan of the organization. Design and build processes and systems to manage progress across layers. 
• Build relationships with key partners and stakeholders such as funding partners, talent partner schools and institutions to foster collective impact and ensure long-term sustainability. At the right juncture, build a local advisory board, coupled with additional partners, that are committed to the region’s success. 
• Build a strong culture of inspiration, support, and accountability among team members by imbibing organizational values. Ensure development of leaders within the team by imbibing appropriate skills, knowledge & mindsets.
• Collaborate with teams across Teach For India, especially Recruitment, Selection, Matriculation, Training and Impact, Finance, Strategy and Learning, Alumni Impact, Admin, IT and HR. 

Preferred Qualifications, Experiences and Expectations

• A Bachelor’s or Master’s Degree in any field. 
• 6+ years of relevant work experience.
• Previous experience managing large projects and diverse teams to successful outcomes. 
• Previous teaching/education experience would be an added advantage. 
• Strategic and critical thinking skills so as to conceptualise multiple approaches to solving a problem and draw out a clear roadmap with roles and responsibilities.
• Relationship-building, networking and persuasion skills so as to connect individuals, groups, and partners with shared goals.
• Communication skills so as to deliver a compelling message through oral and written mediums to diverse stakeholders.
• Ability to be resourceful and entrepreneurial in the face of uncertainty. 
• Fluency in speaking Bengali will be a big plus.