The Education Alliance (TEA) is a non-profit organization registered in India to catalyze quality transformations in the public-school system through strategic partnership support. TEA aims to build an ecosystem in which governments can strategically partner with mission-oriented non-profit educational organizations to deliver high-quality education. Our goal is to empower government schools to create the next generation of leaders by transforming the quality of education offered in these schools. High-quality education for every child in India would call for a system that is accountable, collaborative, and equitable.

TEA sets up a Project Management Unit (PMU) to support the State education departments to partner more strategically with non-state actors and to design and deliver programs with the objective of building governments’ own capacity to sustain these initiatives post the exit of external partners. TEA currently has ongoing programs in Delhi, Tamil Nadu, Tripura, and Madhya Pradesh.

Background & Context

TEA has embarked on a project to strengthen Foundational Literacy & Numeracy in the State of Madhya Pradesh, in partnership with Central Square Foundation (CSF). TEA has set-up a PMU within the State Education Department to support the State in designing and implement a program for early grades – including a selection of partners for content development, teacher training, etc., setting performance benchmarks and instituting a system for assessments to ensure embedding of this program within the education delivery system. The FLN program will be delivered along with a consortium of partners with expertise in pedagogy, assessments, others as needed.

The FLN project in Madhya Pradesh has been conceptualized and is being funded by Central Square Foundation as the principal funder and strategic advisor. TEA, along with CSF, is now in discussions on similar engagements with other State Education departments for embarking on a mission to strengthen FLN. The States under consideration for the project currently are Gujarat and Haryana.

Roles & Responsibilities – Director (FLN)

The Director (FLN) will be leading the FLN engagement with the State Education Department and will report directly to the CEO based in New Delhi. He / She will be responsible for the design of the program, execution, coordination with various stakeholders (government and non-profit partner), and delivering on a roadmap for building government capacity to sustain the impact and interventions from the program. The key roles and responsibilities of the Director (FLN) will be:

Design program strategy and approach

• Identify key gaps in the state foundational literacy and numeracy programs and devise evidence-based solutions to address them. Supplement the external partner’s strategy with its own research and analysis
• Design actionable implementation plan with a clear timeline, budget targets, and division of responsibilities between TEA team members
• Design M&E framework with clearly defined performance indicators, targets, and milestones
   

Stakeholder management

• Act as an interface between key stakeholders, including Government officials, TEA, State Steering Committee, program partners, donors, and other implementation partners
• Develop strong working relationships with state government officials and assume the lead on these relationships to build a work-plan for creating and building system capacity for change
• Conduct periodic update meetings/check-ins with stakeholders to communicate program progress
   

On-ground implementation and monitoring

• Oversee and guide Consultants/partner organizations in executing the program strategy
• Coordinate with implementation partners (government officials, external partners’ team, NGOs, etc.) to deliver on program objectives
• Enable implementation partners, including government officials, to meet outcome, budget, and timeline targets. Ensure availability, timely deployment, and efficient utilization of resources
• Identify operational bottlenecks and weaknesses, and devise work-around strategies
• Track program progress on key indicators according to the M&E framework
• Ensure high quality of documents (reports, presentations, proposals etc.) prepared by the team
   

TEA team management and capacity building

• Supervision and overseeing the day-to-day performance of all consortium team members in the State (team of 15-20 people across Education departments and in select districts with deeper intervention)
• Ensure effective transfer of knowledge from external partner to TEA team, to build the latter’s institutional knowledge and capacity
• Understand key aspects of strategy, such as which programs which work, as well as ways to scale interventions, monitor program outcomes, improve governance structures, and sustain govt. relations
• Synthesize best practices and program learnings to strengthen TEA’s institutional knowledge and support thought leadership activities
• Support grant management activities through proposals, donor reports, concept notes, etc.
• Represent TEA at key forums such as meeting and conferences at the state/regional/national level
• Provide effective mentoring to Consortium team members to develop their skills and capabilities
   

Skills and Qualifications

• Preferred work experience of 8-10 years including 3-5 years of post-graduation work experience (MBA or MPP/MPA)
• Experience with project management and people management is necessary and crucial for the role
• Experiences working with government and in the education sector is desirable, though not necessary
• Fluency in both English and Hindi required
   

Salary: Commensurate with experience

Expected date of Joining: Immediate

Employment Type: Permanent / Full Time (Work week: 5 days)

Location: Delhi with frequent travel to State of engagement (tentatively Haryana / Gujarat)

Please send your resumes along with a letter of intent to info@theeducationalliance.org; please mention “Director (FLN)” in the subject of your email.