Role Context

There have been many efforts towards improving the quality of education in the school system. There is yet room for these innovations and initiatives to have the desired impact on the quality of student outcomes – either for reasons of governance, implementation, or design. This is a fertile time for a systemic transformation effort; addressing the challenges in the system will require a concerted multiyear effort, tackling both administrative and academic reforms, and building solid institutions.

Peepul (formerly as Ark India) has been working in the South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC) school system since 2015, starting with Delhi’s first PPP school, that has consistently shown excellent results; expanding later into wider teacher development through a multiyear training programme, that has now evolved into the effort towards setting up Teacher Development Centers in the state.

Peepul has also embarked on a large-scale systemic teacher professional development initiative in Madhya Pradesh, impacting 270,000 teachers across 100,000 schools. Through this deep partnership with governments, we have also developed a deep understanding of the government school system’s context, landscape, and administrative support structures at the ground-level. Peepul will be embarking on a multi-year system-wide transformation program in our focus states to holistically improve the system towards high-quality education in the government school system. The program aims to envision and create an exemplar education ecosystem, with high-performing teachers, a conducive environment for learning and students meeting or exceeding grade-level expectations. The programme is envisaged to have a joint Programme Management Unit (PMU) between the SDMC and Peepul. This flagship program will also serve as an exemplar of education system transformation in the municipalities in the country.

Role description

The role of Programme Lead is critical to the success of continued partnership with the SDMC to drive the transformation and PMU to its logical conclusion, towards achieving quality education for all, and to Peepul’s strategic objective of supporting quality improvement in the public school system in India. This is therefore an exciting opportunity for a highly-motivated individual to play a leadership role in a flagship reform initiative with enormous potential impact. The Programme Lead will be an individual of exceptional calibre with the flexibility, tenacity and enthusiasm both to lead a high performing, creative team and to establish with government partners a fast moving, high-expectations culture.

Reporting to the COO and Director Scale Programmes and working in close collaboration with the Education Director SDMC, SCERT, Directorate of Education, Government of NCT of Delhi, the Programme Lead will be accountable for the detailed design and implementation of the programme verticals in Delhi as well as building Peepul’s credibility across India as a leading delivery partner on public school sector quality improvement. The Programme Lead must be someone with strong vision, deep educational, operational, and technological expertise, and dexterity in managing relationships with the multiple institutions involved. Ideally, he/she would be someone who can bring to bear understanding and expertise in education, data analysis, technology, and operations strategy.

Key Responsibilities

To actively design and manage programmes at scale.

 To design and lead the development of at-scale programmes, actively owning and delivering the programme

 To integrate data and dashboards into our programmes so that we can better track impact.

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

 To build strong relationships and credibility with partner organisations, senior government officials, donors and field teams.

 To support components of other programmes as required, towards strengthening Peepul’s impact and leverage synergies To support the execution and implementation of the programme at scale

 Support the Program Director in implementing the programme effectively at scale

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

 Manage a team of Programme Managers, Project Managers, Project Associates and Project Coordinators, towards successful and smooth work execution

 Providing timely support to government counterparts, field officials and teachers towards understanding and engaging with Peepul’s programs

 Understanding and navigating the education administration of the state to enable impact

 Designing and delivering mechanisms for increasing impact Strengthening liaison with the government, and identifying opportunities for deepening support to the government

 Building and managing relationships with government officials at the state and cluster level, to enable success of Peepul’s programmes

 Liaising and coordinating in influencing state-wide policy and processes through sharing / dissemination of best-practices from Peepul’s work Widening and deepening Peepul’s understanding of state priorities and field realities

 Providing insight into other programs and initiatives ongoing at the state and district level

 Building and sharing a strong understanding of historical and current government programs

 Develop and maintain effective feedback mechanism to ensure and support evidence-based planning and decision making.

 Capture and communicate feedback from ground to enable strengthening of programme design and implementation To build an effective and sustainable delivery architecture, including a highperforming team and strong public, private and non-profit partnerships.

 Recruit, support, line-manage and develop a high-calibre delivery team. Effectively work in a matrixed environment with education specialists, subject matter experts and field staff

 Develop and maintain strong operational relationships with government partners, providing leadership and putting in place mechanisms to support collaboration and cross-organisational working.

 Design and build effective, fully aligned partnerships to leverage external expertise where appropriate given Peepul’s in-house skill-set

 Build capacity within government teams to ensure ongoing, sustainable organisational self-improvement after the formal end of the project/programme To contribute, as part of the senior team of Peepul, to the wider strategic development of Peepul.

 To ensure the strategic agenda is effectively translated into clear operational plans within the core programme being led.

 To provide advice and challenge to the Senior Leadership Team on programme management and execution

. Lead on key parts of wider organizational building, supporting the Senior Leadership Team

 To build strong working relationships with all senior leaders within Peepul, developing a deep understanding of the organisation’s mission and aligning its principles and practices across geographies.

 To work effectively with Peepul’s board members, ensuring regular and accurate reporting on programme performance. Person Specifications The successful candidate will demonstrate the following experience, skills, and attributes.

Experience:

 A total experience of 8-10 years with a track record of providing strong strategic and operational leadership in a rapidly growing commercial or charitable organisation.

 Proven success in managing multi-functional teams, including finance, in dynamic settings.

 Extensive experience of working with senior internal and external stakeholders.

 Experience of developing effective operational services to support the delivery of wider strategic goals.

Skills and Knowledge:

 A detailed understanding of service excellence with the leadership skills to foster a strong service ethos across the central team.

 The intellectual flexibility to participate fully in shaping the strategic and operational future of the network, working with all the senior colleagues in India.

 Strong analytical skills with the ability to spot pragmatic solutions to operational challenges.

 An ability to work successfully under pressure with the capacity to manage competing priorities.

 Exceptional stakeholder management skills with a proven ability to build strong, sustainable relationships with a wide range of individuals. Personal attributes:

 A passion for education and a genuine commitment to Peepul’s mission and values.

 The tenacity, flexibility and resilience to adapt rapidly to changing priorities in a fast-moving, complex environment.

 High levels of personal impact with the ability to command the respect of wide range of senior stakeholders.

 Significant personal drive, energy, ambition and enthusiasm.

Language skills:

 Fluency in English and Hindi Other factors to consider:

 Commitment to equality of opportunity and the safeguarding and welfare of all pupils. This role will be subject to enhanced background checks.

 Willingness to travel internationally and when necessary work outside normal working day for public and other meetings and to achieve deadlines