Education Specialists at Opportunity International

Department: Global Programs – Education Finance

Reports To: African Coordinator of Education Quality

SUMMARY

Under oversight of the Africa Coordinator of Education Quality, the Education Specialist (ES) is responsible for the delivery of non-financial education services supporting the development of affordable private schools as part of the Education Quality programme. As part of a local team of Education Specialists and in collaboration with teams across Africa, this role is focused solely on the professional development of school leaders, mentors, and teachers to support effective management, teaching and learning, and supporting effective school development planning processes.

This includes:

• Establish and manage a portfolio of affordable private school clusters, a maximum of 13 networks of affordable private schools with an average of 6 schools per cluster.
• Facilitate regular cluster meetings (3 per cluster per academic term) to train school leaders and teachers on best practices as outlined by established criteria.
• Digital-based reporting and data collection on all program activities using ODK on company provided mobile tablets.
• Encourage Joint Practice Development (subject specific training of trainers within clusters) so that innovations and best practices become embedded within teaching practices.
• Support school leaders and teachers in completing school self-assessments and school development plans against established domains of education quality outlined in Pathways to Excellence, a school development planning manual.
• Contribute to and support schools in using local and international digital resources to support effective school development planning.
• Support school cluster WhatsApp groups to aid collaboration across and between clusters.
• Facilitate senior leadership professional development training of school leaders and teachers on established training modules.

ESSENTIAL DUTIES:

• Pathways to Excellence:
  • Collaborate with the Director of Education Quality, Africa Coordinator of Education Quality, and Education Specialists in-country and across Africa to develop and implement a self-assessment, external-assessment, and school development plan that analyzes school performance against 30 domains of education quality.
  • Establish and support school development planning teams at each school to identify priority areas for school improvement and train school leaders and teachers on provided digital resources for each domain of education quality.
• Cluster Development
  • Establish effective school clusters by supporting the development of a cluster governance committee with a Cluster Leader, Deputy Cluster Leader, and Cluster Administrator.
  • Develop an annual schedule of cluster meetings for school leaders and teachers.
  • Facilitate collaboration across clusters for school enrichment activities; i.e. sports competitions debate teams, arts exhibitions, etc.
  • Senior Leader Professional Development
  • Facilitate delivery of Senior Leadership Professional Development (SLPD) training on teaching and learning, child protection, early years, positive behaviour policies, finance, marketing, etc.
• Joint Practice Development
  
  • Develop mentorship capacity of teachers through Joint Practice Development (JPD) by facilitating independently and/or collaborating with external trainers.
  • Through ongoing coaching and training, JPD targets the improvement of teacher motivation, subject matter expertise, and pedagogical skills within school clusters and Opportunity International’s broader network of schools.
• Learning & Knowledge Management
  • Document case studies of ongoing effective practices and innovations from the field for dissemination to internal and external stakeholders.
  • Liaise with learning partners, as necessary, who engage with the Education Finance programme to evaluate effectiveness and impact.

QUALIFICATIONS:

• Degree in a field related to school-based education; or education development, but with significant experience in the education field.
• Post-graduate qualification related to education is preferred.
• Strong writing, data collection, and ICT skills (e.g. Microsoft Office products, ODK, mobile tablets, etc.).
• Experience working in education in Africa with school leadership experience.
• International education experience or training is preferred.
• Experience working within cross-cultural global organizations and NGOs.
• Strong communication, critical thinking, and problem-solving skills are required.

COMPETENCIES:

• Clear commitment to the mission, vision and values of the organization – commitment, humility, respect, integrity, stewardship, and transformation.
• Readily identifies mistakes and works to actively develop fixes and solutions.
• Aggressive pursuit of excellence, including regularly going above and beyond the call of duty to achieve results that will contribute to the development goals of the organization.
• Flexibility in ambiguous work environments without losing sight of desired outcomes.
• Honest and direct in communication and business practices.
• Embodies ethical and high moral standards and is able to identify unethical behavior and report to Education Finance senior management.
• Ability to manage contract negotiations with external vendors and ability to manage internal work-related expenses.

LANGUAGE SKILLS:

• English language fluency required
• Local language fluency required
• Second local language knowledge is preferred

KEY RELATIONSHIPS:

• Senior / Head Education Specialists
• Africa Coordinator of Education Quality
• Director of Education Quality
• Global team of Education Specialists
• Operations & Finance Director
• Financial Products Director
• Project Strategy Lead
• Education Finance Partners
• Opportunity International Support Members

TRAVEL REQUIREMENTS:

• Access to a personal vehicle for 80% domestic travel
• Able to travel with minimal notice and maximum flexibility
• Willing to travel independently and without escort or planning support