Policy & Partnerships - Principal Strategist at Educate!

The right person for this role will:

• Have experience in learning and systems change theory: well-versed with adult learning theory, behavioral change and systems change theories to guide the design process
• Have strong strategic communication and collaboration skills
• Have a track record in driving behavior change programs with strong data-driven decision making abilities and a strong focus on driving positive learning outcomes. 
• Have a genuine passion for working within both government education systems and youth to create a broad and sustainable impact on youth.
• Experience in running experiments, product development processes, or human-centered design processes is a plus.

Performance Objectives

Strategy and roadmap development

• Lead the definition of products and initiatives with governments, including scoping concept notes, roadmaps and learning agendas, in line with Solution Line strategies.
• Ensure products and innovations address policymakers’ most significant pain points, whilst optimizing solutions to serve youth challenges and needs.
• Apply an iterative approach to strategy development with government, responding to changing policy contexts and payer requirements, continuously leading alignment across stakeholders through complex change initiatives.
• Define technical standards and frameworks for Educate!’s policy work with governments, drawing on international benchmarks as well as user-generated research. 
• Connect products and initiatives with broader organizational goals, including cross-functional insights from wider product teams.

Effective communication and coordination

• Communicate product vision, strategy and updates clearly to internal and external stakeholders with regular reporting on status, including shared work plans with government stakeholders.
• Lead external workshops and internal pre-meets to drive collaborative decision-making and problem-solving processes, working in collaboration with our Partnerships team to ensure the progression of our advocacy goals.
• Drive product initiatives through to completion by proactively convening stakeholders, seeking input and unblocking barriers to progress.
• Conduct product and project retrospectives with high level government partners and internally to evaluate strategy success and identify improvement areas.

Policy co-design and systems change

• Apply adult learning, behavior and systems change theories in co-designing products and projects for policymakers, ensuring a clear end-user focus for youth.
• Use Educate’s co-design methodology to integrate Educate!’s technical and product standards into government policies, systems and structures.
• Direct the development of government co-design workshop materials, ensuring a high impact government user experience that progresses our advocacy agenda and develops government capacity.
• Provide education technical support at the highest government levels to shape policy decisions, working across Educate!’s policy products and frameworks including project-based learning, curriculum and assessment, and data system strengthening.
• Establish feedback loops with government stakeholders and end-users for continuous product improvement.

Evidence-driven design and research 

• Design and test new Educate! products and initiatives with education system actors (students, teachers, leaders, policymakers), ensuring they are evidence-based and generate data and insights to inform future investment.
• Develop and lead collaborative learning agendas and experiments with government on live cycles of user research and ideas testing, to inform policy formulation and implementation.
• Proactively drive the use of evidence from E!’s products to create actionable insights for E!, government and payer stakeholders, including policy briefs, guidance and frameworks to ensure actionable follow up impacting students in the classroom.

Advancing Education System Solutions strategy

• Partner with the CEdIo to set clear design parameters for product scalability and sustainability within government systems.
• Partner with the CEdIO and senior leadership to improve the use of structured product and innovation approaches across our government work.
• Create high quality knowledge products such as Policy Briefs, concept notes, tools, frameworks and thought leadership, enhancing the value created by senior P&P leaders for government and funders.
• Lead high stakes or high profile government and funder partnership initiatives (such as study tours, policy dialogues, co-design workshops, launch events) in collaboration with Educate!’s advocacy experts, External Relations team and senior leaders, ensuring strong project leadership and strategic shaping to meet multiple stakeholder priorities.

Examples of potential projects include:

• Developing the strategy for supporting a government partner with their Learning Management System for teachers, ensuring a data-led approach and continuous improvement from user testing.
• Designing and testing a new District Taskforce platform where local leaders analyze the implementation of skills-based reforms into schools;
• Writing Policy Briefs for government on actionable evidence in a live priority area;
• Partnering with government to design a Roadmap for sustainable government policies and structures to support Volunteer Teachers;
• Setting up a Working Group across multiple agencies, to deliver a short term initiative (such as a Policy Dialogue event or study tour) or a long term innovation and change (e.g. improved teacher skills in project-based assessment);
• Technical oversight of a stakeholder and landscape mapping report on data systems;;
• Acting as a thought partner to the CEdIO on a thought leadership campaign.

Characteristics and traits

• Strategic Thinking: Ability to envision the big picture, plan long-term strategies, and anticipate future challenges and opportunities.
• Leadership Skills: Strong leadership qualities are crucial, including the ability to inspire, motivate, and guide cross-functional teams towards a common vision.
• Communication Skills: Excellent verbal and written communication skills are necessary for articulating the product vision, strategy, and goals clearly to stakeholders at all levels.
• Problem-Solving Ability: Adept at identifying problems, analyzing complex situations, and devising effective solutions, particularly in addressing user needs and aligning product goals with organizational objectives.
• Collaborative Nature: Must excel in working collaboratively with diverse teams, fostering an environment of cooperation and mutual respect, and effectively managing stakeholder relationships.
• Adaptability and Resilience: Capable of adapting to changing circumstances, resilient in the face of setbacks, and flexible in approach to meet evolving project demands and market conditions.

Qualifications 

• Bachelor's degree in a relevant field (e.g., education).
• Senior leadership experience in a relevant field such as social impact, innovation, change management or policy reform.
• Experience working in a portfolio setting, overseeing multiple initiatives e.g. internal or external consultancy or product/ projects environment.
• High level design experience in education policy, education innovation with government, education system change, or solution design for complex user-focused education programs.
• Experience in technology and innovation in the social impact and/or public sector would be an advantage.
• Strong networks in Tanzania across the education and social impact sector.
• Proven experience in product leadership, strategy development, and user-centered design preferred
• Strong understanding of organizational goals and the ability to connect them to product strategies.
• Excellent communication and collaboration skills to facilitate dialogue and ensure alignment across teams.
• Knowledge of user research methodologies and the ability to apply them effectively.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving abilities.
• Passion for Educate!’s mission is a must. We value diverse perspectives and encourage applications from people with a variety of backgrounds.