Program Officer, GEP

Job Description

Position Overview:The Program officer at the Country office will be responsible for supporting the India Country Office in achieving the Country goals set out for the Girls Education & Gender Equality Program. This position requires experience in Education, gender as well as matters like partnership management and program management, budget and program appraisals etc. This position will require frequent travel to all the concerned field areas Room to Read works in, as well as regular interaction with key stakeholders like state teams, partners, field staff and colleagues in different offices. S/he will extend support to GEP program officers based in states. This position will report to Senior Manager, GEGEP.Duties & Responsibilities:Design and Thought Leadership:

• Regularly update oneself with knowledge and policy related information on Girls Education programming in India and worldwide, and develop in-depth understanding of issues and practices related to it
• Represent the organization and influencing the process of strengthening life skills education in the educational ecosystem by being part of different groups and in different forums
• Support/upgrade in developing standard presentations, notes that can be used to represent GEGEP to various audiences like government, donors, external agencies, academics etc.
• Develop notes, training documents, TOT programs, presentations, content for various INCO initiated capacity building and review meetings of States; preparation and follow for these engagements with the states; rendering team in organizing national event.
• Contribute to development of strategic documents at the country level; Contribute to QPR, Annual Reports, Donor reports, and other documents as necessary
• Help develop technical assistance proposals and budget

Program Visioning, Development & Content Creation [Demonstration & Custom Projects]:

• Rendering support to the Senior Program Manager and state team to envision program trajectories in a collaborative model with the state government
• Contribute to program development - conceptualizing program designs, frameworks and monitoring tools in response to diverse opportunities and asks in varied contexts especially at scale
• Read, review and contextualize all materials related to the worldwide modules received from GO. Collectively work with the State POs and PAs as working group for content review and development
• Co-lead the process of developing training materials and training designs for life skills educators especially at scale basis the current experience
• Participate in developing/upgrading SOPs/ guidance note/ checklist wherever required
• Leading the development of one edition of GUPSHUP

Leading quality discourse:

• Supports the Senior Program Manager to develop standards and checklists for defining the quality parameters of the programs and shares and takes on board for further discussion and follow up with team at State level
• Play a leading role in getting all the teammates (across the country) on a common page for delivering a quality program whether in direct model or in partnership
• Supports Research/Baseline studies as well as Action Researches as required and interfaces with external and internal stakeholders, as and when required.
• Participates in Special Task forces as and when required.
• Supports Capacity Building efforts of States on specific themes.

Strengthening Program Quality Demonstration:

• Leads in ensuring that the program(s) (depending upon the allocated state) are being implemented on agreed benchmarks and stays on top of implementation of the allocated states by working with relevant stakeholders

• Works closely with Program Operations team and the State Team in identifying bottlenecks of implementation and resolves it
• Takes initiative in identifying and resolving quality issues in the program while working together with the INCO colleagues and other stakeholders as required
• Ensures that relevant data (reports/ dashboards) are analyzed timely and the feedback loop is closed by using it in the program
• Regularly undertakes and documents the monthly check in calls conducted with the relevant stakeholder(s)
• Ensures that Standard Operating Protocols (SOPs) are being followed, keep abreast of the ground zero challenges being faced by the state teams.
• Takes corrective measures and proposes relevant changes/process improvement(s) (if any) that might be required to fine-tune the existing SOPs for better implementation of the tasks.
• Participating and organizing GEGEP meetings with the states
• Regularly undertake field visits. Observe quality of program and program fidelity at the field level. Share observations with state GEGEP team, State managers and INCO Prog Ops, along with suggested actions.
• Review of Partner proposals and suggest the specific points to team for final submission.

Strengthening Program Quality Custom Project:

• Rolling out the training of the Accelerator team.
• Rendering support in Teachers Training.
• Undertake field visits to observe roll of quality of program.
• Developing presentations, program notes, status update etc. to be shared during the internal meetings and meetings with the government officials; rendering support in donor reporting and the state team in advocating with the govt. to institutionalize the life skill sessions in the school.
• Rendering support to the state team in ideating the community campaigns, community events, teachers/ warden training, holding teams meetings, Radio and TV program and in other program components; closely monitor the program in collaboration with Ops.
• Regular coordination and meetings with the state team and other departments regarding the program implementation status, analysis of dashboard, budget and other programmatic aspects
• Working with RM&E on data quality monitoring visits and follow up all the concerns and ensure resolution

Annual Planning and Budgeting:

• Extend all possible support to state and INCO in annual planning and budgeting exercise.

Communications and Outreach:

• Participate in events, workshops and seminars on Girls education
• Help Communications Dept. to develop outreach materials for GEP including brochures, yearbook, case studies, films etc.
• Support Communications department and Organize events and technical sessions that help create visibility and thought leadership of RtR.

Liaison with other departments:

• When required Program Officers liaison with other departments like administration and finance for follow up on Requisitions for workshops, logistics, payments, other services required like translations etc.
• Liaise closely with Operations on tracking spending and initiating corrective measures for budget utilization and Donor reports
• Works closely with HR if any support is required being a part of the interview panel; Participate in hiring interviews, orientation sessions, program events and other INCO activities.

Qualifications:Required:

• Master s degree in education/Social work/development studies/Gender or social sciences.
• Experience of working in the areas of elementary/ secondary education, girls education, gender, school development.
• Experience in developing training modules, conducting trainings and managing events.
• Ability to travel frequently and spend time in the field.
• Good verbal and written communication skills in English and Hindi.
• A range of 5-7 years experience in working with an NGO/INGO

Room to Read has zero tolerance when it comes to child abuse and exploitation and believes that all children have equal rights to protection. All selected candidates will be expected to adhere to the child protection policy, code of conduct and standards and will undergo rigorous reference and background check through third party. Background check will include the verification of employment history and criminal check. Selected candidates may be required to provide additional information to conduct a background checkCompensation:Room to Read offers a competitive salary with excellent benefits. Benefits include thirteenth month bonus, health insurance and a retirement plan. The non-monetary compensation includes a unique opportunity to be part of an innovative, meaningful, and rapidly growing organization that is changing transforming the lives of millions of children in developing countries on literacy and gender equality in education.Location(s)India - Main - New Delhi,

Keyskills :
data qualitycapacity buildingcase studiesannual reportscontent creationcode of conductexternal agenciesgender equalityadobe creative suitelife skillshealth insuranceannual planningmonitoring tools