Manager, Quality Reading Materials

JOB DESCRIPTION

MANAGER, QUALITY READING MATERIALS

Organization Profile:

Room to Read is a global organization transforming the lives of millions of children in low-income communities by focusing on literacy and gender equality in education. Founded in 2000 on the belief that World Change Starts with Educated Children®, our innovative model focuses on deep, systemic transformation within schools during two time periods that are most critical in a child’s schooling: early primary school for literacy acquisition and secondary school for girls’ education. We work in collaboration with local communities, partner organizations, and governments to develop literacy skills and a habit of reading among primary school children and ensure girls can complete secondary school with the skills necessary to negotiate key life decisions. By focusing on the quality of education provided within the communi-ties and ensuring these outcomes are measured, we have created a model that can be replicated, localized and sustained by governments. Room to Read has benefited 16.8 million children across over 37,000 communities in Bangladesh, Cambodia, Grenada, Honduras, India, Indonesia, Jordan, Laos, Myanmar, Nepal, Rwanda, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Tanzania, Vietnam, and Zambia. Learn more at www.roomtoread.org.

In Vietnam, Room to Read has been providing educational support in 20 years, establishing our presence in 35 provinces.

Position Overview:

The primary responsibilities of the Manager, Quality Reading Materials is to ensure our Literacy Program schools are supplied with engaging, relevant, and reading-level appropriate books and materials in print and digital formats that support the development of a habit of reading and competencies required for school libraries. This includes working with the Instructional Design and Teacher Support (IDTS) and RME units to identify the reading material needs of schools and surveying the books available in the market to fill those needs.  Where gaps exist in available books for purchase, the Manager - Quality Reading Materials is responsible for coordinating all aspects of Room to Read’s publishing initiatives including sourcing original content, reviewing, editing, producing and negotiating agreements with publishing partners. S/he will also be required form networks within the publishing industry to gauge local market trends and promote Room to Read as a key player in children’s book publishing.  The position will take primary responsibilities to coordinate activities with key partners in publishing industry, relevant government agencies and community organizations. The position will require some travel within Vietnam and involves frequent interaction with authors, illustrators, publishers, printers, and officials.  The position will report directly to the Literacy Director.

Primary Duties & Responsibilities:

Program Management, Contextualization, Training and Coordination (80%)

• Responsible for the overall Quality Reading Materials tasks, especially in identifying the ideal book list, gap analysis process and coordination with other units to identify needs.
• Responsible for identifying the criteria for engaging, relevant, and culturally appropriate supplementary reading materials for primary school grades, creating an ideal book list and materials list.
• Responsible to coordinate the selection of books & materials for procurement from the marketplace that meet the criteria as per QRM operations guideline.
• Where gaps are identified, work with local publishers, authors and illustrators to fill the gaps by commissioning and publishing reading materials, which involve sourcing local authors and illustrators, advising on story development, reviewing, editing.
• Ensures ISBN Codes & Govt. approvals for books and materials are obtained and copy rights agreements with writers and illustrators are signed.
• Ensures global guidelines are being adhered to and adapted as needed.
• Review and develop guidelines for authors and illustrators to produce original, high quality content that is appropriate for target age groups, suitable for the local cultural context and functional as a tool for education
• Responsible to coordinate the planning and implementation of activities to promote engagement of users to Literacy Cloud. Collaborate with other internal functions and partners, key trainers to contextualize materials for Literacy Cloud and conduct trainings to staff and partners. 
• Coordinates for review of Room to Read books with authors and illustrators to steer efforts towards shared vision of a final product
• Collaborates with the Instructional Design & Teacher Support unit to develop engaging teaching resources and materials through reviewing, editing and pre-press support.
• Coordinate with the Instructional Design & Teacher Support team for recommendations on improving book content and layouts before submitting final drafts to Literacy Director for approval.
• Liaise with publishing partners to initiate and manage the annual call for manuscripts event, in which manuscripts for children’s books are submitted and the best (as decided by a panel of expert judges) are published by Room to Read.
• Liaise with publishing partners to organize training for Illustrators and Writers on writing child friendly books and illustrations
• Confirm specification and information as required by procurement committee.

Planning, Reporting, and Documentation (15%)

• Complete detailed written reports in a timely basis to Global Office regarding the status and progress of printing books and materials.
• Review best practices and lessons learned documented during field work and share with other project sites, relevant local staff, the Country Director and appropriate GO based Program Staff.
• Monthly forecast and complete monthly expense reports
• Attend to donor affairs including donor site visits and documenting anecdotes that evolve through field work
• Supports the Literacy Director to encourage donors to ‘adopt’ books.  Provide information about titles that are coming to print and send copies of books once they are printed.
• Collaborate with the CO Program Operations team on oversight of the implementation calendar, budget, annual planning, quarterly reporting, and overall tracking of program implementation and spending
• In collaboration with the CO Programs Operations team, create, implement and analyze annual program goals and budgets to ensure alignment with organizational strategies and priorities

External Coordination and Networking (5%)

• Establish and manage relationships with other NGO’s, government officials and local educational facilities/authorities
• Collaborate with field staff and other local and outside volunteers to get program input
• Ensuring that the distribution plan of Room to Read and purchased books are in place and books are distributed accordingly.
• Represent Room to Read in different forums and advocate the importance of reading and the need for quality children’s reading materials.
• Stay informed about the CO’s children’s book publishing industry, investigating major children’s book publishers and local market demand
• Track changes in market trends with respect to content, format, types, age/grade levels, themes, language, etc., and use this information to evaluate and inform Room to Read’s publishing initiatives
• Build partnerships with organizations and associations involved with children’s books (NGOs involved with content development, writers groups, creative writing departments of universities, etc.) with the goal of becoming a key player in this community.
• Liaise with other Global Office team to coordinate workflows and share program information
• Participate in any other activities which may be required to be undertaken to fulfill the objectives of the organization and any other responsibilities assigned by the Literacy Director.

Qualifications:

Required:

• Bachelor or higher qualifications (in publishing, film and media, drama, education, languages, literature,  communications, or a related field)
• A minimum of 10 years of related professional work experience
• Familiar with (book) publishing works
• Strong leadership and management skills
• Demonstrated interest and capacity in partnership development and community engagement.
• Experience in the successful implementation of a wide range of tasks
• Experience in developing and implementing programmatic improvements
• Prior success working closely and building relationships with diverse groups of people and organizations
• Effectiveness in working or volunteering in a non-profit organization that is focused on maintaining high quality work and low overhead
• Prior experience in a fast-paced, growth-oriented global or regional organization
• Proven track record of achieving results
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills in English
• Ability to juggle multiple priorities simultaneously

Preferred:

• Prior experience in the book publishing field
• Prior experience living and/or working internationally, particularly in a developing country

Room to Read is committed to the education and welfare of children and protecting them from abuse and exploitation

• Room to Read has zero tolerance for child abuse and exploitation
• All children have the right to be free from abuse and exploitation, including neglect, maltreatment, and physical, mental or sexual violence, injury or abuse
• All children should be treated with respect and dignity
• The well-being of the child is Room to Read’s first priority when dealing with all identified or suspected cases of child abuse
• Room to Read shall integrate child protection into all its organizational strategies, structures and work practices

To be successful as a member of the Room to Read team, you will also:

• Have a passion for our mission and a strong desire to impact a dynamic non-profit organization
• Be an innovative and creative thinker – not afraid to try something new and inspire others to do so
• Have a very high level of personal and professional integrity and trustworthiness
• Have a strong work ethic and require minimal direction
• Work well independently as well as part of a team
• Thrive in a fast-paced and fun environment

Compensation:

Room to Read offers a competitive salary with excellent benefits. The non-monetary compensation includes a unique opportunity to be part of an innovative, meaningful, fun, and rapidly growing organization that is transforming the lives of millions of children in developing countries by focusing on literacy and gender equality in education.

Application Procedure:

• Please submit your application preferably with a cover letter, online by visiting our website www.roomtoread.org (about us > careers > see current vacancies).
• Or submit your application preferably with a cover letter to email address: [email protected].

We regret that we cannot respond to all applicants personally due to high applicant volume. Applications will be accepted until the position is filled. 

Room to Read is proud to be an equal opportunity employer committed to identifying and developing the skills and leadership of people from diverse backgrounds.