Girls’ Education Program Officer

Job Description
Girls’ Education Program Officer

Position: Program Officer, Girls’ Education Program
Employment type: Full time
Location: Tra On, Vinh Long

Organization Profile

Room to Read (RtR) seeks to transform the lives of millions of children in developing countries by focusing on literacy and gender equality in education. Working in collaboration with local communities, partner organizations and governments, we develop literacy skills and a habit of reading among primary school children, and support girls to complete secondary school with the relevant life skills to succeed in school and beyond.

We are non-governmental, non-religious and work with many local NGOs and community based organizations to implement our programs. We currently work in Bangladesh, Cambodia, India, Laos, Nepal, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Tanzania, Vietnam, and Zambia – countries with a desperate lack of resources to educate their children. Since our inception, RtR’s worldwide team has impacted over 7.8 million children by constructing more than 1,600 schools, establishing over 15,000 libraries, publishing 874 new children’s book titles in 27 local languages, and reaching over 20,000 girls through our Girls’ Education program.

RtR has an annual budget of approximately US$43.7 million and our global staff numbers over 600. Our global headquarters is located in San Francisco, and we have smaller fundraising offices in New Delhi, New York, Hong Kong, London, Mumbai, Sydney, and Tokyo. We have an Asia Regional Office located in New Delhi and program offices in Colombo, Dar es Salaam, Dhaka, Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, Kathmandu, Lusaka, New Delhi, Pretoria, Phnom Penh, and Vientiane.

Room to Read’s Girls’ Education Program Strategy

Room to Read’s Girls’ Education Program ensures that girls complete secondary school and have the skills to negotiate key life decisions. We collaborate with local communities, partner organizations and governments towards these goals. Our program reinforces girls’ commitment to their own education, works with girls to develop essential life skills and increases support for girls’ education among their parents, school staff, and communities. We ensure each girl gets the material and emotional support she needs to succeed in school and beyond through an enhanced approach that includes academic support, mentoring and life skills training. We set measurable goals and are committed to collecting action-oriented data to ensure our programs are run with quality and impact, while maximizing cost efficiencies.

Position Overview

The Girls’ Education Program (GEP) Officer spends the majority of her time providing technical support and supervision to RtR’s Social Mobilizers. This includes facilitating trainings for Social Mobilizers and teachers on program content and delivery, providing technical guidance to ensure Social Mobilizers conduct activities in line with global program design, conducting weekly 1-on- 1 meetings and annual performance reviews for all direct reports, and regularly observing Social Mobilizer performance in the field to help them be more effective in their roles. The Program Officer is also responsible for managing the implementation of the GEP program in the area of assignment as allocated by the Senior Program Officer, reviewing and analyzing program data collected by Social Mobilizers and Program Associates, overseeing needs assessments and delivery of material support for program participants, leading or supporting the facilitation of meetings with parents, teachers, and government officials, and supporting the annual planning and budgeting process. The Program Officer reports to the Field Manager (FM), working closely with and taking advice from the Senior Program Officer (SPO) in charge in the respective region/field office of assignment and manages a group of Social Mobilizers.

Roles & Responsibilities

Program Implementation and Training

• Plan and conduct trainings for Social Mobilizers, Life skill teachers and Program Associates on Girls’ Education program content and activities. This may include co-facilitating training sessions with the GEP Manager and/or Senior Program Officer in charge.

• Provide technical guidance to Social Mobilizers on program implementation in line with global program design.

• Conduct regular site visits to schools to observe and monitor Social Mobilizer implementation of program activities.

• Manage Social Mobilizers
  
  • Support Social Mobilizers in planning and facilitating Room to Read’s life skills activities (sessions and clubs) for girls and parent workshop sessions for the girls’ parents. Support may include helping a Social Mobilizer set her schedule of workshops, observing a session and providing feedback, or other activities needed to help Social Mobilizers succeed in their core responsibilities.
  • Support Social Mobilizers in the planning of parents’ meetings.
  • Support Social Mobilizers to mentor girls. This may include providing ideas for group discussion topics and coaching the Social Mobilizers on how to handle difficult topics.
  • Ensure Social Mobilizers know how to identify and support girls at risk of dropping or failing out of school using RtR’s risk and response protocol.
  • Conduct weekly 1-on- 1 meetings with Social Mobilizers.

• Plan and facilitate monthly Social Mobilizer review meetings to discuss and identify solutions to challenges Social Mobilizers are facing in program implementation and in working with girls and communities.

• Plan and facilitate trainings and meetings for government officials, school officials, and parents.

• Ensure school authorities and communities are supportive of the program and following agreements.

• Help the GEP Manager and Senior Program Officer in charge of the area of assignment ensure that overall program quality, including local adaptation of RtR’s worldwide program content, meets RtR’s GEP standards.

• Participate in regular trainings and meetings with RtR staff, as planned.

• Participate in regular review meetings and any other activities that may be required to be undertaken to fulfill the objectives of the organization.

• Participate in donor site visits and provide information to donors about RtR’s GE program as needed.

• Lead the organization of other program activities/events as assigned by the Senior Program Officer in charge of the area of assignment.

Planning, Reporting and Documentation

• Ensure Social Mobilizers and Program Associates collect and record GEP data including girls’ school attendance, academic performance, and participation in GEP activities as required per the program design. Review and analyze the data as needed.

• Prepare and review regular SM reports.

• Participate in annual planning and budgeting for project areas of assignment.

• Manage program expenses with the support of the Program Associate. Provide complete and accurate financial reports in project areas of assignment per RtR’s Accounting and Finance policies.

• Document best practices, case studies, and lessons learned and share with the GEP Team, as needed.

Qualifications

• University degree in a related field (e.g. education, social work, community development).
• 3 – 5 years of relevant work experience.
• Prior experience in planning and facilitating trainings.
• Prior experience coaching or supervising others.
• Good interpersonal skills and a team player.
• Strong organizational and planning skills including the ability to monitor progress of program implementation.
• Ability to juggle multiple priorities simultaneously and take initiative.
• Prior success working closely and building relationships with diverse groups of people.
• Desire and ability to spend a quarter or more time traveling and providing direct support to Social Mobilizers in the schools and communities in which they work.
• Experience working with and or counseling adolescent girls.
• Strong computer skills including Microsoft Office and Outlook.
• Fluency in language spoken by girls is an advantage Good communication in English is an advantage.

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.

Expected starting: February 2017

Application due: until the position is filled.

Application Procedure:

• Please submit your application preferably with a cover letter, online by visiting our website www.roomtoread.org [1] (about us > careers > see current vacancies).
• Alternately, click on https://osv-rtr.wd5.myworkdayjobs.com/en- [2] US/RoomToRead searching Vietnam as the location and apply.
• Or send resume to email [email protected] [3]

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.