Content Development Specialist

ORGANISATION

Opportunity EduFinance is a nimble, fast-moving, and rapidly expanding core function of Opportunity International’s global footprint. EduFinance aims to get more children into better quality schools. It does this by increasing access to capital for affordable non-state schools and parents, and by boosting the capacity of school leaders and teachers in low- and middle-income countries (LMIC). It does this in 23 countries and is growing rapidly. 

EDUQUALITY PROGRAMME

The EduQuality programme at Opportunity EduFinance brings together local school owners of approximately 1,700 affordable private schools in a self-improving school system, or network of school clusters, across 9 countries. Collaborating with EduFinance financial institution partners lending to these schools, the EduQuality team offers a holistic school development programme, a three-year intervention including the following core components:

·         Professional development training to senior school leaders with a focus on instructional leadership and management best practices.

·         In-service professional development for teacher mentors with a focus on foundational teacher training, i.e., pedagogy, teaching and learning, and classroom management.

·         Strategic school improvement planning with Pathways to Excellence. Each school owner diagnoses the quality of education at their school using measurable indicators of school quality and then develops a school development plan to improve upon areas of greatest need.

POSITION SUMMARY

We are seeking a collaborative, experienced, and results-driven educator to lead a small, international content team as an Education Content Specialist, EduQuality Programme. This role is a core position will support the Global Manager on strategy formation of the EduQuality programme and be responsible for the development of programme content by coordinating and building upon all ongoing educational content creation, including management of a small content team of full-time staff and short-term consultants.

All EduQuality educational content is focused on the professional development of school leaders and teachers, to build competencies in school management, instructional leadership, and effective teaching and learning. The professional development training is delivered and adapted across multiple countries in Africa and South Asia through a blended learning approach, combining both in-person and digital learning platforms. The in-person training is delivered through a team of local education specialists to school leaders and teachers, complemented with digital content delivered on a customized, low-bandwidth learning management system (LMS). New instructional content is provided to the implementation team for roll-out across the EduQuality program in approximately 1,700 schools across Africa and South Asia.

ESSENTIAL DUTIES

70% Product Development & Management

·         Coordinate, ideate, and develop high-quality content to improve the professional capacity of school leaders and teachers in affordable non-state schools in LMIC.

·         Develop and implement efficient processes for scaling the creation of educational content.

·         Facilitate in-person and virtual training-of-trainers for local Education Specialist teams to deliver high-quality programme training to school stakeholders.

·         Provide technical and pedagogical support on best practices in school management, instructional leadership, and teaching and learning.

·         Train and supervise a small content team of full-time staff and technical consultants, i.e., external subject matter experts.

·         Evaluate potential course or content partners for fit and consistency with EduFinance’s vision, values, and methodology.

30% Strategy & Communications

·         Support the Global Manager on strategy and design of the EduQuality programme in order to improve educational outcomes.

·         Conduct on-going research into effective programming for school development and disseminate learnings across the team.

·         Use internal and external stakeholder data and feedback to inform recommendations and decision-making to optimize value, consistency, and quality of existing course content, course design, delivery, and assessments.

QUALIFICATIONS

·         Extensive experience living and working within the education sector and school environment in EduFinance countries of operation; preferably Ghana, Rwanda, Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Zambia, DRC, India, and/or Pakistan.

·         Master’s degree or equivalent, with 5-7 years of relevant experience in education, training, teacher professional development, curriculum design, consulting, organisational development, or administrative management, including solid experience with computer-assisted learning, instructional design, and educational research.

·         Experience building in-person and digitally delivered professional development training for teachers and school leaders in LMIC, with strong familiarity with multimedia techniques.

·         Minimum of 2-3 years as a classroom teacher and solid background as an instructional coach or teacher trainer at pre-primary and primary-level education.

·         Technical expertise in one of more areas critically important to the development of education in LMIC, i.e., gender/girl’s education, inclusive education, early childhood education, and literacy development in pre-primary and primary school environments.

·         Experience working with and coordinating multi-disciplinary teams across multiple countries and cultures.

·         Demonstrated ability to work autonomously with little oversight, strong attention to detail, and excellent written communication skills.

·         Knowledge of and experience with USAID-funded projects preferred, but not required.

LANGUAGE SKILLS

Fluency in English is required; fluency in 1-2 additional languages preferred (French, Swahili, Hindi)

CONTRACT TYPE

Full-time permanent employee

LOCATION

This is a remote/telework position. Preference will be made for candidates based in Kampala, Nairobi, Delhi, or London.

SUPERVISORY RESPONSIBILITY

One full-time staff and 3-5 short-term and long-term consultants.

TRAVEL REQUIREMENTS

Possible travel required with minimal administrative planning support to countries of programme operations.

APPLICATION

Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis.

Please submit a cover letter, detailed CV, and sample portfolio of educational content design work. Applications without these requirements will not be considered.

START DATE

July 2021