Education Specialist

The Education Finance (EduFinance) group of Opportunity International is a nimble, fast-moving, and rapidly expanding core function of Opportunity’s global footprint. EduFinance aims to get more children into better quality schools. It does this by increasing access to capital for affordable private schools and parents, and by boosting the capacity of school leaders and teachers in low- and middle-income countries. It does this in 24 countries and is growing rapidly

SUMMARY

Under the oversight of the Head Education Specialist, the Education Specialist (ES) is responsible for the delivery of non-financial education services supporting the development of affordable private schools as part of the EduQuality programme. As part of a local team of Education Specialists, this role is focused solely on the professional development of school leaders, teacher mentors, and teachers to support effective management, teaching, and learning, and supporting effective school development planning processes.  

This includes:

• Establish and manage a portfolio of 13 affordable private school clusters with an average of 6 schools per cluster.
• Facilitate regular cluster meetings to train school leaders on best practices as outlined by established criteria.
• Facilitate teacher professional development sessions to train teachers on best practices as outlined by established criteria
• Digital-based reporting and data collection on all program activities using Collect (Atlan) on company provided mobile tablets.
• Encourage Joint Practice Development (subject specific training of trainers) so that innovations and best practices become embedded within teaching practices.
• Support school leaders and teachers in completing school self-assessments and school development plans against established domains of education quality outlined in Pathways to Excellence, a school development planning manual.
• Contribute to and support schools in using local and international digital resources to support effective school development planning.
• Support school cluster WhatsApp groups to aid collaboration across & between schools/clusters.
• Facilitate school leadership professional development training of school leaders and teachers on established training modules.
• Document case studies of ongoing effective practices and innovations from the field for dissemination to internal and external stakeholders.

ESSENTIAL DUTIES 

include the following. Other duties may be assigned.                 

Pathways to Excellence

• Collaborate with Education Specialists in-country to develop and implement a self-assessment and school development plan that analyses school performance against 18 domains of education quality.
• Establish and support school development planning teams at each school to identify priority areas for school improvement and train school leaders and teachers on provided digital resources for each domain of education quality.
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Cluster Development

• Establish effective school clusters by supporting the development of a cluster governance committee with a Cluster Leader, Deputy Cluster Leader, and Cluster Administrator.
• Develop an annual schedule of cluster meetings for school leaders and teachers.
• Facilitate collaboration across clusters for school enrichment activities; i.e. sports competitions debate teams, art exhibitions, etc.

School Leader Professional Development

• Facilitate delivery of School Leadership Professional Development (SLPD) training on teaching and learning, child protection, early years, positive behaviour policies, finance, marketing, etc.

Teacher Professional Development 

• Develop mentorship capacity of teachers through Joint Practice Development (JPD) by facilitating independently and/or collaborating with external trainers. Through ongoing coaching and training, JPD targets the improvement of teacher motivation, subject matter expertise, and pedagogical skills within school clusters and Opportunity International’s broader network of schools.

Learning & Knowledge Management 

• Document case studies of ongoing effective practices and innovations from the field for dissemination to internal and external stakeholders. 
• Liaise with learning partners, as necessary, who engage with the Education Finance programme to evaluate effectiveness and impact. 

QUALIFICATIONS

• At least 10 years of experience working is education development.
• Degree in a field related to school-based education; or education development with significant experience in the education field.
• Post-graduate qualification related to education is preferred.
• Strong writing, data collection, and ICT skills (e.g. Microsoft Office products, data collection tools, mobile tablets, etc.). 
• Experience working in education management with school leadership experience and experience working in schools in remote/rural areas preferred.
• International education experience or training is preferred.
• Experience working within cross-cultural global organizations and NGOs.
• Strong communication, critical thinking, and problem-solving skills are required.

COMPETENCIES

• A clear commitment to the values of the organization – commitment, humility, respect, integrity, stewardship, and transformation. 
• Readily identifies mistakes and works to actively develop fixes and solutions. 
• Aggressive pursuit of excellence, including regularly going above and beyond the call of duty to achieve results that will contribute to the development goals of the organization. 
• Flexibility in ambiguous work environments without losing sight of desired outcomes. 
• Honest and direct in communication and business practices. 
• Embodies ethical and high moral standards and is able to identify unethical behaviour and report to Education Finance senior management.
• Ability to manage contract negotiations with external vendors and the ability to manage internal work-related expenses.

LANGUAGE SKILLS

• English language fluency required
• Local language fluency required 
• Second local language knowledge is preferred

 KEY RELATIONSHIPS

• Head Education Specialist(s)
• Manager, EduQuality Programme
• Global team of Education Specialists
• Director of Operations
• Director of EduFinance Technical Assistance
• Project Management Associate
• Education Finance Partners
• Opportunity International Support Members 

 TRAVEL REQUIREMENTS

• Access to a personal vehicle for 80% domestic travel
• Able to travel with minimal notice and maximum flexibility
• Willing to travel independently and without escort or planning support