JOB DESCRIPTION

POSITION: ​Adaptation Manager

REPORTS TO: ​Chief Product Officer

LOCATION:​ Tanzania or Kenya

Ubongo Learning is Africa's leading producer of kids' edutainment. As a non-profit social enterprise, we create fun, localised and multi-platform educational content that helps kids learn, and leverage their learning to change their lives. Ubongo reaches millions of families across Africa through accessible technologies like TV, radio and mobile phones. Our show’s ​Ubongo Kids and ​Akili and Me currently air in 31 countries across Africa, in Swahili, English, French, and Kinyarwanda. We are currently adapting the shows to even more languages including Kikuyu, Luo, Yoruba, Hausa, Igbo, and Twi. This is a great time to join an organisation that’s rapidly growing across the continent, and work with a creative and impact-driven team committed to reaching as many families in Africa with life-changing edutainment.  

We’re looking for an ​ADAPTATION MANAGER​ who will ensure the quality adaptation of our programs for distribution across multiple platforms by working with our business and production teams, education specialists, translators, dubbing studios, and other partners.

Our current project involves adapting our content into Kikuyu, Luo, Kinyarwanda, Hausa, Yoruba, Igbo, and Twi. However, we have multiple opportunities to adapt into other languages.

Responsibilities  

QUALITY CONTROL:

• Ensure quality adaptation of Ubongo’s TV and radio programs into new languages for distribution across Africa

PARTNER MANAGEMENT:

• Act as the primary liaison​ ​between adaptation partners and Ubongo staff
• Coordinate with Ubongo staff to develop and lead trainings and workshops to onboard consultants and dubbing partners
• Conduct weekly check-ins with consultants to understand adaptation challenges and to maintain supportive relationships
• Collaborate with dubbing studios, translators, reviewers, and other consultants to ensure the accuracy and quality of the content

PROJECT MANAGEMENT:

• Develop an effective structure that will enable Ubongo to adapt content for new markets, including:
  • Identify internal and external partners and their necessary skills
  • Develop project timelines for each language and coordinate with partners to meet deadlines 
  • Identify challenges in the current process and develop solutions to address these challenges
  • Document effective processes and train internal and external teams on these processes

OTHER RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Support the business and development team in identifying new markets and languages
• Coordinate post-production adaptation of visuals and compilation of final episodes
• Track and manage the adaptation budget

Requirements

Our Adaptation Manager will:

1. Be based in Tanzania, Dar es salaam or Kenya, Nairobi
2. Be proficient in English (knowledge of Kiswahili and French is a bonus)
3. Be willing and ready to travel to various countries across Africa
4. Have a solid understanding of technology with an ability to learn new softwares quickly
5. Be organized and detail-oriented
6. Have a commitment to Ubongo’s Mission and Principles and a desire to create fun, localized, educational content

Time Commitment: Full Time