Job Description
Girls’ Education Program Officer
Position: Program Officer, Girls’ Education Program (PO, GEP)
Employment type: Full time
Location: Field based – Tuyen Quang province
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 [1].
In Vietnam, Room to Read has been providing educational support in 20 years, establishing our presence in 35 provinces.
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 Room to Read’s Program Associate (PA) This includes facilitating trainings for Program Associate, 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 monthly 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 in the area of assignment as allocated by North Field Manager, 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 North Field Manager (FM), working closely with Program Associates, principals in the schools 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 PAs on Girls’ Education program content and activities. This may include co-facilitating training sessions with the GEP Senior Manager
- 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.
- Support Program Associates to manage Social Mobilizers
- Help Program Associates to support Social Mobilizers in planning and facilitating Room to Read’s life skills activities 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 Room to Read’s risk and response protocol.
- Conduct weekly 1-on-1 meetings with Program Associates
- 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 monthly review meeting with team members to identify challenges and solutions to solve the problem, ensure the program quality
- 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 Senior Manager and North Field Manager in charge of the area of assignment ensure that overall program quality, including local adaptation of Room to Read’s worldwide program content, meets Room to Read’s GEP standards.
- Participate in regular trainings and meetings with Room to Read 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 Room to Read’s GE program as needed.
- Lead the organization of other program activities/events as assigned by the FM 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 & Program Associates 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 Room to Read’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 (sociology, women’s studies, social work, pedagogic Management.).
- 3 – 5 years of relevant work experience.
- Prior experience in planning and facilitating trainings.
- Prior experience coaching or supervising others.
- Strong 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.
Working location:
She/he will be working mainly or based in field office (Hòa Bình or Tuyên Quang or any selected province in North). She/he may travel for work to other provinces or cities upon the request of the organization.
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 changing transforming the lives of millions of children in developing countries by focusing on literacy and gender equality in education.
Application Procedure:
Qualified candidates are invited to apply at Careers - Room to Read [2]. You will be asked to complete an online application and upload your resume and cover letter. You will receive an email confirmation when your application has been received.
Or submit your application preferably with a cover letter to email address: [email protected] [3].
Due to high applicant volume, we regret that we are not able to send personalized responses to all applicants. Applications are 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.
Room to Read is a child-safe organization; all personnel are expected to adhere to Room to Read’s Child Protection Policy and Child Protection Code of Conduct.