Deputy Chief of Party/Reading Instruction and Teacher Training Specialist (RITTS)

Chemonics seeks a Deputy Chief of Party/Reading Instruction and Teacher Training Specialist (RITTS) for the USAID Next Generation Early Grade Reading Activity (NextGen) in Malawi. The $75 million activity aims to solidify and build on the contributions made to date as part of the implementation of Malawi’s National Reading Program (NRP) towards improving the delivery of high-quality early primary reading instruction in all Malawian primary schools. The Deputy Chief of Party/RITTS will provide technical and managerial oversight of interventions related to the improvement of classroom instruction in pre-primary and primary classrooms. We are looking for individuals who have a passion for making a difference in the lives of people around the world.

Responsibilities include:

• As a member of the leadership team, works closely with the chief of party and DCOP/Implementation to provide technical and managerial oversight for the Activity, including the development and implementation of the Activity’s annual work plans; monthly, quarterly and annual reports; and other requests that may come in from USAID.
• Responsible for overseeing development of all project materials related to the improvement of classroom instruction in pre-primary and primary classrooms (these might include materials related to policy or to teacher professional development or to student learning). Specifically responsible for 1) developing training materials and managing national teacher training 2) designing and coordinate training in technical areas relevant to NextGen, including collaboration with the Malawi Institute of Education (MIE) to ensure materials developed are aligned with the curriculum. Also responsible for supporting policy issues related to improving classroom instruction.
• Guides program staff on essential components of reading programs as relevant, possibly including policy issues, curriculum design, lesson planning, instructional approach, teacher professional development, materials development and distribution, classroom-level assessment and large-scale assessment to develop highly effective activities in these areas and to integrate them for maximum effectiveness at the program level.
• Engages directly with host-country government and other organizations on their capacity development needs with the overall aim of improving equitable and high-quality service delivery to host-country populations for improved reading outcomes. Will be responsible to effectively transfer skills and knowledge to program participants and a variety of key stakeholders, to include the Ministry of Education (notably DQAS, DTED, DBE and MIE), Ministry of Gender (who have the government mandate for ECD/ECE), USAID, development partners, families, and community members.
• Builds collaborative relationships with governmental agencies, donor/client organizations, relevant private sector actors and other non-governmental organizations and institutes to enhance quality and effectiveness of project materials.
• Reviews, analyzes, and evaluates the effectiveness of literacy-related activities through field visits, collaboration with the monitoring, evaluation and learning (MEL) team through analysis of data collected, as well as pause and reflect sessions internally and with Ministry of Education stakeholders, and makes recommendations for improvement to meet project goals.
• Collaborate with other members of the leadership team to understand the Activity’s technical needs and work to put them in action with support from technical and operations staff. This includes writing scopes of work for short-term technical assistance and subcontractors and providing information in a timely manner to enable the operations team to provide any necessary logistical support.
• Effectively manage talent and supervise designated staff. Manage team dynamics and staff well-being. Provide coaching and mentoring if needed to develop skills needed to manage work plan activities to deliver quality results and ensure appropriate monitoring and evaluation activities to support learning and adapting.
• Maintain rigorous focus on the achievement of the Activity’s key performance indicators and on fulfilling the terms of the Activity contractual scope of work. Coordinate effectively with the monitoring and evaluation team to support their work in the technical areas overseen.
• Facilitate knowledge sharing and knowledge management across the NextGen team.
• Work closely with the team to ensure that the Activity consistently adheres to Chemonics’ norms and culture and ensures the highest ethical standards, emphasizes the importance of communication and teamwork, adheres to USAID technical guidance, and directly contributes to the attainment of the Activity’s contractual deliverables through oversight of half of the technical team and key aspects of the work plan;
• Other activities as assigned by the chief of party

Qualifications:

• An advanced degree in education development, literacy instruction, reading acquisition, or a related field in education with at least 3 years of demonstrated work experience in teacher training programming, coordination, and/or oversight. This experience should involve direct work experience on reading instruction, teacher mentoring, coaching teachers reading, classroom management and delivery of teaching instructions using a phonics-based approach.
• At least two years of significant experience with teacher training coordination with scope and content similar to what is proposed for NextGen.
• Demonstrated ability to effectively transfer skills and knowledge to program participants and a variety of key stakeholders, to include the Ministry of Education, USAID, development partners, families, and community members.
• Proven experience building relationships and facilitating learning about how to improve project work preferred.
• Experience with a USAID-funded early grade reading project highly preferred
• Demonstrated leadership, versatility, and integrity
• Written and spoken proficiency in English required. Advanced level of written and oral communications skills.