Responsibilities

• Coordinates closely with the Chief of Party (COP) on all technical matters; provides support to the leadership and management of the project, including budget formulation and oversight
• Leads project interventions relating to pedagogic strategies for early grades with a particular focus on literacy and numeracy

• Coordinates technical support to the Ministry of Education and its decentralized actors
• Coordinates planning processes to ensure strategic and cohesive program direction

• Oversees technical outputs (activities, strategies and deliverables) of all implementing partner organizations through regular field visits

• Develops and implements local partner technical capacity building activities

• Supports the COP to oversee project monitoring and evaluation activities in collaboration with the MEL Advisor to build and implement a cohesive data collection, aggregation and reporting strategy with partners
• Provides leadership to technical staff and ensures clear roles and responsibilities; maintains clear lines of communication with project team members
• Collaborates with in-country technical advisors and headquarter-based technical staff to ensure the project is implemented according to organization and industry best practices, program framework, and regulations

Minimum Qualifications

• Master’s degree in education, international development or a related field required with a concentration in early grade reading, language acquisition or inclusive education preferred.
• 10+ years of related work experience in increasingly senior roles, with three years in leadership positions; experience working in a non-governmental organization (NGO) preferred; experience teaching in early grades preferred
• 7+ years of experience working in education reform with a focus on the primary education sector. Strong experience in early grade reading education, math education, curriculum instruction, teacher education, bilingual education or remedial education required
• Demonstrated expertise in education, e.g., early grade reading and/or numeracy, teacher professional development, assessment, policy, etc.; expertise in gender equality and social inclusion preferred; expertise in universal design for learning (UDL) preferred
• Experience in the education sector in Zambia or the region strongly preferred
• Proven technical leadership in USAID-funded projects preferred
• Ability to build positive working relationships with local communities, government officials, implementing partners and donor representatives
• Ability to analyze and establish effective cross-program coordination, procedures, and management systems
• Demonstrated ability in complex environments, working across different cultures, and managing diverse teams to deliver impact within agreed timelines

• Oral and written fluency required in English