Progamme Manager, Academics at KwaraLEARN (Government of Kwara State)

KwaraLEARN (Leading Education Achievement and Reform Now) is a core new education programme by the Government of Kwara State to deliver dramatic improvements in learning outcomes in public schools for all children across Kwara State. KwaraLEARN will transform all government primary schools across the state into powerful public schools using innovative technology and data-driven platform, coupled with high-quality learning materials, effective training and ongoing coaching for teachers and school leaders, and technology-enabled support teams to create 360-degree support for learning outcomes.

We are recruiting to fill the position below:

Job Title: Progamme Manager, Academics

Location: Ilorin, Kwara
Employment Type: Full-time

Programme Overview

• Working for the technical implementing partner for the programme, you will work towards preparing Kwara and its youth for a bright future with a strong educational foundation. Being part of this transformative programme will be a challenging but fulfilling experience. You will have the opportunity to impact young lives and help build the future of Kwara and Nigeria.
• The programme is one of the most exciting and ambitious education programmes not only in Nigeria but also across Africa. A quality education has the power to transform the opportunities for Kwara's youth and the State. In joining us, you will join a group of dynamic and passionate Nigerians taking concrete action to help ensure a better future for the children of Kwara.

The Academics Department:

• The objective of Academics is to drive student achievement. To do so, we consider each minute of each class period of each school day for the typical child, in every grade level. The student’s daily experience  her path to achievement  emerges from her relationship with the school’s teachers and the content that is shared with her. Academics ensures that Schools have children’s learning at its core.
• Academics in each territory or program works with our shared services Academics Department, including Instructional Design and Learning Innovation. Instructional Design, with a core focus on structured pedagogy, is one of our core levers to support teachers and to empower children to learn. With a relentless focus on improvement of learning at scale, Academics works with our Learning Innovation team to scientifically test improvements to our work.
• Academics works to ensure that we are deploying locally appropriate content aligned to the state or national syllabus; that we are carefully tracking the use of our instructional design materials and their efficacy; that we are evaluating the best use of the school day and school year; that we are measuring learning in each grade level, in each school; that we are preparing children to succeed in state and national exams; and that we support graduates transition into secondary school.
• We keep children’s learning and development as our focus. We never waver from our belief that every child can learn and that schools are the center of the social justice movement to end generational transfer of poverty.

About the Role

• The Programme Manager, Academics will ultimately be responsible for educational outcomes across schools in their assigned territory, and will serve as an individual contributor, collaborator and a manager in this role.
• As an individual contributor, the Academic Programme Manager will manage all academic events and initiatives for the territory. This will include the implementation of cyclical events (eg. provision and maintenance of a school and academic calendar, daily and weekly timetables) and any new learning innovation launched throughout the academic year.
• As a collaborator, the Academic Programme Manager will be responsible for coordinating with Shared Services Instructional Design and Learning Innovation to ensure that all levers of achievement are robust and contextualized for the territory. Within the territory team, the Academic Manager will work with other departments to ensure that all schools have the right operational conditions for learning to take place.
• Finally, as a Manager, the Academic Programme Manager will ensure that members of the Academic team in the territory have a clear work plan, and are productively working in tandem to generate achievement in schools.

What You Will Do

• The Academic Programme Manager must be a data-driven individual with experience developing and managing cultures of high performance and high expectations.
• You must be a great academic leader who understands exceptional instruction and can motivate and support others in realizing a vision of academic excellence. Ideal candidates have worked in organizations with a proven track record of generating large learning gains.

What You Should Have

• Bachelor's Degree in Education or related field, Graduate Degrees preferred.
• 5 years’+ experience working in education.
• 2 or more years of teaching experience with evidence of outsized student learning gains is an added advantage.
• Experience working in the education sector.
• Must have attained management level in secondary education.

In addition, the Academic Programme Manager Must:

• Be a self-starter and problem-solver, who thinks three and four steps ahead.
• Be hard working and collaborative, with the tenacity to plough through challenges and an appreciation for teamwork toward achieving a shared vision.
• Be a fast learner and someone who is able to flourish in fast paced, dynamic, and sometimes ambiguous environments.
• Be both detailed and results-oriented, driven by the data that will allow us to know what is working and what isn’t working for kids.
• Have strong project management skills and excellent organizational skills, with keen attention to detail and ability to follow up systematically on a broad set of initiatives and decisions.
• Be an effective, articulate communicator who can represent NewGlobe to external audiences. ● Be humble and ready to “roll up your sleeves” to get things done.

You're Also:

• A detailed doer – You have a track record of getting things done. You’re organized and responsive. You take ownership of every idea you touch and execute it to a fine level of detail, setting targets, engaging others, and doing whatever it takes to get the job done. You can multi-task dozens of such projects at once and never lose sight of the details. Likely, you have some experience in a start-up or other rapid-growth company.
• A networking mastermind – You excel at meeting new people and turning them into advocates. You communicate in a clear, conscientious, and effective way in both written and oral speech. You can influence strangers in the course of a single conversation. Allies and colleagues will go to bat for your ideas. You have an existing network from prior experience in the country, preferably in the regulatory, education, or business sectors.
• A creative problem-solver – Growing any business from scratch comes with massive and constant challenges. On top of that, KwaraLEARN works in often fragile, sometimes volatile low-resource communities and with complex government systems. You need to be flexible and ready to get everything done effectively, quickly, and affordably with the materials at hand.
• A relentless advocate –The children we serve and teachers we empower never leave your mind. You know them, get them, have shared a meal with them (or would be happy to in the future). You would never shrink back from shaking a parent’s hand or picking up a crying child, no matter what the person was wearing or looked like. Every decision you make considers their benefit, experience, and value.
• A malleable learner –You believe you can always do better. You welcome constructive criticism and provide it freely to others. You know you only get better tomorrow when others point out where you’ve missed things or failed today.
• A data-driven decision-maker – When making decisions, you don’t rely on your intuition alone. You collect data, you analyze it and make decisions with clear justifications.
• A curious investigator – You ask why a lot. You don’t just take what you see and accept it. You wonder why it is that way, and are aware that the world we see is created by human choices and actions – and it could be different. You wonder, and see the world as wonderful even when you want to change a part of it that is unjust.

Application Closing Date
30th June, 2022.