Curriculum Director

Spire is a new venture to reinvent higher education in the developing world. We are building education-to-employment programs that close the skills gap between what employers seek and what higher education institutions deliver.

The Spire founding team is seeking an exceptional individual to serve as Curriculum Director of Spire’s bridge program, a one-year experience to help students transition from university into their first full-time job. The Curriculum Director will be the founding architect of a new model built to answer one question: if we reinvented the ideal education-to-employment transition for the 21st century, what would it look like? Success in this role could change the way people think about higher education and job training around the globe.

RESPONSIBILITIES

The Curriculum Director will lead the development and delivery of Spire’s bridge program, starting with its launch in Kenya in early 2014. He or she will design a creative curriculum and instructional model, drawing on the best models and content from other “bridge” training programs around the globe (eg, Fullbridge, Year Up, etc.). The curriculum will likely integrate work simulations, online content, team- and project-based experiences, intensive coaching, and other methods. The Curriculum Director will also build and supervise the instructional team for the bridge program. He or she will then be responsible for leading the execution of the bridge program from the pilot stage through a rapid period of scale-up to serve thousands of students in Kenya and across sub-Saharan Africa. The Curriculum Director will work closely with the Spire founding team to build partnerships with employers and universities.The Curriculum Director will also:

The Curriculum Director will also:

• Serve as the initial bridge program site leader, communicating and reinforcing Spire’s values and organizational culture among the students and teaching staff;
• Hire other curriculum development staff as needed to support the design and development work;
• Coach and mentor bridge program instructional staff to deliver teaching of the highest quality;
• Design assessment system that enables the bridge program team to collect, analyze and use student data to monitor progress and enhance the program;
• Establish strong systems for student support and career counseling; and
• Develop and implement student selection process for the bridge program. 

The Curriculum Director will be based in Nairobi, Kenya.

COMPENSATION

Internationally competitive compensation package commensurate with experience.

BACKGROUND: SPIRE AND BRIDGE PROGRAM 

As they did with mobile phones, emerging markets can leapfrog costly, ineffective models of higher education as they expand educational access. Spire is the first radically redesigned model that enables this jump. Spire combines online content from elite US universities, offline instructional design from the best charter schools, and apprenticeship with top local employers. Think Harvard and Berkeley lectures paired with an active in-person classroom experience—all leading to yearlong, full-time internships with companies like IBM or Safaricom and culminating in an accredited bachelor’s degree from a US university.

The result is a world-class education for less than half the cost of existing options, making the future of higher education available today to thousands of underserved students in emerging markets.

Spire’s learning model is currently being piloted in Rwanda through Kepler, a sister nonprofit initiative with a strong track record in higher education. The Kepler founding team is now establishing Spire as a separate for-profit social enterprise to expand the model across sub-Saharan Africa, starting with a Kenya launch in 2014.

In addition to offering full university degree-bearing programs, Spire will also offer a shortened version of its model to underprepared students graduating from traditional universities. This “bridge” program will help students build the key skills and experience they need to be “job-ready” and will also link them directly into full-time jobs. The bridge program will be a core business line for Spire and will incorporate many elements of Spire’s full university model. It will create a transformative opportunity for students who would otherwise struggle to secure a desirable job and reach their potential.

Spire will recruit and begin working with students on nights and weekends during their final year of university. Students will then begin an intensive, full-time ‘boot camp’ once they complete their final exams. Classes and guided projects will focus on developing both students’ technical skills (eg, Microsoft Excel modeling for accountants) and soft skills (eg, leading teams through complex projects). Spire will also help students prepare for job interviews and psychometric tests. During the final six months of the program, students will begin their first full-time job—in many cases with Spire’s partner employers—while enjoying transitional support and skill-building from Spire on nights and weekends. 

Desired Skills & Experience

Spire seeks a dynamic, seasoned instructional leader who is inspired to create a new kind of education-to-employment bridge in Kenya. The ideal candidate will also have these qualifications:

• At least 5 years of work experience, including substantial experience in teaching, curriculum development and/or instructional leadership in higher ed, secondary school, or workforce/job training; 
• Ability to create innovative, non-traditional curriculum from scratch and with minimal guidance;
• Outstanding track record of delivering results in entrepreneurial environments;
• Strong analytical and communication skills;
• Experience working in a high-performing academic environment strongly preferred; and
• Experience in Kenya and/or elsewhere in the developing world preferred but not required.

APPLY

Company Description

We are launching a social enterprise called Spire to create a new model for higher education and education-to-employment training in the developing world. We are building programs to close the skills gap between what employers seek and what higher education institutions deliver -- and in doing so, transform the lives of tens of thousands of promising young people.