Book Publishing & School Libraries Manager, Tanzania

Room to Read seeks to transform the lives of millions of children in developing countries by focusing on literacy and gender equality in education. Working in collaboration with local communities, partner organizations and governments, we develop literacy skills and a habit of reading among primary school children, and support girls to complete secondary school with the relevant life skills to succeed in school and beyond.

 

We are non-governmental, non-religious and work with many local NGOs and community based organizations to implement our programs. We currently work in Bangladesh, Cambodia, India, Laos,Nepal, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Tanzania, Vietnam, and Zambia – countries with a desperate lack of resources to educate their children. Since our inception, Room to Read’s worldwide team has impacted over 7.8 million children by constructing more than 1,700 schools, establishing over 16,000 libraries, publishing 882 new children’s book titles in 27 local languages, and reaching over 25,000 girls through our Girls’ Education program.

 

Room to Read has an annual budget of approximately US$44 million and our global staff numbers over 600. Our global headquarters is located in San Francisco, and we have smaller fundraising offices in Delhi, New York, Hong Kong, London, Mumbai, Sydney, and Tokyo. We have program offices in Colombo, Dar es Salaam, Dhaka, Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, Kathmandu, Lusaka, New Delhi, Pretoria, Phnom Penh, and Vientiane.

 

Position Overview:

The Book Publishing & School Libraries Manager, Africa is part of Room to Read’s Global Office Literacy Team. The primary duties of this position are to contribute to the design of the worldwide program frameworks for Quality Reading Materials, School Libraries, and Family & Community Engagement, and to support Room to Read’s Africa Country Offices in updating and contextualizing program content and professional learning materials in alignment with Room to Read’s global model. This position is based in Pretoria, Lusaka or Dar es Salaam and reports directly to the San Francisco-based Literacy Manager.

Duties & Responsibilities:

• Oversee new book targets in Africa by reviewing manuscripts, storyboards, and layout designs and collaborating with Country Office (CO) teams to develop/improve them
• Develop worldwide program content
• Develop worldwide teacher professional learning materials
• Support Africa CO Program Managers in the use of existing program content and professional learning materials until contextualized worldwide materials are available
• Provide input into business development opportunities as well as communication with the Development team as related to donor reporting on design and technical assistance activities
• With supervisor, develop staffing model, job competency model, individual development plan, work plan, and other human resource and operational tools for staff effectiveness and efficiency
• Frequent travel internationally within region (30-40% time)
• Collaborate meaningfully with regional and global counterparts (in Instructional Design & Teacher Support (IDTS), Professional Development and School Libraries, Quality Reading Materials and Family & Community Engagement) to ensure coordinated support to country teams

Qualifications:

Required:

• Bachelor’s degree in education, publishing, library sciences, social sciences, or related fields (Master’s degree strongly preferred)
• A minimum of 7 years of related professional experience
• Prior experience working in the book publishing industry, preferably related to children’s books
• Excellent knowledge, experience, and understanding of the story development and illustration development process, preferably for beginning reader books
• Strong facilitation skills and/or experience planning and leading training sessions and capacity building workshops
• Ability and desire to live in one of our program countries in Africa (Zambia, Tanzania, South Africa) and travel frequently within the region (about 40-50% of the time)
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills in English
• Prior success working closely and building relationships with diverse groups of people
• Ability to juggle multiple priorities simultaneously and take initiative
• Prior experience living or working in Africa

Preferred:

• Excellent knowledge, understanding and experience of teaching and learning approaches (and materials) that support children’s development of strong reading habits and skills
• Effectiveness in working or volunteering in a fast-paced, growth-oriented global or regional non-governmental organization that is focused on maintaining high quality work and low overhead

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 nonprofit organization
• Be an innovative and creative thinker; you’re 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:

Please send a cover letter and resume by email, with “BP & SL Manager” in the subject line, (no letters, calls, faxes, or drop-ins) to hiring@roomtoread.org. 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.