SENIOR INTERNATIONAL TECHNICAL ADVISOR

Technical Director (SENIOR INTERNATIONAL TECHNICAL ADVISOR) 

Grade 12 – INTERNATIONAL – REFERENCE #: TD070813

Regular – Full-Time Position; Waltham, MA

Project description

The Literacy, Language, and Learning Initiative (L3) helps Rwanda’s Ministry of Education (MINEDUC) develop and implement new national standards for literacy (in English and Kinyarwanda) and numeracy, aiming to improve students’ reading and mathematics skills in grades 1 to 4, as well as their English language proficiency. Working in collaboration with MINEDUC and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), L3 works with preservice and inservice facilitators to introduce proven reading and mathematics teaching strategies and with community volunteers to support struggling learners. The initiative also aims to improve the availability and use of innovative reading and math instructional materials.

About EDC

Founded in 1958, EDC is an international nonprofit organization that works to build bridges between educational research, policy, and practice. EDC’s headquarters are located in Waltham, MA, USA. We also have regional offices in New York City, NY, USA; Chicago, IL, USA; Washington, DC, USA; Cairo, Egypt; Nairobi, Kenya and numerous project offices around the world.

Title:  Technical Director

Summary:   The Technical Director (TD) is embedded in the Rwanda Education Board (REB) and is a key personnel position. S/he will work very closely with REB counterparts and project staff and will have overall responsibility for assisting the REB/MINEDUC with high-level technical capacity building, strategy development, curriculum development, and policy support and advice. The Technical Director will work on longer-term issues with the REB/MINEDUC in two major areas: professional development and resource support for schools to improve instruction in reading, mathematics, and English; and policies, information and management related to reading, mathematics, and English instruction. In addition, s/he will lead the project’s technical components on numeracy and literacy, and teacher preparation and continuing development. The TD will oversee design and development of interactive radio instruction (IRI) programs, and advises on content, accompanying materials and training. This position is located in Kigali, Rwanda.

In collaboration with the Director General of REB, in coordination with the EDC home office, and under the supervision of EDC’s L3 Chief of Party, the Technical Director will have the following responsibilities:

Managing all technical activities

• Direct all aspects of technical assistance related to the L3 project

• Ensure that the L3 work plans are developed and approved by appropriate REB departments

• Manage the implementation of program activities including formative evaluation of classroom instructional materials and large-scale roll-out of the comprehensive instructional program in schools, and technical deliverables

• Supervise, direct, and coordinate work of technical staff

• Help identify and manage short-term technical consultancies in accordance with REB priorities including L3 initiatives

•Manage the technical budget

• In consultation with the L3 Chief of Party, manage the technical work of the International Education Exchange, Inc. (IEE), Concern Worldwide, and other sub-contractors conducting technical work on behalf of L3

• Troubleshoot problems and propose technical solutions

• Assist in building staff cohesion across activity areas

Curriculum reform

• Ensure the technical quality and responsiveness of all L3 instructional materials by ensuring they conform to REB guidelines and standards as well as international norms for reading and mathematics instruction

• Assist with REB and Teacher Training College (TTC) curriculum revision efforts

Production of instructional materials

• Oversee the production of all L3 instructional materials including the development of scopes and sequences, master plans, teachers guides, read aloud, daily readers, interactive audio instruction programs, modules for writers workshops and mathematics camps

Training and capacity building

• Organize and oversee capacity development activities for REB teams assigned by REB or TTCs to support the L3 initiative

• Design and oversee the training of primary school teachers and TTC tutors in the use of the new instructional materials and approaches developed by REB under L3

• Support the work of ad hoc and standing REB committees to support early grade reading and numeracy

Fostering collaboration and coordination between REB and TTCs

• Support REB and TTC curriculum reform through the curricular evaluation and revision of primary instruction and teacher professional development

• Identify opportunities for synergies between TTC and REB

• Support the integration of L3-approved materials into preservice and inservice teacher training

• Foster coordination between the inservice and preservice teacher training programs

Facilitating progress toward a functioning school-based mentoring program

• Provide lead technical support to the School-based Mentoring program including co-chairing the SBM technical working group as well as guiding the development of tools and processes necessary for the success of the School-based Mentoring program

Monitoring and evaluation of L3 program performance

• Oversee and contribute to the design and implementation/administering of student assessment tools and strategies

• Monitor, evaluate, and improve performance of L3 technical services

• Provide technical expertise to the REB and L3 program M&E teams to ensure that high quality data is collected and used (e.g., ensuring quality data collection strategies, processing and reporting)

• Ensure that effective and efficient impact evaluations studies are designed and carried out

Fostering networking, collaboration, communication, synergies, and productivity

• Participate in technical working groups (TWGs) and/or committees that review and recommend education policy (e.g., TWG on standards, Quality Implementation Technical Group (QIWG), TWG on student assessment, etc.)

• Support REB and L3 in the preparation and/or presentation of papers regarding the work of L3 initiative at major national, regional and international forums

• Liaise with government officials, USAID, L3 partners, NGOs and civil society, private sector and other L3 stakeholders

• Demonstrate leadership to foster an atmosphere of teamwork, productivity, creativity, fairness, equity, and innovation, in support of REB, TTC and EDC commitment to the L3 mission and goals

• Negotiate and mediate effectively with different stakeholders

• Interact with large numbers of program participants or team members, guiding feedback exchanges, facilitating problem-solving, and providing expertise

• Foster excellent communication among all stakeholders, and promote the work of REB, EDC, and L3 in different mediums including print, TV, radio, as well as local, regional, and international professional meetings. 

Qualifications and Requirements:

• Master’s or PhD Degree in technical area related to education, curriculum development, educational policy, instructional design, and/or teacher training

• A minimum of10 years of directly relevant experience with proven technical expertise in several of the following areas:

• Educational policy, teacher training, capacity building, curriculum development, literacy, educational certification and examinations systems, primary education, international reading and math standards, interactive audio instruction development, design and administration of student assessment tools, evaluation of instructional programs

• Strong interpersonal and organizational skills including proven ability to facilitate and foster collaboration amongst diverse stakeholders and

• Proven ability to work independently and effectively in groups, monitor and improve performance

• Excellent analytical skills and aptitude for details

• Proficiency in English required

• Proficiency in French would be desirable

• Experience collecting primary data preferred

• Extensive international experience in a developing country required, experience in Africa preferred.  

Application and contact details:

Interested qualified candidates are requested to submit their resumes to rlp@edc.org by July 12, 2013. To ensure the timely review of your credentials, please insert “Technical Director” in the subject line of the email.  Only candidates who are being invited for an interview will be contacted.

Posted:  7/8/13

EDC is an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Employer (M/F/D/V) and has Affirmative Action Plans for Women and Minorities and for Disabled Workers and Veterans. EDC is a smoke-free workplace.