Project Manager

The Varkey Foundation is recruiting a Project Manager & Education Lead for its Accra project office, to help mobilise and deliver a two year interactive, distance-learning teacher training project called ‘Train for Tomorrow’, or T4T. The project aims to train school principals as Instructional Leaders, capable of training their teachers in student-centred, student-friendly teaching methods.

The Project Manager will be a full-time member of staff, with specific responsibility for leading the ongoing implementation of the T4T project. The work will include line managing the project team, managing the project budget, and overseeing the monitoring and evaluation strategy. The role also involves managing several technology suppliers involved in the distance learning delivery, as well as the independent evaluator who is conducting an impact evaluation.

KEY DUTIES

Project Management and Reporting

• Managing all project workstreams and project staff
• Creating and overseeing the accurate and timely completion of detailed internal monthly reports and external semi-annual milestone project reports, along with regular internal reporting for Senior VF Management
• Working with the Country Director to respond as needed to the donor for ad hoc compliance or project delivery-related queries and troubleshooting;

Education Quality

• Manage two Master (teacher) Trainers, including coaching and mentoring, as well as quality assuring their training delivery, providing additional support as necessary;
• Quality assuring and improving all educational content for the T4T project
• Ensuring that sufficient internal operational data is being collected and analysed appropriately

Monitoring and Evaluation Leadership

• Manage the Monitoring & Evaluation Manager across all areas of M&E, to ensure that internal monitoring is carried out effectively and that external impact evaluations are being conducted in the manner intended

People Management and Staff Recruitment

• Directly line-managing the project team, providing technical coaching, mentoring and quality assurance of their work
• Working with the Finance Manager to ensure the T4T Finance Assistant is delivering to time and to task;
• Take responsibility for project staff appraisal and performance management procedures
• Recruit talent to the organisation where necessary

Financial Control & Overall Project Budgeting

• Fully understand and control the project budget for T4T
• Anticipate major costs and cash flow requirements
• Assist in improving internal systems for T4T operations.

External Supplier Management and Stakeholder Communications Actively communicating and maintaining good working relationships with each of our external suppliers;
Continually liaising with key government stakeholders to apprise them of project updates and seek approval for introducing new activities at the district level when needed.

QUALIFICATIONS AND SKILLS REQUIRED

Qualifications:

• Three years or more working experience required, with a minimum of 6 months of operational field experience in a developing country context (ideally Sub-Saharan Africa)
• Masters (or above) degree required, ideally in the areas of international development or Education
• Experience and accreditation in school leadership and teacher training also desirable.

Skills:

• Excellent English Language communication skills, especially writing and speaking
• Highly proficient in Microsoft Office applications, especially Excel which is needed for Financial budgeting tasks
• The ability to plan professional development for teachers
• The ability to multi-task and cope with a degree of pressure and ambiguity
• The ability to lead and manage a team, especially those comprising multiple nationalities and spanning several cultural backgrounds

Desired Experience:

• Familiarity with primary and secondary teaching techniques within the Sub-Saharan African context
• Familiarity with core development project Monitoring and Evaluation tools and their application
• Forward thinking, flexible and hard working with a can do attitude.
• Demonstrable ability to show resilience and persevere in the face of considerable challenges, and an aptitude to innovate sideways to find workarounds to help project delivery continue
• Strong collaborative and interpersonal skills and ability to work with people from a variety of backgrounds, colleagues and the MoE.
• Experience as a Project Manager in a development context
• Experience with the state education system/curricula in Ghana
• Experience of education development projects is preferred

HOW TO APPLY:

TO APPLY, PLEASE SEND A CV AND BRIEF COVERING LETTER TOCAREERS@VARKEYFOUNDATION.ORG