RTI International

Overview

Organization Summary:

RTI International is an independent, nonprofit research institute dedicated to improving the human condition. Our staff of nearly 6,000 works in more than 75 countries—tackling hundreds of projects each year to address complex social and scientific challenges on behalf of governments, businesses, foundations, universities, and other clients and partners. Through independent research and science-based programs, we are making positive impacts on people and communities around the world. Our diverse team embraces challenges in an inclusive atmosphere that values work-life balance and creates global opportunities for career development. If you’re looking for a dynamic workplace culture, comprehensive benefits, and opportunities to grow, join our team and discover the RTI Difference.

Division Summary:

IDG’s International Education Division supports education development around the world by strengthening education policy, management and practice in order to achieve measurable improvement in teaching and learning. From our well-established reputation in education system strengthening, to innovative work in early grade assessment and learning, RTI is improving education quality, relevance and efficiency through implementation of projects funded by USAID, The LEGO Foundation, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, and other donors and clients. 

Project Summary: 

Uganda Targeting the Learning Crisis (TLC) is a planned 5-year program funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). TLC is dedicated to addressing the current learning crisis in Uganda by achieving a significant and measurable increase in the number of P1-5 students who are able to read and perform math functions at the level expected for their age. The program is looking to purposefully implement targeted instruction methodologies in P3-P5 classrooms, targeted instruction or other effective methodologies in the P1-P2 classrooms and support pre-literacy and pre-numeracy skills in pre-primary. The program is looking to operate in Uganda’s most vulnerable districts and in the most vulnerable schools within those districts.

Position Summary:

Reporting directly to the Chief of Party, the Deputy Chief of Party (DCOP) will play an integral role in leading programmatic activities, providing technical direction and managerial supervision to technical specialists (including literacy and numeracy specialists, and in-service and pre-service training specialists) and regional managers ensuring technical rigor of our programming approaches and smooth operations. The DCOP will liaise with USAID and with government officials from the MOES and its decentralized structure. This position will be based in Kampala, Uganda. 

Responsibilities

Primary responsibilities will include but not be limited to: 

• Responsible for interfacing with counterparts for the overall direction of the program in the absence of the COP. 
• Advise and consult with the relevant government counterparts and ensure effective, quality technical assistance on targeted instruction. 
• Establish and maintain cooperative relationships with key stakeholders, including host government counterparts in the education sector, other government bodies, partners and stakeholders, and other donor education projects. 
• Support the Chief of Party in the timely, high quality, submission of all required contractual deliverables and expected results. 
• Organize and lead the technical project staff to ensure integration, across activity components, at national and sub-national levels and coordinate their day-to-day technical activities. 
• Support, in collaboration with the Finance and Operations Director and Senior MEL Manager, coherent work planning and resource allocations, timely project implementation and monitoring activities, including from partners. 
• Mentor, lead, and manage teams, including partner staff, to develop and roll out in-service teacher professional development program. 
• Support the technical staff to revise or develop teaching and learning materials (TLMs) to support targeted instruction and work with staff and government officials to understand the materials. 
• Support the COP to engage the government in necessary policy discussions to support the integration of targeted instruction into ministry and school culture and systems. 
• Drive cross-cutting issues of gender and inclusion across activity components. 
• In collaboration with the Senior MEL Manager, ensure timely data collection to inform and monitor technical implementation. 
• Lead technical working groups and support government counterpart technical staff to implement program elements. 
• Perform other tasks as assigned by the Chief of Party. 

Qualifications

Qualifications: 

• Master’s degree in international development, education, public administration, public policy or related field. 
• Minimum of 10 years of experience in similar education intervention activities, and experience managing complex international donor-funded development activities in challenging environments. 
• Prior experience as senior level technical staff on USAID-funded projects and strong knowledge of USAID rules and regulations. 
• Demonstrated skills in leadership, effective organizational development, partnership building, management, team building, and communication. 
• Demonstrated ability to work across different cultures and manage diverse teams to deliver impact within agreed timelines. 
• Technical expertise and experience in two or more of the following areas: early grade reading, early grade numeracy, education in emergencies, equity in education with the focus on gender equity, inclusive education and universal design for learning, teacher professional development, early childhood education, community engagement, or government capacity strengthening. 
• Commitment to inclusive programming that encourages full participation of individuals regardless of gender, disability status, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity or other marginalized status. 
• Prior education-focused experience working in Uganda strongly preferred. 
• Must possess excellent oral and written communication skills in English. 

EEO & Pay Equity Statements

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