About the Role

• We are seeking a talented, motivated and adaptable individual to support the Managing Director and the senior leadership team as Project Director. The ideal candidate is a multifaceted individual who will work closely with the Managing Director in a job shadow capacity.Â
• As a co-strategist, implementer, and trusted advisor, the successful candidate will lead execution of strategic initiatives for the Managing Director and leadership team and will also ensure streamlined activities within the organization to improve the daily management of the organization based on the priorities of the Managing Director.Â
• This is a highly hands-on and analytical role, involving intense program management and broad technical knowledge covering financial management, supply chain and school operations management.Â
• The Project Director should have a proven track record of exceptional performance driving strategic initiatives and projects to completion.
• This role reports to the Managing Director and VP Operations. You will be part of a leadership team composed of various directors. The School Inspection Manager/Director, who in turn supervises a team of field associates, will report to you.

What You Will Do
Ensure that the programme’s termly and annual milestones are attained on schedule:

• Manage & update the programme operational calendar
• Ensure appropriate follow through on actions, decisions, and commitments made by the Managing Director by working with the parties responsible for implementation
• Attend functional team meetings to keep a pulse on the business and help connect dots with others across the organization
• Assess inquiries directed to the Managing Director, determine the proper course of action and delegate to the appropriate individual to manage
• Assist the Managing Director in facilitating effective decision-making

Continuously improve the programme’s performance:

• Coordinate the execution of strategic initiatives
• Prepare periodic business performance and market analysis, business trends and provide insight with the aim to increase operational efficiency
• Deliver business planning processes (forecasts, budgets, long-range plans) including analysis of variances with relevant commentary to support management decision making
• Translate business requirements to technical requirements. This includes using powerful analysis and modeling tools to match strategic business objectives with practical technical solutions
• Create organizational dashboards and reports to support effective decision making and cross-company communications of business performance status
• Monitor and review departmental spending vs. budget to ensure optimal spending and ensure funds are directed towards projects that generate the highest return on investment (ROI)

Ensure that the School Inspection Team (our internal quality assurance team) is driving compliance to school policies and processes at the school level:

• Oversee the activities of the School Inspection team which is in charge of auditing our school operations (facilities, materials & supplies, personnel and processes) against our set of standards and policies to ensure all schools maintain an environment where teaching and learning thrive.

What You Should Have

• A bachelor’s degree from a top-tier university with an excellent academic record. Quantitative undergraduate degrees, and advanced degrees such as an MBA are preferred
• 5+ years of executive level experience in reputable companies from which you have outstanding records of professional achievement. You should have at least one experience that required highly independent work in an exceedingly challenging environment such as in management consulting, finance or in a start-up
• Excellent project management skills including being incredibly organized with calendars, gantt charts, trackers, and have the ability to systematically follow up and support senior leaders with their deliverables across a broad set of projects/strategic initiatives
• Solid functional knowledge, including but not limited to strategy, operations, HR, supply chain, customer experience management, finance, project management
• Exceptional analytical and quantitative problem solving skills. You need to be able to see patterns, be a fast thinker and a good decision maker
• Advanced MS Excel/spreadsheets skills, and mastery of presentation/reporting tools such as MS Word/Google docs & MS Powerpoint/Google slides
• Excellent communication skills (writing and speaking), which enable you to communicate complex ideas effectively to people at all levels in the organization
• Demonstrated leadership ability in a team environment. You should have a proven track record of working strategically and collaboratively with senior leaders across different functional areas
• Strong willed, a fast learner and able to effect changes fast. You should be able to flourish in dynamic, ambiguous environments, to produce high quality work with very short deadlines, effectively prioritize work among multiple competing demands, and adapt to unexpected work demands.

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About the Role

• We are seeking a full-time School Inspection Manager who is excited about improving learning outcomes in government schools by providing technical and managerial leadership to a larger School Inspection (audit) team.
• We aim to impact teaching and learning, so we need to deliver high quality data to decision makers at all levels of the organization.Â
• School Inspection ensures that we have accurate knowledge of what is happening in schools by auditing all School operations.
• The data output from the audits you’ll design and run will be used to drive continuous improvement in the schools.
• The School Inspection Manager must work effectively with people from diverse backgrounds and  functional areas, and must be excited about driving change by recommending improvements to our processes and work towards audits that demonstrate 100% compliance.
• You will be responsible for the daily management of a large field team, proposing and adapting audits to ensure operational excellence after developing an in-depth understanding of the programme needs, analyzing & providing actionable data from the audits via reports & dashboards, collaborating closely with other teams to ensure that the issues the School Inspection team observed are not only understood but also addressed rapidly.Â
• Your team of field associates will be heavily relied upon to support school staff to drive operational excellence, actively solve problems, and to ensure that schools foster a safe & conducive learning environment.Â
• The School Inspection Manager will manage a large field team of School Inspection Associates.Â
• The School Inspection Manager will report into the executive leadership of the programme (either Project Director or Managing Director).Â
• The primary audit focus for School Inspection is the entire ecosystem of the Schools Department, which includes all aspects of school management, school materials, school personnel, school hardware, and any other action that is part of our overall performance.Â
• The Schools Department is the primary client, as the strong majority of concerns exposed by an audit have to be directly solved or project managed by the Schools Department. Other departments that take action based on audits include ITand  People.Â
• It is for this reason this function has direct executive reporting and oversight. A critical component of this role is leading meetings, reporting and providing technical expertise. School Inspection team, which includes staff in their headquarters & in the field.Â

What You Will Do
Establish School Inspection Procedures:

• The School Inspection Manager  is responsible for creating and implementing School Inspection procedures and methodologies after deeply understanding our processes and the program needs.
• The School Inspection Manager will measure, monitor, and analyze current processes, make recommendations for improvement and develop new solutions to enhance quality control.Â
• The School Inspection Manager will use and continually improve the core audits and best practices already in place.

Manage School Inspection staff:Â

• The School Inspection Manager will lead the School Inspection team of associates.Â
• This includes training them on new or revised procedures and systems; supervising them during the School Inspection process to ensure that they are correctly utilizing School Inspection methods and systems; and also supporting them as they monitor corrective actions implemented by other departments for critical/major and minor nonconformities, ensuring that actions are effective, implemented in a timely manner, and are permanent in nature to avoid recurrence of deficiencies.

Report Quality Issues to Schools and Operations Department Leaders & lead with ensuring rapid resolution:

• To support teaching and learning activities, the School Inspection Manager will ensure there is rapid, clear visibility of audit results always visible to the Schools Department, and for relevant audits, for Operations, including Supply Chain and IT, as well as People.Â
• The data from the School Inspection audits is only worth collecting if it is rapidly visible and used to drive decision-making and correct any lapses or errors. Responsibilities also include ensuring that issues reported by School Inspections capture all the necessary data required for action by other teams and are assigned to the right team for resolution.Â
• Where systemic issues are made visible, the School Inspection Manager is to work with other teams and the MD to identify such issues and any bottlenecks in the resolution process.

Maintain School Inspection Records:

• The School Inspection Manager will maintain detailed records of School Inspection activities and issues.Â
• These reports provide comprehensive records of School Inspection activities and help the organization determine what’s working and what needs to be corrected.
• This includes management of the School Inspection field team, ensuring integrity in data collection.

Analyze Data Outputs & Create Quality Control Reports

• The School Inspection Manager will support and enhance the organization’s performance by analyzing and assessing audit data. In this aspect of the role, the School Inspection Manager finds patterns and areas for improvements based on School Inspection data over time and utilizes these reports to improve processes and performance.Â
• The School Inspection Manager determines whether their teams meet targets, deliver expected performance, and maintain overall workflow. This data must be provided rapidly to drive decisions in real time.

For any project, be ready to propose a plan and execute:

• This includes creating a timeline, liaising with other departments to get the support you need, managing performance and motivating staff members, figuring out how to get things done when things don’t go as planned, getting the data you need and getting it right, conducting analyses, framing the results, and answer any and all questions about your work.

Lead and provide technical expertise:

• Includes working with School Inspection shared services to ensure that the School Inspection audits within the programme align to the needs of the program. Establish and implement an audit plan aligned to the program data needs,Â

Team capacity building:

• Includes working with School Inspection shared services to design, schedule and carry out School Inspection-focused training for the School Inspection team. Conducting  regular school visits to shadow the Field associate team to continuously coach them on expected deliverables.

What You Should Have

• A bachelor’s degree from a top-tier university, Quantitative degrees are preferred
• Minimum of 5 years of professional work experience managing field teams preferably in implementing data collection projectsÂ
• Team management experience– to direct, mentor, and oversee field associates within the School Inspection department, you should possess effective leadership, coordination, and motivation skills
• Process enhancement skills – to find ways to streamline processes and boost efficiency, you should have some knowledge of process improvement and enhancement
• Organization skills –to successfully direct and oversee all School Inspection procedures and coordinate production processes you should have strong organization skills
• Excellent communication skills (writing and speaking), which enable you to communicate complex ideas effectively to people at all levels in the organization. You will need to provide reports to production managers and business leaders to influence decision-making.
• Exceptional analytical and quantitative problem solving skills. You need to be able to see patterns, be a fast thinker and a good decision maker
• Advanced MS Excel/spreadsheets skills, and mastery of presentation/reporting tools such as MS Word/Google docs & MS Powerpoint/Google slides
• Strong willed, a fast learner and able to effect changes fast. You should be able to flourish in dynamic, ambiguous environments, to produce high quality work with very short deadlines, effectively prioritize work among multiple competing demands, and adapt to unexpected work demands
• A detailed doer – You have a track record of getting things done. You’re organized and responsive. You take ownership of every idea you touch and execute it to a fine level of detail, setting targets, engaging others, and doing whatever it takes to get the job done. You can multi-task dozens of such projects at once and never lose sight of the details. Likely, you have some experience in a start-up or other rapid-growth company.
• A relentless advocate – The children we serve and teachers we empower never leave your mind. You know them, get them,  You would never shrink back from shaking a parent’s hand or picking up a crying child, no matter what the person was wearing or looked like. Every decision you make considers their benefit, experience, and value.
• Bonus – previous experience in School Inspection/audit, including designing surveys; experience working in extreme growth situations and dealing with complexity; worked/studied in a developing country. Experience with data collection tools such as KoBo Toolbox, ODK, Google forms, STG etc, as well as other statistical analysis tools such as R, Stata, Python is  also a bonus.

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