Associate Director / Director of Teaching & Learning

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Director / Associate Director of Teaching and Learning

The Luminos Fund is looking for an experienced and dynamic Director/Associate Director of Teaching and Learning (title dependent on experience) to lead its dynamic Teaching and Learning team. This team is responsible for developing curricula and teaching materials, supporting teacher training, and building capability across the organization. This position calls for extensive experience developing structured pedagogy materials to improve foundational learning in low-income countries.

This is a full-time role that may be based in one of our offices in Accra, Addis Ababa, Banjul, Boston, London, or Monrovia, or remotely in a time zone within four hours of GMT. Reporting to the Senior Director of Programs, the role holder will collaborate with country-based program teams, the Impact team, and the senior leadership team to ensure the success of our education mission. The position will involve some travel to challenging contexts in Africa and the Middle East.

About the Luminos Fund

The Luminos Fund (www.luminosfund.org) provides transformative education programs to thousands of out-of-school children, helping them to catch up to grade level, reintegrate into government schools, and prepare for lifelong learning. Working in partnership with community-based organizations, Luminos is scaling up its accelerated learning program to ensure all children have equal access to joyful, foundational learning, especially those shut out of education by crisis, poverty, or discrimination. To date, Luminos has helped over 277,787 children secure a second chance to learn. A registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit in the U.S., Luminos is working in Ethiopia, Ghana, Lebanon, Liberia, and The Gambia.

Luminos is supported by a range of funding partners, including Cartier Philanthropy, Dubai Cares, Legatum, and UBS Optimus Foundation. Luminos has been recognized for its achievements globally, receiving the 2022 Klaus J. Jacobs Best Practice Prize, the Library of Congress International Literacy Award, the Lipman Family Prize, the WISE Award, and the HundrED Global Innovation Award for the last six years.

Duties and Responsibilities

The role holder will oversee the organization's teaching and learning strategy, which includes, but is not limited to:

Material development

• Manage a team of staff members and consultants to develop high-quality teacher guides, student books, and reading materials for foundational skills structured pedagogy programs.
• Ensure teaching and learning materials are informed by the latest evidence on the science of teaching, including phonics-based literacy approaches and numeracy teaching methods that build number sense.
• Optimize teaching and learning materials for all students, including those with learning differences and those learning in a language they are not familiar with).
• Ensure teaching and learning materials are clear, user-friendly, and accessible for community teachers with varying levels of literacy.
• Ensure teaching and learning materials promote gender equality and socio-emotional well-being.
• Maintain high standards for material formatting, design, and illustration.
• Include appropriate copyright and attribution information in all materials.

Teacher training

• Support the development of clear and impactful training materials for Trainings of Trainer and teacher trainings.

• Lead and/or assist in planning and delivering Trainings of Trainers and teacher trainings.
• Provide ongoing monitoring and coaching to country teams on effective pedagogical approaches

Safeguarding and risk management

• Serve as a dotted-line manager to the Global Safeguarding Lead, ensuring support for her responsibilities.
• Lead programmatic risk management, including safeguarding, and brief the leadership team on risk management strategies.

Cross-organizational collaboration

• Work closely with the Impact team to assess how teaching and learning approaches translate into learning outcomes and iterate these approaches to maximize learning.
• Communicate about teaching and learning across the organization to build understanding and capability.
• Work with the business development team to conceptualize and seek funding for new opportunities.
• Draft and/or provide expert review of technical sections of grant reports.

Please note that the Luminos Fund is a highly dynamic work environment, and the role holder may need to take on additional workstreams not included in the description above. In some instances, they will face challenges in areas where they are not experts and where situations are ambiguous. They will need to scope out known information, propose and appraise response options, and then own and drive the implementation solutions.

Required Skills and Experience

• Bachelor's Degree required; Master's degree preferred.
• At least 10 years of relevant work experience for the Director role, or 5 years for the Associate Director role, with increasing responsibility in bilateral, multilateral, or non-governmental development organizations.
• Extensive experience developing teaching and learning materials.
• Experience working in Sub-Saharan Africa.
• Prior experience working as a teacher and/or teacher trainer.
• Proven thought leader on foundational learning, with expertise in topics such as foundational skills, the learning crisis, phonics-based instruction, learning outcome measurement, etc.).
• Demonstrated commitment to and passion for the mission, vision, and values of the Luminos Fund.
• Strong analytical and conceptual skills with the ability to think and plan strategically. Well-developed negotiation and communication skills are essential, including proficiency in spoken and written English.
• Advanced skills in the Microsoft Office Suite.

Luminos Core Beliefs and Values

1. We believe that every child is capable of learning a remarkable amount in a short period of time, if given the chance.
2. We keep children's joy and well-being at the heart of everything we do.
3. We embrace assessment as a key component of effective teaching and learning.
4. We celebrate and empower local leadership throughout our work with partner communities and governments.
5. We use research, program data, and skilled classroom observation in the tenacious pursuit of excellence.
6. We celebrate the unique contexts and cultures of the communities we serve in our curricula and pedagogy.
7. We act with the highest standards of integrity and care, ensuring mutual accountability among colleagues and partners.
8. We take the initiative to solve problems where we find them, managing details large and small, with urgency.
9. We act deliberately to ensure that our organization is inclusive for people of different genders, racial backgrounds, ethnicities, sexual orientations, religious beliefs, abilities, and other sources of diversity.
10. We build deep, authentic relationships with our supporters in celebration of the mutually transformative power of giving.

The Luminos Fund is an equal opportunity employer. We celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees. All applicants will be considered for employment without attention to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, veteran, or disability status.

Compensation for candidates located in UK will be GBP 55,000 - 80,000. The starting base salary will fluctuate for candidates located in areas outside the UK and will be dependent on confirmed job skills and experience.