Literacy Program Officer

JOB DESCRIPTION

Position: Literacy Program Officer

Duty Location: Based in Ha Noi and frequent travel out of Hanoi to project sites and other provinces if assigned.

Organization Profile:

Room to Read is a global organization transforming the lives of millions of children in low-income communities by focusing on literacy and gender equality in education. Founded in 2000 on the belief that World Change Starts with Educated Children®, our innovative model focuses on deep, systemic transformation within schools during two time periods that are most critical in a child’s schooling: early primary school for literacy acquisition and secondary school for girls’ education. We work in collaboration with local communities, partner organizations, and governments to develop literacy skills and a habit of reading among primary school children and ensure girls can complete secondary school with the skills necessary to negotiate key life decisions. By focusing on the quality of education provided within the communities and ensuring these outcomes are measured, we have created a model that can be replicated, localized and sustained by governments. Room to Read has benefited 16.8 million children across over 37,000 communities in Bangladesh, Cambodia, Grenada, Honduras, India, Indonesia, Jordan, Laos, Myanmar, Nepal, Rwanda, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Tanzania, Vietnam, and Zambia. Learn more at www.roomtoread.org.

Position Overview:

The Literacy Program Officer (LPO) will work at Ha Noi office and travel frequently to project sites and other areas where Literacy Program activities are implemented, if assigned. LPO will be part of the LP team to be responsible for all aspects of Room to Read (RtR)’s library program, including program development, planning, implementing, training, and monitoring of libraries. S/he will be constantly engaged in working to improve the library program, with the aim of ensuring that Room to Read libraries are effectively and fully utilized by schools and communities as a tool for increasing student motivation as well as for development of educational activities and promotion of reading. This position requires skills in project management and design, training, facilitation, communication, writing, donor hosting, curriculum development, networking, accounting, and supervising. The LPO will report to the North Field Manager.

Primary Duties & Responsibilities:

Program Management, Implementation, Monitoring and Coordination

Under supervision of the North Field Manager, work to ensure successful program activity management & spending, effective implementation and monitoring of the LP program in the North in general and in their in-charge provinces in particular;
Liaise with government officials and/or school principals, teachers and librarians to implement LP program at the selected project sites, including school surveying, assessment, selection, implementation of program activities, and monitoring;
Prepare detailed cost estimations for each project, specifying each school’s and/or NGO partner’s cost-sharing contribution and items contributed for the challenge grant;
Visit project sites frequently to supervise the projects; gather feedback and ensure that they deliver on their portion of the challenge grant and on all terms of agreement with Room to Read;
Organize meetings between Government officials, principals, teachers and librarians to review the implementation and propose recommendation for improvement or phase out the Room to Read support;
Assist in conducting monitoring and evaluation of Room to Read libraries and follow through with recommendations for improvement; input and update Global Solutions Data (GSD);
Write project reports to North Field Manager in a timely manner and in high quality, documenting best practices and lessons learned during field work and share with other project sites, relevant local staff, the Country and Program Directors and appropriate US based Program Officers;
In consultation with the North Field Manager and Communication Officer, work to promote and advocate the Literacy Program in the in-charge provinces through local and national media engagement;
In consultation with the North Field Manager and appropriate headquarters staff, work to develop and conduct an effective Room to Read librarian training model on library management and activities, update training materials and manuals accordingly; with assistance of other Program Officer(s)/Associates(s);
Under supervision and direction of the North Field Manager, work with partners to directly manage and implement the technical assistance package in provinces/ areas in charge.
Organize activities/events to promote reading;
Participate in any other activities/events which may be required to be undertaken to fulfill the objectives of the organization;
Oversee administration related issues at Hanoi office: office expense payment & billing and filing, goods and service procurements.

Technical Responsibility related to Program Management, Implementation, and Coordination

Provide feedback to the IDTS team on the materials provided by Room to Read for use in libraries and library period to promote a habit of reading;
Provide feedbacks and suggestions to the IDTS Manager on the quality of training design, materials and delivery;
Participate in training design, developing new training materials, technical guidelines, manuals;
Facilitate sessions in national TOT training conducted by IDTS to improve the training facilitation skills, in consultation with LD and North Field Manager;
Facilitate sessions in provincial workshops for teachers, librarians and principals where appropriate in agreement with provincial key trainers;
Provide technical support to Head Field Facilitators (HFFs)/Field Facilitators (FFs) through coaching during school visits and review meetings/reporting to ensure they are able to effectively implement the Literacy program.

Technical responsibility related to Planning, Reporting and Documentation

Provide information in meetings to the IDTS Manager to assist in development of materials for librarians’, teachers’ and principals’ trainings and support;
Document best practices and lessons learned during field work and shares with IDTS;
Support annual, quarterly and monthly planning of Literacy Program activities as needed.

Meetings/Networking

Explore opportunities for partnerships and knowledge sharing with NGOs, experts and institutions involved in teacher training and literacy initiatives;
Establish and manage relationships with other NGO’s, government officials and local educational facilities/authorities; schedule and attend meetings with them to coordinate planning and implementation of libraries;
Represent Room to Read at relevant meetings and occasionally assist in hosting key donor visits;
Provide regular updates on program activities and plans at regular meetings with Room to Read Team Meetings;
Perform other agreed tasks assigned by the North Field Manager;

Qualifications:

Vietnamese native
Bachelor’s degree, preferably in library science or education;
At least five years of professional experience in education or community development;
Prior experience in working with schools, teachers, administrators and government officials;
Good knowledge and understanding of education issues, including teaching methodologies and community involvement in schools;
Strong planning, budgeting, report writing skills;
Ability to travel frequently to project sites;
Strong verbal and written communication skills in English.
Strong mentoring/training facilitation skills.
Strong skill in management and use of database

Preferred:

Extensive knowledge and experiences working in education, with teachers and children;
Good knowledge and understanding of children’s books issues, including the publishing trends in Viet Nam and the world, and children’s habit of reading;
Working experience with NGOs or international development organization/project;
Prior experience in delivering or facilitating training workshops;
Experience in developing and/or implementing large-scale literacy initiatives.

To be successful as a member of the Room to Read team, you will also:

Have passion for our mission and a strong desire to impact a dynamic nonprofit organization
Be an innovative and creative thinker that tries new things and inspires others to do so
Have a very high level of personal and professional integrity and trustworthiness
Have a strong work ethic and require minimal direction
Work well independently as well as part of a team
Thrive in a fast-paced and fun environment

Application Procedure:

Please submit your application preferably with a cover letter, online by visiting our website www.roomtoread.org (about us > careers > see current vacancies).
Or submit your application preferably with a cover letter to email address: hrvn@roomtoread.org.

We regret that we cannot respond to all applicants personally due to high applicant volume. Applications will be accepted until the position is filled.

Room to Read is proud to be an equal opportunity employer committed to identifying and developing the skills and leadership of people from diverse backgrounds.

Job Details

Organisation Name: Room to Read

Location: Hanoi

Application Deadline: Sun, 2021-10-03