Director of Programs, Sierra Leone
Rising Academies, Sierra Leone
Job Description
The context:
Across the developing world, more children than ever are in school but they are not learning. A recent study estimated that less than 1% of school children in Sub-Saharan Africa attend a school where the teaching meets basic standards of quality. At Rising Academies, we’re changing that, and we want your help. Our mission is to create the best schools and the most powerful teaching and learning tools for the people that need it most. We’re one of the fastest-growing quality-focused education companies in Africa, and a Certified B Corp.
About us and our work in Sierra Leone:
We own and operate our own great value private schools, partner with governments to improve the quality of public school systems, and use our content and technology to help other education providers. Founded in Sierra Leone in 2014, we provided emergency education to children kept out of school by the Ebola Epidemic before opening our first school in April 2015. Today, we serve more than 250,000 students across more than 900 schools in Sierra Leone, Liberia, Ghana and now Rwanda.
In Sierra Leone, following the 3-year Education Innovation Challenge (EIC), Rising was selected as one of five education providers for the Ministry of Basic and Senior Secondary Education’s (MBSSE) new three-year Education Outcomes Fund program, an innovative outcomes-funded program focused on improving foundational literacy and numeracy. In collaboration with EducAid, Rising is also entering the third phase of a partnership in Freetown City schools, supporting over 500 schools across Freetown. We have supported remote learning efforts during COVID with radio education and recently partnered with Youth Impact to deliver a maths-focused remote learning program. In addition, Rising has teamed up with Imagine Worldwide to test and scale tech-enabled learning in a range of school settings to support foundational learning.
Through great curriculum, intensive teacher coaching and actionable data, we help teachers and school leaders bring quality to every classroom. And we get results: independent studies show Rising students make more than twice the progress of their peers in comparable schools.
About the role:
We are seeking a dynamic, mission-driven, highly organised Director of Programs to deliver outstanding results in our growing portfolio of partnership programs in Sierra Leone as well as to support the origination and development of new partnership opportunities.
The Director of Programs, Sierra Leone will:
- Build high-performing program delivery teams and create a first-class employee experience for a workforce of over 70 staff serving over 600 schools.
- Deliver industry-leading academic results for all students and use data to drive continuous school improvement.
- Embed a culture of safety and transparency, and ensure compliance with safeguarding and child protection policies and procedures.
- Ensure the successful execution of key growth opportunities through new and existing partnerships and innovations.
- Establish outstanding relationships with the organisation's stakeholder network, especially our government partners, collaborators and local communities.
- Oversee multiple operating budgets and account for short-term variability, long-term goals, and organisational sustainability.
Location and reporting:
The Director of Programs, Sierra Leone reports directly to Rising’s Senior Leadership Team. The role will be based from Rising’s office in Freetown, Sierra Leone.
Application deadline:
The target start-date for this role is December 1, 2023.
Requirements
Qualifications and Experience:
- 10+ years of education, program management experience in the sector.
- Strong experience in executing on existing partnership programs.
- People with C-Suite experience are encouraged to apply.
About You:
- An inspiring leader. You have a proven track record of success in a senior leadership role in a school network, social enterprise or non-profit.
- A great team builder. You have successfully built large, complex, multi-functional teams. You’ve hired, fired and developed people to achieve the culture and level of performance you want to see.
- A brilliant project manager. You have successfully designed and delivered large scale, complex, multi-year projects and programs on time and on budget.
- A data-informed decision maker. You have consistently grown revenue and impact by using data to understand what’s working and what’s not.
- A stickler and standard-setter for the details that matter. You have faced and dealt with organisational risk and maintained your organisation’s license to operate by ensurin