Project Manager/Senior Project Manager - Strategic Support States

Job Title: Project Manager/Senior Project Manager - Academics Organization: Central Square Foundation Department: Strategic Support States - Foundational Literacy and Numeracy (FLN) Location: Guwahati, Assam Central Square Foundation: Founded in 2012, Central Square Foundation (CSF) is a non-profit philanthropic foundation working on the vision of ensuring quality school education for all children in India. We are driven by our mission to transform the school education system with a focus on improving children's learning outcomes, especially in low-income communities. About the team: Strategic Support States: Strategic Support States (SSS) team at Central Square Foundation assists the States in designing and implementing the respective state missions to ensure FLN learning outcomes for children. Spread across five states, the Project Management Units (PMUs) of the team work closely with the state bodies in co-ideating goals for state’s FLN mission, identifying critical workstreams, setting indicators of success across the workstreams, and reviewing mission progress. Apart from these core activities, the SSS team also conducts action research projects and pilots, as well as context-specific programs to accelerate student learning. CSF’s work in Assam: CSF has been actively working with the Department of School Education (SCERT, Samagra Shiksha), Assam, on its FLN mission, NIPUN Axom, ensuring that all children in Grades 1-3 receive quality education and achieve the desired FLN outcomes. CSF's interventions go beyond mere support; they involve strategic planning, capacity building, and continuous monitoring of the implementation process. By closely working with state, district, and block-level administrators, CSF aims to address implementation challenges, identify gaps, and prioritize areas that can drive significant improvements in FLN outcomes. Roles and Responsibilities of the PM/SPM: Lead the design of state curriculum for foundational grades (including Learning Outcome Frameworks, Lesson Plans, Worksheets, Assessment Tools) and Teaching Learning Materials (TLMs) that align with the National Curriculum Framework for Foundational Stage (NCF-FS)-2022, and NIPUN Bharat Guidelines. Provide academic inputs to relevant stakeholders on pedagogical approaches for foundational grades. Design strategies/interventions to effectively teach multilingual and multigrade classrooms, involving research, pilot intervention, and scale-up. Identify and solve gaps in the academic design for foundational grades in the state. Develop Teacher Professional Development (TPD) strategies for the state, based on an understanding of the field realities and needs, and knowledge of evidence-based best practices across the globe. Conduct training of different stakeholders including teachers, Cluster Resource Centre Coordinators (CRCCs), block officials, and district officials. Design and implement a program for the onsite coaching and mentoring of teachers, including the capacity building of coaches/mentors. Support the SPMU in other critical workstreams such as monitoring, institutional structures, communication, and political salience. Enhance and update the academic knowledge of team members through appropriate forums/mediums. Prepare timely and accurate proposals and reports. Required Qualifications, Skills, and Abilities: Master’s degree (preferably in education, development studies, public policy, and social sciences) Minimum 6 years of work experience preferably in the education sector demonstrating remarkable project delivery and stakeholder management including teaching experience. Prior experience working with state/district-level governance and institutional structures in designing/supporting academic and Teacher Professional Development (TPD) programs is highly desirable. Ability to undertake field travel (schools, clusters, blocks, districts) for at least 10 days in a month. Fluent in both Assamese and English with excellent written and oral communication skills. Proficiency in Bodo or Bengali will be an added advantage. Strong skills in stakeholder management, problem-solving, and analytical thinking. Excellent project execution skills, including the ability to break down tasks, adhere to timelines, balance multiple priorities at a time, and hold oneself and others accountable to deliverables. Will to thrive in ambiguous and evolving environments. A strong intent to solve educational problems at scale.

Founded in 2012, Central Square Foundation (CSF) is a non-profit philanthropic foundation working on the vision of ensuring quality school education for all children in India. We are driven by our mission to transform the school education system with a focus on improving children's learning outcomes, especially in low-income communities.