Multiple Positions

1. Education Associate

Closing date – Friday 22nd July 2022 at 1700hrs

To complete the online assessment, please click the here

Role and department: Education Associate – Technical Team
Location: Lusaka, Ndola or Kasama – Zambia
Reporting to: Education and Partnerships Lead (based in the UK)
Contract length: Fixed-term – 6 months with a possibility to extend for a further 6 months
Start date: ASAP

About PEAS (Promoting Equality in African Schools)

We are PEAS. We are an international education not-for-profit with the mission to ‘expand access to sustainably delivered, quality secondary education across Africa.’ Our vision is for a world where all children enjoy an education that unlocks their full potential.

For the last ten years PEAS has built and operated quality secondary schools in under-served communities in Uganda and Zambia. We now have a network of 35 schools across Uganda and Zambia educating over 15,000 marginalised students. PEAS has strong evidence from a number of external studies showing that our schools in Uganda are more equitable, better quality and more cost-effective than comparison private and government schools.

PEAS has achieved great things in the last 10 years, and we want to achieve even more in the next 10 years. We are proud of what we have already achieved, but we are ambitious for our schools and students. We now want to make PEAS schools some of the best in Uganda and Zambia. At the same time, we also want to support the wider education systems in the places where we’re working and globally by sharing our evidence and know-how.

About the UK Technical Team

The PEAS Technical Team is a small team of experts who work to continually strengthen PEAS’ impact across our network of schools and beyond. Areas of work on the team is varied and exciting. The Technical Team:

• Supports education leads in Uganda and Zambia to design and implement high-impact education programmes within our school networks.
• Provides technical education and monitoring and evaluation advice and support to our country programmes in Uganda and Zambia.
• Designs and runs internal and external research projects to make sure we are learning as much as possible about how best to improve the quality of education in our schools
• Establishes collaborative partnerships with the Ugandan and Zambia n government and other organisations to impact as many young people as possible.
• Proactively share our evidence and know-how with partners and the international education community.

The Opportunity

The Education Associate is an exciting 6-month role based in Zambia but working within the UK-based Technical Team, with the possibility of extension.

The role will include working with leads in Uganda, Zambia, and the UK to support PEAS to grow its impact. This will involve developing content for strategic education projects supporting the design of new education programmes that ensure PEAS students receive the highest quality education. Additionally, the successful candidate will get involved with project monitoring and evaluation, aiding PEAS in approaches to ensure ongoing learning is generated in relation to the education programmes.

The successful candidate will need to be a quick learner, highly organised, and adept at working flexibly to support evolving team and organizational needs. Strong written and verbal communication are essential, as well as enthusiasm for working with multi-national teams.

Roles and Responsibilities

Specific responsibilities may adjust depending on the specific background of the successful applicant.

Support delivery of PEAS education approach

• Support tool and content development for strategic projects in collaboration with UK colleagues and programme leads in Uganda and Zambia to address priority areas of improvement. This could include supporting the team to develop a secondary-level numeracy and literacy programme, designing content for educational software, supporting the design and implementation of activities under our girls approach in Uganda and Zambia and supporting the development of an exam strategy in Zambia.
• Develop training resources for teachers and leaders in Uganda and Zambia, including training manuals and presentations to support colleagues to deliver virtual or in-person training.

Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning

• Review of external studies to ensure an updated library of relevant research.
• Supporting with the development and adaptation of surveys and forms for data collection. Assisting with the analysis of survey and other quantitative and qualitative data, including data cleaning and presenting analysis in PowerPoint presentations.

Support to wider Technical Team

• Support in coordinating and minuting meetings relating to programme implementation and MEL.
• Support PEAS’ research and documentation of potential new countries for operations.

Who we are looking for

No matter the role, we are looking for people who believe in what we do and how we do it; is passionate about transforming lives through education and aligned to our values.

Someone who has…

• Teaching experience focused on improving student learning outcomes
• Strong understanding of best practices in teacher development, underpinned by international evidence
• Passion for international education with a genuine interest in latest research and thinking
• An understanding of, and ideally relevant experience in Sub-Saharan Africa
• Excellent English written and verbal communication skills – able to adapt writing for different audiences including funders, governments, technical audiences and teachers or leaders. Advanced Maths skills, to a recognised high standard, would also be preferred.
• Proficient in Microsoft Office, including PowerPoint and Excel. Experience in use of STATA or R would also be an advantage.
• A strong ability to synthesise secondary research
• At least a Bachelor’s Degree
• Skills in data analysis would be an advantage

And who is…

• A qualified teacher
• Resilient and professional – works well under pressure; deals with challenges professionally and calmly and doesn’t let setbacks hold them back or discourage them
• Open-minded – willing to listen to others and consider new ways of approaching problems
• Zero ego – prepared to get stuck in
• Entrepreneurial – excited by the opportunity to join a fast growing, fast-changing teams; adaptable and able to work flexibly
• A self-starter – who shows initiative and is interested in finding solutions to problems
• Thorough – has strong attention to detail

Application Process

If you are excited by the opportunity of the role at PEAS and have the experience and skills, we are asking all candidates to complete a short online assessment by clicking here.

This assessment will support us in building a better understanding of your suitability for the role and we will be shortlisted based on those who have the highest scores.

We will review the responses on a rolling basis, if we receive a high number of respondents who have scored full marks – we will prioritise shortlisting those to the application stage based on the order in which they responded – so we encourage you to complete the assessment as soon as possible.

If you are successful, we will contact you by email inviting you to apply. If you have not heard from us within 3 weeks of the closing date – please assume you have been unsuccessful.

We are committed to ensuring our opportunities are accessible to all, so if there is any way that we can support you to be the best you can be in the recruitment process, please do get in touch by e-mail on [email protected] or by calling us on 0208 088 3525 (voicemail).

2. School Improvement Lead

Role Title and Department: School Improvement Lead, Education Department
Role Purpose: Responsible for using PEAS’ approaches to support school leaders in government schools near PEAS schools to drive quality improvements.

Contract length: 1 year
Location and Travel: Kasama, Northern Province. A significant proportion of the time (up to 50%) will be spent in PEAS schools or surrounding primary schools.

Reporting to: Senior School Network Manager

The Opportunity

PEAS has successfully built and now runs a network of four secondary schools in Zambia. PEAS is committed to sharing what works in our school networks with others, to support wider improvements across the Zambian education system. In 2021, PEAS will be piloting an exciting new programme of support for government schools near to PEAS’ secondary schools in Northern Province, Zambia. Through this pilot, we will work with Secondary school leaders to improve quality by using and adapting PEAS’ tested tools and processes to provide effective and targeted support based on primary schools’ needs.

As School Improvement Lead, you will be largely based in PEAS schools and responsible for delivering direct support to government school leaders and teachers, using PEAS’ tested tools and approaches. This will include working with Secondary school leaders to assess schools’ strengths and areas for development and coaching school leaders and staff to develop and implement School Improvement Plans. Based on schools’ needs, you will provide follow-up support and training in a range of areas, including teaching and learning and child protection. In order to develop a strong understanding of PEAS’ approaches, and to support PEAS students, you will also work within a PEAS secondary school to help the Senior Leadership Team drive improvement and ensure PEAS schools become “centres of excellence”. This is a new and exciting role as we seek to grow our impact both in our own secondary school network and beyond.

We are looking for someone who is able to quickly develop working relationships with PEAS staff and school staff in government schools and provide credible advice and coaching support to secondary school leaders. The ideal candidate will have experience in a school leadership position, and an understanding of both the primary and secondary education sectors.

The School Improvement Lead will split their time between the PEAS Northern Province Office in Kasama, a PEAS’ secondary school in Kasama or Mungwi, and the nearby secondary schools, with the majority of their time spent in the field. To be successful in this role, you must be motivated and target-driven, and able to effectively motivate others to achieve. You will be part of a hard- working, growing and highly effective team who support one another to deliver impact. Our team are united by our vision, values and desire to give the highest possible number of students the best possible education and life outcomes.

Measuring impact

As an organisation, teams, and individuals, we have key results that keep us focused to achieve our overall objectives. The impact of the School Improvement Lead role will be measured against the following key results*:

• Improve partner secondary schools ‘assessment score’ from X to Y (baseline tbc)
• Improve partner secondary school’s literacy rates from X to Y (baseline tbc).
• Directly support # affiliate secondary school leaders to design and implement SMART School Improvement Plans, drawing on evidence
• Support the delivery of # teacher training sessions in affiliate secondary schools, based on identified needs.
• Work with partner secondary schools to improve their overall compliance to MoGE child protection and monitoring tools – to schools achieving X or higher (baseline tbc)
• Ensure wider PEAS team has regular, high-quality information on activities and progress in partner secondary schools, including up to date and accurate data.
• Support PEAS school Instructional Leadership Team to develop and deliver teacher training activities.

Roles and responsibilities

• Support partner secondary schools to improve learning quality using PEAS’ tools and approaches.
• Quickly develop strong working relationships with non-PEAS primary school leaders in Government schools
• Work with school leaders to assess schools’ strengths and areas for improvement and provide feedback in a constructive manner.
• Support school leaders to develop School Improvement Plans (SIPs) with clear and achievable targets.
• Provide training and coaching to support school leaders to implement SIPs and drive improvement within the school, drawing on PEAS tested tools and approaches.
• Regularly collect data from secondary schools and share with the PEAS Monitoring & Evaluation team to monitor progress.
• Use data to provide targeted support to schools that helps them improve.
• Provide regular progress updates to the School Improvement Coordinator and contribute to reports when needed.

Support PEAS school to become “centres of excellence”

• Work within a PEAS school’s Senior Leadership Team (SLT) to help drive improvement.
• Contribute to SLT plans for teacher training, including taking part in delivering teacher training, conducting observations and supporting peer observations and feedback.
• Provide constructive feedback to teachers to help them increase student learning.

Embody PEAS values

• Act with the highest level of professional conduct, while working both in PEAS schools and with government schools
• Represent PEAS in government schools, promoting PEAS’ values.
• Prioritising students’ welfare, adhering to PEAS Child Protection and Adult Safeguarding Policies in all areas of work.

Who we are looking for

The ideal candidate

Has:

• Minimum of a degree from a recognised university (preferably Social Sciences, Education or Gender)
• Experience working in a school leadership position at a secondary or primary schools
• Experience and knowledge of how to support others to improve education outcomes
• Experience in delivering training and capacity building
• Experience working with complex stakeholder groups in rural low-income communities in Zambia

Can:

• Consistently champion PEAS’ values,
• Lead training sessions, tailoring the content for a range of different audiences (e.g., for school staff, staff who support schools, students)
• Communicate clearly and concisely in both English and Bemba.
• Monitor progress and report against key data points
• Confidently use Microsoft Office and workplace technology (e.g., email) to remain in contact with the wider team.
• Be comfortable working and planning to budgets.

Should be:

• Passionate about improving the life chances of all children through educational opportunity.
• Able to quickly build working relationships and coach school leaders and teachers using strong interpersonal skills.
• Well-organised; able to perform multiple responsibilities to strict deadlines, following up with others in PEAS and in other schools for input and progress updates where necessary.
• Target-driven; comfortable with planning to targets and motivated to achieve them.
• Persistent; willing to go the distance to get things done well.
• Collaborative not competitive; working with peers in and across schools and different teams across the organisation and externally to achieve shared objectives

Desirable criteria

• Experience working for/with international NGOs.
• In-depth knowledge of rural context in Zambia and community dynamics

Application Process

• To apply for Education Associate click here
• To apply for School Improvement Lead send your application letter, CV, Academics and TCZ to [email protected]
• Indicate the role you are applying for in the email subject line. e.g., School Improvement Lead, “your NRC”.

The deadline for applications is Friday 22nd July 2022 at 1700hrs CAT. Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted.