THE WELLSPRING FOUNDATION FOR EDUCATION
Job Announcement
Position: Director of Programs
Job Description:
The Wellspring Foundation for Education is a Canadian NGO, founded in Rwanda, currently operating in Rwanda and East Africa. Our vision is to be a catalyst for transforming education for children and to foster vibrant communities that address poverty in all its forms. Through our strategic plan, ‘For Every Child’, we are committed to deepening and extending our impact on children’s education through a portfolio of locally-led inclusive quality education programs across East Africa, and to being a catalyst for evidence-based change in education beyond our own programs.
The Director of Programs will be responsible for the direction and quality of our education programs in Rwanda and East Africa. A member of the Rwanda Leadership Team, the Director of Programs will be responsible for ensuring excellence in design, planning, management, and delivery of our portfolio of education programs and projects. Leading our team of passionate and experienced program managers, the Director of Programs will ensure that our programs are designed using a consultative and participatory approach that recognizes the dignity and agency of those we serve; are managed towards outcomes; guided by meaningful and robust monitoring, evaluation, learning, and accountability; and are delivered in line with contextually relevant and technically sound educational and development practices.
The Director of Programs will contribute to our culture of learning and will support growth by collaborating with colleagues on evidence-based advocacy initiatives, as well as providing strategic and technical leadership for the development of new initiatives, programs, and funding proposals.
Reports to: Country Director Rwanda
Provides direct line management to:
Rubavu School Development Program Manager
Gasabo Learning and Leading for All Program Manager
Rakai Pilot School Development Program Manager
Consultants and other program managers as required
Working closely with
Director of Advocacy, Research, and Learning
Director of Operations and Operations Team
School Improvement Advisor Senior Finance Manager
MELA Specialist
Communications Officer
Program ImplementationTeams
Grants Director and Program Liaison / Canada
Location: Kigali office, with regular travel within Rwanda and some international travel, may be required (within EAC, Canada).
Key external relationships: Ministry of Education, Rwanda Basic Education Board, NESA, Leadership of partner districts, RGB, RENCP, and development partners
Job responsibilities:
Programs Direction and Quality
Provide direction for our programs with accountability for the strategic, financial, and operational planning processes, in a collaborative and timely manner.
- Supervise, mentor, and support our program managers to ensure delivery of agreed program objectives through their respective Program Implementation Teams.
- Ensure full program plans and operational plans are in place and monitor the timely delivery of these programs in line with the quality and standards expected by Wellspring and our donors.
- Ensure all programs are managed towards desired outcomes, enhancing our approach to adaptive management.
- Ensure our programs prioritise and integrate inclusion and are gender-responsive throughout from design and planning through to closure.
- Accountable for the technical and educational quality of program outputs and ensuring relevant technical expertise is available for this.
- Ensure partnership reviews and other consultative meetings are conducted effectively, collaboratively, and regularly with program stakeholders and
- participants, and that lessons learnt and insights gained are incorporated into program design, planning, and management.
- Oversee provision and quality of technical assistance for national education programs when required, ensuring excellence in our inputs and relevance to our grassroots insights.
Contract, donor, and budget management
- Oversee the development and coherence of program and project budgets, ensuring value for money and efficient use of resources.
- Ensure program expenditure is monitored and reported on to internal, legal, and donor/partner requirements in collaboration with the Senior Finance Manager.
- Review and ensure timely program reporting to GoR in line with their requirements
- Review and ensure timely internal and external program reporting in collaboration with our Grants Director and Program Liaison in Canada, in line with internal, legal, and donor/partner requirements.
- Oversee timely recruitment for technical consultancies, and ensure effective management of consultants and their deliverables, as required.
Partnership and program development
- Collaborate with the Country Director, Director of Advocacy, Research and Learning, and the Grants Director/Program Liaison (Canada) to identify and pursue potential foundation and institutional funding and partnerships to support our programs within the region.
- With support from program managers and project implementation teams, and in collaboration with the Director of Advocacy, Research, and Learning, draw from the learning in existing programs and similar initiatives elsewhere to inform the development and design of locally-led, cost-effective, innovative, and high-quality programs and proposals.
- Collaborate with team members to build capacity and create space for exploring and developing evidence-based and locally led initiatives to enable Wellspring to impact children’s education beyond our current and core programs.
- Support the Country Director to explore new growth opportunities and relationships with like minded organizations, within and beyond Rwanda’s borders.
- Support the strengthening of our public reputation in Rwanda and East Africa and deepening engagement with appropriate audiences.
Representation, Learning, and Advocacy
in collaboration with the Director of Advocacy, Research, and Learning, and with technical support from the MELA Specialist, contribute to the development and strengthening of Wellspring’s monitoring, evaluation, learning, and accountability framework.
- Lead the ongoing design and implementation of Wellspring’s monitoring and evaluation technology for our programs, with technical support from the MELA Specialist, IT staff, and in partnership with our supplier.
- Ensure learning is taking place within Program Implementation Teams, shared and applied.
- Contribute to the ongoing development of Wellspring’s advocacy priorities and policy engagement strategy.
- Represent Wellspring in various platforms and maintain and develop positive working relationships with Government of Rwanda (MINEDUC, Rwanda Education Board), NGO partners, key development partners, and Rwanda Education NGO Coordination Platform
Team Management and Development
Foster a high performance culture of team-working and mutual support as well as provide empowering line management for relevant team members, including defining expectations, setting annual objectives, agreeing upon learning and development plans, evaluating performance, and providing leadership and technical support as needed.
- Collaborate with Country Director and Director of Operations to ensure adequate and appropriate staffing and technical competencies within the Program Implementation Teams by overseeing recruitment and promotion within the teams, contributing to staff induction and orientation, and ensuring staff learning and development plans are geared towards strategic objectives and allow for career development.
- Initiate and coordinate capacity-building activities for Program Implementation Team members, including identifying external training opportunities, and organizing peer learning activities.
- Invest in your own professional and personal growth through your learning and development plan.
As a member of the Rwanda Leadership Team:
- Contribute to the development of the team culture, promoting and demonstrating Wellspring’s values, guiding principles, and expression of faith.
- Contribute to strategic planning and review processes.
- Ensure Wellspring complies with legal and donor requirements.
- Contribute to organisational risk assessment, analysis, and management.
Child Safeguarding
- Ensure that all program activities are fully compliant with our child safeguarding policy and ensure that children’s rights, safety, agency, and dignity are at the heart of our decisions and activities.
Undertake any other professional duties which may reasonably be delegated by the Country Director in support of our mission and strategic plan.
Requirements for the Role:
Qualifications
- Master’s degree in education, social science, international development, or relevant field.(desirable)
- Bachelor’s degree in education, international development or relevant field plus substantial relevant experience and competence (required)
- Program/Project management certification or training (desirable).
Professional Experience and Skills
- Minimum of 5 years relevant experience at a senior managerial level in development programs (required)
- A proven track record of successfully leading mid-large, education or community-based development programs (required)
- Experience of leading results-based management, and using evidence to inform program design and implementation (required)
- Familiarity with project design methods and tools (including logical frameworks, performance measurement frameworks (required)
- Experience of designing and initiating new programs with a participatory, evidence-based, and locally-led approach that recognizes the dignity and agency of those we serve (desirable)
- Demonstrable team building, management and leadership skills and experience (required)
- Strong project budget design, management, and reporting skills. (required)
- Previous experience working with governments, donors, and international development partners, or strong networks with these, is an asset (desirable)
- Effective remote management of staff and teams. (required)
- Experience of working to achieve systems change. (required)
- Excellent understanding of and ability to influence key institutions and decision-makers.
- Demonstrable knowledge of the role of education in the context of the SDGs, and international development. (required)
- Understanding of the Rwandan education sector (a background in education is desirable but not required).
- Creative and able to develop and encourage new and innovative solutions (required)
- Information Communication Technology literate (required)
- Excellent communication skills in English (required)
- Proficiency in French and/or Kinyarwanda (desirable)
Personal and Spiritual Qualities
- A Christ-centered individual who has the desire to grow in faith, including a commitment to and understanding of Wellspring’s vision, mission, values, and faith position (required).
- Able to develop and maintain strong and mutually-respectful working relationships (required)
- A clear passion for education and the specific issues connected with the work of Wellspring (required)
- Able to cope with changing priorities, often at short notice, and work well under pressure (required).
- A self-starter with the ability to manage, own and deliver complex projects involving multiple stakeholders to deadline (required)
- Skilled in anticipating and solving problems and communicating issues, involving others as needed, and with creativity (required)
- Excellent and engaging communicator and advocate (desirable)
- A collaborative team player able to work in a multicultural setting with diverse teams (required)
Other
- Ability and willingness to travel within Rwanda including rural locations.
- Ability and willingness to travel internationally including within the region
Child Safeguarding
Wellspring is committed to keeping children safe, and therefore a police clearance, confirmation of identity, and proof of relevant qualifications will be requested as part of the selection process.
Application Deadline: 12th October 2021
Contract Duration: 4 years
Contract Type: Local contract, open to National and International applicants, Full-Time position
Duty Stations: Kigali, Rwanda (with regular travel within Rwanda, periodic travel within EAC)
Desired Start Date: December 2021 or ASAP
Wellspring reserves the right to proceed with 1st round interviews before the application deadline if we receive a sufficient number of applications.
Role Profile Approved by Country Director, September 2021
To apply for the position of Director of Programs, send:
1. Completed Wellspring ‘Employment Application Form’ (available to download at the RENCP website or by email from RWrecruitment@thewellspringfoundation.org)
2. A word-processed cover letter explaining why you would like this job and why you are a suitable candidate (max 1 page – longer letters will be rejected)
3. A full Curriculum Vitae (CV) including details of 2 professional referees and 1 personal referee (max 3 pages – longer CVs will be rejected)
4. A scanned copy of your ID
5. A personal statement of faith* (max 1 page – longer statements will be rejected)
Applications must be submitted by email (including scanned PDF documents) to the Country Director, at this email address: RWrecruitment@thewellspringfoundation.org with ‘Director of Programs’ as the subject (please sign and then scan your documents before sending as PDF attachments by email).
Closing Date for applications: 12th October 2021, at 5 pm
Please note that where possible, 1st and 2nd round interviews will take place at our office in Kigali if Covid-19 rules and guidelines allow. For remote candidates, interviews will take place online.
After the interview has taken place and before signing a contract, the successful candidate will submit the following documents:
- A Police Clearance document
- Notarized academic qualification papers and relevant certificates We thank all candidates for their interest in working with the Wellspring Foundation for Education, but due to large numbers of applications, only successfully shortlisted applicants will be contacted.
*what is a personal statement of faith? A personal statement of faith should describe your personal Christian faith journey and how you see this as relevant to your work and your potential involvement with the Wellspring Foundation. It is NOT a theological statement of beliefs.
