Director of Academics & Evaluation Impact Network

Summary of Role: Impact Network has an opportunity for a solutions-oriented, driven and adventurous individual with a background in education and international development to craft our education work across 40+ schools in rural Zambia. This position is largely based in Katete, Zambia with opportunities for remote work for 2-3 months per year.

What We Do: Impact Network believes every child deserves access to a quality education. We make this happen for 6,000 students across 40 schools in rural Zambia for just $5 a month by using technology, an activity-based curriculum, and comprehensive coaching. We are currently part of a randomized controlled trial evaluation in partnership with American Institutes for Research, with strong early findings on literacy and numeracy.

What You Will Do:

We are looking for someone to strengthen our education programs across all of our schools, working collaboratively with staff on the ground to improve our programs and lead our evaluation work. Impact Network needs a candidate that can be excellence-driven in the most challenging of settings. Responsibilities include:

• Share a commitment to provide access to a quality education to students living in extremely rural settings.
• Demonstrate a drive towards improving the eSchool 360 model with an emphasis on improving literacy and numeracy outcomes in a scalable way.
• Think creatively about strategies to improve instructional practices, and programs to boost literacy and numeracy, with a particular focus on our Read Smart Cinyanja intervention.
• Work closely and respectfully with our Head of Academics to build the team’s capacity, improve the professional development plan for teachers, and improve the overall implementation of the eSchool 360 model.
• Work closely and respectfully with our Head of Curriculum to develop our curriculum improvement plan, review the creation of lesson plans, and help curate eLearning content.
• Support our child protection work to ensure that our schools are safe learning spaces, especially for girls.
• Direct our monitoring and evaluation work, including the creation of high-quality assessments, monitoring of data entry, and analysis of student-level and school-level data.
• Improve organizational structure, data collection processes, and administrative practices to identify and mitigate any obstacles to providing the best education possible to our students.
• Play a supporting role in crafting grant applications and drafting reports to donors.
• Other projects as needed.

What We Are Looking For:

We are looking for a candidate with a desire to improve the education quality provided in rural Zambia and a deep commitment to the belief that all students deserve a quality education.

Key Requirements:

• Bachelor’s Degree in a related field.
• At least 3 years experience working in a school or academic setting.
• At least 2 years experience working with NGOs in developing countries, preferably Sub-Saharan Africa.
• Specialized training or experience with foundational literacy skills.
• Experience coaching teachers and/or managers for professional development.
• Familiarity in developing new resources and tools to improve program implementation, in particular around literacy and numeracy.
• Outstanding organizational skills and incredibly strong attention to detail.
• Ability to manage competing priorities inherent in a small non-profit organization.

Desired Requirements:

• Master’s Degree in a related field.
• Knowledge of M&E frameworks and tools
• Experience with curriculum development for pre-primary to grade 7
• Understanding of child protection tools and activities
• Experience developing and implementing new programs/ initiatives
• Confidence and fluency with Excel and managing large data-sets. Any research and data analysis skills are a strong bonus.
• Grant writing and report writing skills are preferred as we are continually seeking grants and writing proposals.

Values:

• Proactive problem-solver who demonstrates initiative in seeking out and implementing solutions to problems or obstacles.
• An ability to persist and turn challenges into opportunities for improvement.
• Strong work ethic, enthusiastic learner, and passionate about education.
• Willingness to live in rural Zambia with limited resources. More information is available for this aspect of the position.

Compensation

Compensation range is $40,000 to $50,000 with opportunities for salary progression after 1 year, as well as a housing & living stipend for living in Katete. Last, travel costs for at least one annual international trip from Katete are covered.

We believe in the importance of being a diverse, equitable and inclusive organization that enables our students and team to thrive. We hire without consideration to race, religion, creed, color, national origin, age, gender, sexual orientation, marital status, veteran status or disability.