Senior Program Manager – Rwanda – Ibitabo Kuri Twese (IKT)

EDUCATION DEVELOPMENT CENTER (EDC)

Education Development Center (EDC) is a global nonprofit that advances lasting solutions to improve education, promote health, and expand economic opportunity, with a focus on vulnerable and under-served populations. Since 1958, we have been a leader in designing, implementing, and evaluating powerful and innovative programs in more than 80 countries around the world.

EDC promotes equity and access to high quality education and health services and products that contribute to thriving communities where people from diverse backgrounds learn, live, and work together. We support an inclusive workplace culture that embraces many perspectives and broadens our understanding of the communities we serve, enhancing and enriching our work.

EDC is committed to equity, diversity, and inclusion in the workplace.

We are looking for candidates who share EDC’s commitment and understand the importance of cultural responsiveness in today’s context.

Project Description

The primary purpose of the 3-year, USAID-funded Ibitabo Kuri Twese (IKT) Project is to strengthen the market system for teaching and learning materials and increase the quantity, quality, affordability, and accessibility of books and other reading materials (physical and digital) in schools, homes, and communities, contributing to improved reading outcomes.

Position Description

The Senior Program Manager (SPM) is an experienced manager, who is responsible for the day-to-day management of project activities. The SPM will work closely with the Chief of Party (COP) on liaising with project’s stakeholders, representing IKT and EDC in external events, and reporting to line ministry and USAID. The SPM will support the COP in coordination of project activities, planning, quality assurance, and reporting. The SPM will also support the COP in project representation and in administration management. In addition, the SPM will manage and oversee the technical implementation of IKT’s small grants program, in close collaboration with the technical, finance, and leadership teams.

This position reports to the Chief of Party. This position is located in Kigali.

Essential functions include:

• In coordination with COP, manage day-to-day activities ensuring quality implementation.
• In coordination with COP, foster positive relationships with external partners, including government entities (MINEDUC, REB), private sector stakeholders, publishers, printers, Organizations of People with Disabilities (OPDs), and financial institutions.
• Manage IKT’s small grants program for printers, publishers, and book retailers to increase quality and access of inclusive TLMs at community level, covering the full grants cycle ranging from grants design, application, and selection process to grants implementation and reporting.
• Support technical teams to ensure cohesive plans, approaches, and delivery of quality capacity building interventions for publishers, printers, and retailers.
• Work with technical teams to ensure quality implementation of workshops, trainings, fairs, and conferences as well as high visibility events.
• Ensure gender and disabilities inclusion lens throughout the three Intermediate Results (IRs).
• In coordination with COP, manage the engagement and technical contributions of Technical Advisors across technical teams.
• Responsible for preparing consolidated project progress reports, coordinating efforts and production timeline across departments, and ensuring quality content.
• Manage technical planning for realistic and timely implementation, ensuring harmonization across components.
• In coordination with COP, support administrative departments to ensure streamlined operations and alignment with technical planning and execution.
• In close coordination with COP, represent the project and EDC during project activities and public events.
• Demonstrate diplomacy and leadership to foster an atmosphere of teamwork, productivity, creativity, fairness, equity, and innovation, in support of EDC’s commitment to diversity.
• Serve as Acting COP when designated, ensuring consistent project leadership and management if/when designated authority by the COP or Project Director.

The candidate for the position of Senior Program Manager shall have at a minimum the following qualifications:

Education:

• Master’s degree required.

Skills and Experience:

• A minimum of 8 to 9 years of directly relevant experience;
• Demonstrated experience managing USAID-funded projects;
• Experience managing and implementing small grants programs that follow USAID grants management rules and regulations;
• Experience designing and implementing organizational capacity building interventions;
• Ability to facilitate stakeholder consultations with a wide range of stakeholders, focus group discussions, trainings/workshops;
• Demonstrated experience in education sector and/or with Rwandan government agencies.
• Demonstrated experience in disabilities inclusion and working with Organizations of People with Disabilities (OPDs) (preferred);
• Small group supervisory experience;
• Experience and ability to work under pressure and tight timelines;
• Demonstrated ability to work on multiple and complex activities simultaneously;
• Familiarity with TLM and related printing and publishing industry (preferred);
• Experience working with computers, especially MS Word and MS Excel;
• Excellent writing skills;
• Demonstrable initiative, creativity, and flexibility;
• Ability to work independently and effectively in groups;
• Strong interpersonal & organizational skills;
• Willingness to travel to provinces covered by the project.

Language:

Fluency, verbal and written, in English and Kinyarwanda is required.