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Quality Schooling Specialist – Justice Rising

Remote

Company Description

Justice Rising International (JRI), a US-based non-profit organization transforming war zones through education, seeks to grow the Schools Support team in delivering quality conflict-sensitive education within its network of schools located in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). JRI is an established, school network operator that exists to transform areas of conflict by providing access to quality, conflict–sensitive education. JRI currently serves 4,000 students and 200 teachers across its school network in the North Kivu province of the DRC. In addition to achieving gender parity across its network, more than 95% of Justice Rising students have passed the national primary and secondary school exit exams, outpacing the national average of ~75%.

Justice Rising seeks to transform areas of conflict:

  1. In the short–term by creating access to education in mid– and post–conflict communities where good schools do not exist, thereby creating safe learning spaces for children who would otherwise miss out on their education;
  2. In the medium–term by delivering a quality, conflict–sensitive education and ensuring school completion through secondary school; and
  3. In the long–term by (a) developing transformative civic leaders that are equipped with the tools to create durable solutions for peace, and (b) by developing evidence–backed education tools and interventions for conflict areas that can be widely scaled.

Job Description

This role will report directly to Justice Rising’s Chief Technical Officer while supporting the implementation of our SMoLL Steps program with partner schools.

SMoLL Steps is Justice Rising’s quality schooling framework that is designed to support schools operating in protracted conflict and crisis settings. This approach prioritizes the Safety, Motivation, and Learning of children in schools that are Legitimate and Sustainable. Successful candidates will play a key role in working with school partners to audit their existing practices against this framework, co–develop a plan for implementation, and guide the partner schools through the implementation processes over a multi–month period. Candidates will be working with multiple schools/school networks at any given time.

Candidates should have experience working within a primary or secondary school setting, with a preference for those who have served in some sort of leadership or management capacity. Candidates should also have mentoring, coaching, training, or other concrete examples of professional development expertise. Successful candidates will have some degree of subject–matter expertise/in–school experience with programs focused on at least 2 of the 5 key domains of SMoLLS, which are:

  • Safe: Child protection programming/safeguarding of children
  • Motivated: Teacher motivation and community engagement
  • Learning: Development of pedagogical tools and assessment materials
  • Legitimate: Navigating school compliance requirements
  • Sustainable: Management of school finances

Ideally, candidates will also be familiar with some of the challenges common in education in emergency (EIE) settings, or at least education in lower–resource communities more broadly.

Responsibilities:

SMoLL Steps Implementation

  • Work with partner schools to identify key areas of improvement and plan interventions accordingly
  • Support partner schools during SMoLL Steps implementation, providing technical guidance where appropriate
  • Conduct school monitoring visits and report to the Chief Technical Officer
  • Monitor and track key indicators around SMoLL Steps progress in participating schools, preparing the school dashboard and interfacing with MEL leads
  • Provide guidance and support on the implementation of JR pilot projects


Program Design and Support

  • Represent Justice Rising to local partner schools
  • Engage and build relationships with relevant communities and local government bodies, as well as partner organizations
  • Provide technical inputs to fundraising proposals and support in identifying new fundraising opportunities
  • Plan and manage classroom visits for Justice Rising partners and funders
  • Support development of SMoLL Steps materials, developing improvements on programming, materials, and curricula based on observations during implementation.

Qualifications

Experience & Qualifications:

  • Bachelor’s degree required with relevant Master’s degree preferred
  • Experience working within a school setting, ideally in a leadership role
  • Experience working in a start–up environment (Preferred)
  • Demonstrated ability to solve complex problems
  • Excellent cross–cultural relationship management
  • 5+ years combination of teaching/school management experience (esp. in challenging education settings preferred)
  • Proven delivery of teacher professional development in challenging contexts
  • Excellent communication skills, fluency in spoken and written English and French required, Swahili and Arabic desirable
  • There is no geographic requirement for this position, but for ease of logistics, preferable candidates will be located in a timezone of UTC to UTC+4. 
  • Demonstrable commitment to child protection and safeguarding

In addition, you will be able to demonstrate the following attributes:

  • Resilience: to withstand this context which is riddled with complexity and risk
  • Integrity: is trustworthy and dependable
  • Service: proven ability to effectively serve the needs of marginalized and vulnerable people with respect and dignity
  • Excellence: impact–driven and proven ability to deliver outstanding results in a resourceful manner

Additional Information

Employee Benefits

A career with Justice Rising offers an interesting and rewarding work experience in varied international contexts in roles with competitive rewards and benefits.

  • Competitive salary
  • Paid annual leave (starting at 14 days)
  • Medical, dental, and vision
  • 401(k) matching program
  • Paid family leave
  • Flexible work opportunities
  • Professional learning and development opportunities
  • Local and international travel

How to Apply:
To apply, please send an email to admin@justicerising.org with the subject line “Justice Rising Job Candidate” by 5th May 2024. Please attach the following materials:

  • Cover letter
  • Resume or CV
  • 3 professional references (with contact information)

Justice Rising is an equal opportunity employer and we are committed to a diverse and inclusive workplace.