Program Director for Adolescent Development

Job Description

The GEP Program is currently operating in 6 States across India - Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan, New Delhi, Uttarakhand, Telangana and Maharashtra. Specifically, the program seeks to achieve increased years of schooling for girls and increase girls self-awareness, decision-making and problem-solving skills. The Program Director will be responsible for implementing the Girls Education program at the field level. They are the first point of contact for the girls whom we work with; they are also the point of contact for the schools and parents and hence are critical to the success of the program.

Key Responsibilities:

- Develop a thorough understanding of our Girls Education program design, objectives and outcomes.
- Implement program activities as per design maintaining fidelity.
- Undertake corrective action and incorporate feedback when provided by the supervisor for life skills sessions etc.
- Participate in program planning in consultation with Program Associate and other state level staff.
- Regularly attend weekly and monthly workshops where weekly and monthly plans are made and reviewed.
- Attend mandatory training of Program Directors.

Family and Community Engagement:

- Organize and lead family and community meetings and consultations with school staff, parents and community members/organizations as per design;
- Discuss life skill content and issues with them in a tactful manner (especially sensitive/taboo issues like early marriage and attending school during menstrual cycle).
- Seek opportunities for networking at local level and create a resource pool to be used as a referrals if there is a need;
- Facilitate visits of donors, INCO and SO team members;
- Facilitate and support SO/INCO team members in conducting research/ survey/ study/ data collection/ baseline etc;

Working with Girls:

- Conduct life skills sessions for 90 girls in batches of 20-30 as per the prescribed session content and as per agreed plan;
- Each girl will need to be provided with a minimum of 16 life skills sessions in one year;
- This would require a thorough understanding of the content and skills of delivering it tactfully (especially the content related to reproductive health).
- Form Life skills clubs/Children groups and facilitate regular meetings and discussions of these groups;
- At least 8 meetings are to be held every year;
- Ensure that through these groups the girl participants develop skills of articulation and self-expression and initiate action on issues they face in their lives;
- Distribute the newsletter GUPSHUP, initiate discussion around it and hold follow-up activities;
- Help girls to develop wall magazines and write for state-level Gupshup so that their voices can be captured;

Mentoring:

- Conduct group mentoring sessions for 90 girls in batches of 10-15 girls as per prescribed content guidelines and record each session;
- Plan out the group mentoring sessions in association with the Program Associate, taking into account the needs expressed by the girls;
- Conduct individual mentoring sessions as needed;

Setting up Life Skills Centres /Gender Resource Centres:

- Setting up a Gender resource Centre (GRC) for life skills in schools/community for life skills sessions;
- Ensuring proper functioning and usage of GRC as per discussion with state GEP teams;
- Ensure the space is clean, safe and welcoming to girls;
- Ensure the space is well stocked with drawings/articles/expressions of children's voices;
- Changing and putting up the articles/drawings/paintings on bulletin board periodically at least once a month;

Home Visits:

- Mapping data as per the risk and response protocol and then making specific home visits;
- Handling any critical matters that may emerge from these interactions;
- Organizing/conducting programmatic activities at school and community as per mutually agreed plan;
- Managing relationships with school, community and responding to issues that may arise;
- Record keeping, Reporting and monitoring:
- Update records of attendance and parent meetings regularly;
- Prepare and submit weekly plans during weekly reviews;
- Timely record keeping, updating the data and sharing analysis of various parameters like attendance sheets , parents meetings, drop outs etc;
- Filling up socio-economic profile of the girls;
- Regular physical verification of girls on sample basis;
- Periodic cohort risk assessment and analysis of it;
- Flagging issues of concern;
- Identify case studies of girls, schools/communities and best practices;
- Gathering all related data and information;

Qualification & Experience:

- Bachelor's degree in education/social sciences or equivalent/ or higher;
- Minimum experience of 2yrs. (1-2 years of relevant experience in the education/development sector including internships);
- Good verbal and written communication skills in English, Hindi and Marathi;

Preferred:

- Master's degree in education/social sciences or equivalent preferred;
- Counseling diploma and/or experience of having worked on mentoring/counseling issues;
- Experience working on life skills/gender/adolescents;
- Strong planning and project implementation skills;
- Ability to work in remote area and travel to communities for meetings;
- Ability to work effectively with schools and communities;
- Strong written and oral communication skills;
- Good interpersonal skills and a team player;

To be successful:

- Have passion for our mission and a strong desire to impact a dynamic nonprofit organization;
- Be a proactive and innovative thinker who achieves results and creates positive change;
- Have a very high level of personal and professional integrity and trustworthiness;
- Embrace diversity and a commitment to collaboration;
- Thrive in a fast-paced and fun environment

About Us

We are a nonprofit organization dedicated to improving literacy and gender equality in developing countries.

---