Strategic Director of Education Reform

Position Summary

The Regional Leader for Educational Excellence is responsible for driving transformational outcomes for children in classrooms and growing as leaders. This individual creates and shapes a vision for the region that is rooted in the local context and develops a long-term strategy that will fully realise the regional vision. The Regional Leader has a five-fold charge:

• Ensuring that Teach For India Fellows in the region are not only driving transformational outcomes for children, but that they're growing as leaders.
• Fostering a local, growing Alumni movement that is committed to providing all children an excellent education.
• Building a local, enduring institution that promotes sustainable funding, talent, and operations – including assembling effective teams and resources, coaching talent to outcomes and leading the site rooted in strong culture.
• Serving as a critical organisational leader for operations that span Teach For India's vision and mission.
• Co-creating the strategy & roadmap to serve 1 in 10 children from low income communities in the region.

To achieve that five-fold charge, the Regional Leader works closely with the local program team to create an ecosystem of support for Fellows that enables them to be successful in their roles as teachers and future leaders of the movement. The Regional Leader also works to foster a sense of community among Alumni in the region and mobilises them towards shared goals, while also building partnerships with a range of government, corporate, and civil society players to catalyse systemic impact and ensure the long-term sustainability of our efforts. Last but not least, the Regional Leader plays an integral role in building the capability and commitment of members of the regional Operations team to contribute to our mission in the long-term.

Team Overview

The regional Operations is currently in its 10th year of operations. We currently have 10 Staff in the regional Operations team at Teach For India and 60 Fellows in 17 schools directly impacting 60 classrooms; with nearly 340 Alumni who have graduated the Fellowship. The team works towards furthering Teach For India's short-term theory of change in the region and the surrounding regions by getting committed individuals to dedicate 2 years to help us achieve our vision of "One Day all children will attain an excellent education". The team also works towards creating committed and connected stakeholders to further Teach For India's mission of building a movement of leaders to eliminate educational inequity.

Responsibilities

1. Envision, develop and update a contextualized vision for Teach For India's operations in the region:

• Articulate a vision for the region that is rooted in the local context, yet directly aligned to Teach For India's larger national movement.
• Phase out the city vision into a short-mid-and long term roadmap, with clearly defined goals and measures for success.
• Build investment and ownership among Staff, Fellows, Alumni, & Partners in the vision and goals.

2. Develop a strategic and operational plan that is designed to realise the vision:

• Design a strategic plan that effectively sets priorities, searches for innovative paths and best practices, and accounts for regional uncertainties and externalities.
• Design short-term tactical plans to mobilise resources and guide a team to outcomes in the short-and-mid term.

3. Manage the Executive Team in the region:

• Establish and/or strengthen infrastructure needed to maximize performance and operations of both talent and resources (processes, structure, systems, communication).
• Select, mentor and develop a group of your direct reports (managees) that is composed of the right skills, knowledge, and mindsets needed to advance transformational progress for children through the City roadmap.
• Build a systematic approach to people development to ensure that team members across the site are growing, performing and flourishing.
• Establish clear accountability, decision making responsibilities, and performance expectations that are aligned to the strategic plan.

4. Build relationships with key partners and stakeholders to foster collective impact and ensure long-term sustainability:

• Build the site into a sustainable organisation rooted in local funding and talent.
• Develop the operational infrastructure to enable scale and efficiency.
• Engage with local networks, Alumni, education sector stakeholders to make Teach For India a strong voice in regional communities of practice.
• Build, engage and strengthen a strong advisory board.
• Play a front-facing role in local fundraising efforts and capacities.

5. Manage a growing team towards short-term outcomes and long-term success:

• Manage city vertical leads that span Program, Partnerships (Alumni & Government) and People (Recruitment, HR, Job Placements, etc.)
• Design systems and processes to manage progress and people across layers.
• Build and execute a strong performance management plan to ensure progress.

6. Establish and uphold a strong culture of inspiration, honesty, support, and accountability among team members:

• Foster an internal team culture that is rooted in our organisational values.
• Model culture both internally and externally.
• Build on-going relationships with our internal community.

7. Collaborate with teams across clusters at Teach For India (People, Impact & Operations, Movement Building, Regions, Office of the Senior Leadership team).

Additional Responsibilities

Knowledge and Technical Skills

Competencies and Abilities

Values and Mindsets

Education and Experience

Minimum Qualifications, Experiences and Expectations

• A Bachelor's or Master's Degree in any field with 8+ years of relevant work experience.
• Previous experience managing large projects and teams to successful outcomes.
• Previous teaching/education experience would be an added advantage.
• Strategic and critical thinking skills so as to conceptualise multiple approaches to solving a problem and draw out a clear roadmap with roles and responsibilities.
• Relationship-building and networking skills so as to connect individuals, groups, and partners with shared goals.
• Influencing and persuasion skills so as to leverage people and relationships to outcomes.
• Communication skills so as to deliver a compelling message through oral and written mediums to diverse stakeholders.
• People management skills so as to manage diverse teams to outcomes.
• Ability to be resourceful and entrepreneurial in the face of uncertainty.
• Proficiency in analysing data and making inferences to drive strategies and decisions
• Understanding of Teach For India's short-term and long-term theory of change
• Understanding of Teach For India's leadership development philosophy and framework

Note: We want to hear your unique voice and perspectives through the process, hence all applicants are expected to personally author statements of purpose/essays in the application form.Sole use of AI or Chat-GPT based tools may lead to disqualification from the process.

Preferred Qualifications, Experiences and Expectations