Program Officer, Literacy Field

Position Overview:
The Program officer, literacy field will oversee the program and lead the agenda of system strengthening at district level. S/he will be responsible for coordination, development, and reporting of the Literacy program implementation in a district. S/he would serve as the main point of contact for the school and local government officials and coordinate the work of other RtR staff in the district or state. S/he will work closely with the State manager in engaging with the respective districts education departments of (Erstwhile Adilabad district - Adilabad, Asifabad, Mancherial and Nirmal districts) Telangana for delivering Foundational Literacy initiative under the NIPUN Bharat. S/he will support the state manager in design of the program, execution, coordination with various stakeholders (government and non-profit partner) and delivering on a roadmap for building government capacity to sustain the impact and interventions from the program. The Program Officer will report to the State Manager and will have Sr./Program Associates reporting to him/her. This position will involve frequent travel to field locations as well as regular interaction with education officials, school administrators, teachers, and students.

Roles & Responsibilities:
The Program officer will be responsible for the intervention in his / her district and will have the following specific key roles and responsibilities:
Program Understanding:
- Develop a thorough understanding of Room to Read’s Literacy program design.- S/he has good awareness of literacy programs, their design and strategies operating in project region.- Develop a strong understanding of Govt’s education policies NEP 2020, NCF, FLN, SIQE etc.

On-ground Implementation and Monitoring:
- Oversee the quality implementation of the Literacy program in the districts and mandals, ensuring timely, efficient, and well-coordinated implementation, adhering to the program and budget guidelines.- Make regular visits to program schools alone and with key government officials from mandal/district/state level, observe Classroom Instruction, Library Management, library activities, speak to teachers and headmasters and supervise the functioning of the PAs.- Ensure that program schools are monitored as per guidelines and the field staff perform their job effectively.- Analyze various data and information emanating from the field, develop programmatic co
- relations and flag off issues for larger discussion.- Supervise and ensure all data entry and compilation on monthly, quarterly, and yearly basis, including GSD, Dashboard data. Maintain high level of data quality.- Track progress of implementation and expenditures through regular review meetings and field visits; flag off deviations and delays at the earliest.- Participate in any other activities which may be required to be undertaken to fulfil the objectives of the organization.- Ensure that all teacher training and capacity building activities are held as per plan and program guidelines, including the receipt of necessary approvals.- Overall Lead different online and offline trainings organized for teachers, field staff and review meeting. Also, play role of key facilitator for these trainings.- Ensure effective utilization of program budget through proper planning and tracking of planned activities. Ensure that financial and procurement norms are adhered to, and efforts are made to be reduce cost to the extent possible, without compromising on the quality.- Assist to prepare annual plan of action and budget for the Literacy program.- Responsible for literacy program AWP&B, IC and development of program tracking system for timely and quality implementation of activities.- Track program progress on key indicators according to the M&E framework during monthly meetings and throughout the project timeline.- Co-ordinate all district level activities (trainings, review meetings) related to Project- Participate actively on social media in all Room to Read (RtR) campaigns.- Stay updated regarding new programs/interventions of the like-minded organizations in district.- Lead a team of Sr./Program Associates to ensure effective program implementation and achieve the project outcomes in the respective district.- Identify operational bottlenecks and weaknesses, wherever applicable and come up with solutions for the same in consultation with state manager.- Support the State Manager in strategic planning and advocacy, technical assistance, quality assurance, sustainability planning and future expansion decisions.

Government Liaison and Technical Support:
- Serve as a technical resource at the district level and participate in technical assistance discussions with Attend government meetings, discussions and committees on foundational literacy and use those forums to advocate for enabling policies and government orders in support of RtR literacy program.- Represent Room to Read in different forums and advocate the importance o