School Leader

Working at The Akanksha Foundation:

Akanksha is on a mission to build one of the largest and most innovative networks of schools in India, serving children from low-income communities, to maximize their potential. Our aspirational vision for students integrates academic excellence with life skills (including socio-emotional development), that will enable each child to live an
empowered
life. We believe an empowered citizen must possess
a sense of mastery to pursue excellence
,
a sense of agency to make informed choices
and
a sense of purpose to serve their communities.

Over the last 30 years, Akanksha has been at the forefront of proving what's possible for children from low-income communities in Mumbai & Pune. Our 5,100 alumni are on the path to living an empowered life. Today Akanksha runs 27 schools in partnership with governments of Mumbai, Pune, Pimpri-Chinchwad, Navi Mumbai and Nagpur serving ~14,600 children in grades Jr Kg - Gr 10.

Our schools are led by competent, passionate and purposeful educators who believe in demonstrating excellence. And our central staff teams are committed to the ideal of building a high performing institution in alignment with our core values:
Be the CHANGE

●     We
Collaborate
- We unite as a team to achieve our vision, support each other in securing our goals and find joy in each other's success.

●     We
Have Belief
- Every Akanksha member lives and breathes the organization's mission and believes in our ability to achieve challenging goals that go beyond expectation.

●     We
Act with Integrity
- Our team takes ownership of their actions and we take pride in holding ourselves accountable to our set commitments.

●     We
Never Give Up
- We are big believers in learning and continue to stay strong and resilient till we reach the very end.

●     We
Give Respect -
At Akanksha, we embrace the diversity all around us and treat each other with dignity.

●     We
Excel & Enjoy -
We raise the bar and push ourselves to go the extra mile as a team, all the while ensuring that we enjoy and celebrate our wins along the way. We believe it is important to help each other succeed.

Over the next 3 years , Akanksha will be focusing on the following key priorities;

1)     Doubling down on excellence and innovation across our current schools

a)     Accelerate the academic learning and differentiated pathways for students leveraging personalized learning using technology and partnering with parents

b)     Continue our efforts on well-being and safety of our children through a focused implementation of socio-emotional learning programs.

c)     Designing and implementing new programs to develop new age competencies like entrepreneurship, digital literacy, environmental consciousness and financial literacy.

2)     Setting up new schools across existing and new geographies. Piloting 1 or more experimental schools to challenge the existing education structures

3)     Continue supporting our alumni to push the boundaries of achievements and ensuring they stay on track to break the cycle of poverty.

4)     Launch and grow our
multiplier initiative
in partnership with the governments and like-minded non-profit organizations, through codification of Akanksha's 'best in class' practices around Art, socio emotional learning, parents as partners and English as second language.

5)     Amplify key learnings from Akanksha's public-private partnership model to drive larger change in the education ecosystem

What can The Akanksha Foundation Offer You:

1.   An opportunity to be a part of one of the most reputed organizations in the education sector in India, that focuses on
transformative impact
on children by getting them out of poverty.

2.     An environment that is challenging, offers a significant degree of autonomy and is focused on holistic well-being of its people, so they can be the best version of themselves in life.

3.     Access to learning and career growth opportunities in a steadily growing organization

4.     Remuneration that is competitive in top one-third of Indian NGO scales and benefits that include medical insurance, provident fund and paid leave..

Position Summary:

As an Akanksha School Leader, you will oversee all instructional, operational, enrichment and community initiatives at the school. You will ensure that high standards of excellence are maintained in your school by building a motivated, skilled team of teachers, developing a strong academic program, engaging families in their child's education and creating a positive, achievement-oriented school culture to facilitate holistic education that is inclusive of building 21st century skills.

Responsibilities include but are not limited to:

●     Setting a strong culture conducive to high quality work and well-being of all stakeholders and creating a safe environment for student, teachers & parents.

●     Setting ambitious skill based goals, along with teachers, for students' academic achievement in all grades and subjects.

●     Setting ambitious goals to develop soft skills in children that address their social and emotional development.

●     Structuring, planning and executing cohesive professional development opportunities for teachers which is inclusive of all three areas of school development – academic achievement, youth development and community engagement.

●    Modelling effective lessons and instructional strategies

●    Overseeing collection and analysis of student data to drive school initiatives

●    Ensuring documentation and collection of effective plans/other resources from teachers

●    Overseeing the design of the parent engagement plan for the year

●     Working with the social worker to ensure opportunities for parent engagement within the school community and SMC meetings

●    Ensuring that the social worker is able to develop the team of helpers in each school

●    Managing the operations and logistics of the school

●    Maintaining positive relationships with school-based government officials

●    Executing performance management system for all school-based staff

●    Overseeing the school budget throughout the year

Values, Skills & Experience:

●     Bachelor's/Post Graduate Degree and/or a Bachelor's Degree in Education will be preferred

● years of teaching experience.

●     Experience in school leadership (preferred)

●     Belief in the potential of the government school system

●     Humility to influence change without authority

●     Demonstrated entrepreneurial ability with strong execution and project delivery skills

●     Excellence in organizational, managerial and stakeholder management skills.

●     Strong education sector experience (knowledge of gaps, challenges & scope)

●     Candidates with prior experience of working with the government on projects preferred

●     Experience training teachers (theory, classroom application and feedback).

●     Experience in developing and documenting curriculum.

●     Excellent written and verbal communication skills

●     Knowledge of Child development as per different age groups and ability to transfer this knowledge to the team

●     Strong understanding of pedagogical practices and curriculum and its implementation

●     Ability to set and drive the School Vision, build a culture aligned to Akanksha values

●      Ability to assign tasks, manage and build a rapport with school staff and team

●     Ability to manage school operations along with effective instructions passed on through a well-trained team in a safe and secure environment that is conducive for the students

●     Ability to bring in a progressive shift in the communities from where our students and parents come, creating a positive and sustainable impact

●     Organizational and time management skills

●     Self-awareness/continuous learning

●     Critical and objective thinking, problem solving, resilience

●     Data based decision making

●     Highly motivated, persevering, achievement-oriented attitude

●     Strong interpersonal skills and flexibility in planning and working with a team