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The context:

Across the developing world, more children than ever are in school – but they are not learning. A recent study estimated that less than 1% of school children in Sub-Saharan Africa attend a school where the teaching meets basic standards of quality. At Rising Academies, we’re changing that, and we want your help. Our mission is to create the best schools and the most powerful teaching and learning tools for the people that need it most. We’re one of the fastest-growing quality-focused education companies in Africa, and a Certified B Corp®.

About us and our work in Sierra Leone:

We own and operate our own great value private schools, partner with governments to improve the quality of public school systems, and use our content and technology to help other education providers. Founded in Sierra Leone in 2014, we provided emergency education to children kept out of school by the Ebola Epidemic before opening our first school in April 2015. Today, we serve more than 250,000 students across more than 900 schools in Sierra Leone, Liberia, Ghana and now Rwanda.

In Sierra Leone, following the 3-year Education Innovation Challenge (EIC), Rising was selected as one of five education providers for the Ministry of Basic and Senior Secondary Education’s (MBSSE) new three-year Education Outcomes Fund program, an innovative outcomes-funded program focused on improving foundational literacy and numeracy. In collaboration with EducAid, Rising is also entering the third phase of a partnership in Freetown City schools, supporting over 500 schools across Freetown. We have supported remote learning efforts during COVID with radio education and recently partnered with Youth Impact to deliver a maths-focused remote learning program. In addition, Rising has teamed up with Imagine Worldwide to test and scale tech-enabled learning in a range of school settings to support foundational learning.

Through great curriculum, intensive teacher coaching and actionable data, we help teachers and school leaders bring quality to every classroom. And we get results: independent studies show Rising students make more than twice the progress of their peers in comparable schools.

About the role:

We are seeking an exceptional, highly organized, and dynamic Head of Programs to take the reins and drive the delivery of outstanding results in our rapidly expanding portfolio of partnership programs in Sierra Leone. You will be the driving force behind the implementation of our initiatives, making sure they are executed with precision and excellence.

The Head of Programs, Sierra Leone will:

• Manage a high-performing team of government partnership program leads and support their ongoing professional development as effective managers.
• Execute on program implementation plans and work closely with teams to make adjustments as needed to support improved delivery.
• Lead on the use of program implementation data to drive continuous improvement of program delivery, ultimately ensuring improved learning for all students.
• Ensure compliance with safeguarding and child protection policies and procedures within each program team, and support a culture of openness and transparency.
• Support outstanding relationships with the organisation's stakeholder network, especially our government partners, collaborators and local communities.
• Work closely with program leads to ensure program budgets stay on track, key variances are accounted for and reporting is completed on time.

Location and reporting:

The Head of Programs, Sierra Leone reports directly to Rising’s Leadership Team. The role will be based from Rising’s office in Freetown, Sierra Leone.

Application deadline:

The closing date for applications is November 10th, 2023. The expected start date for the role is January 1st, 2024. We encourage interested candidates to apply as soon as possible.

Qualifications and Experience:

• 5 - 8+ years of education, program or partnership management experience.
• Strong experience executing on program delivery.

About You:

• An inspiring manager. You have a proven track record of success in management roles in a school network, social enterprise or non-profit, with experience developing high performing teams.
• A brilliant project manager. You have successfully delivered large scale, complex, multi-year projects and programs to a high standard..
• A data-informed decision maker. You have adjusted program delivery plans by using data to understand what’s working and what’s not to achieve improved impact.
• A standard-setter for the details that matter. You have faced and dealt with organisational risk and maintained your organisation’s license to operate by ensuring the highest standards of compliance with key processes.
• A talented networker. You have built outstanding relationships with key stakeholders across a range of settings. Experience working closely with different levels of government is a major plus.
• A responsible budget owner. You’ve had budget responsibility for a large scale program, and can be counted on to set, manage and report on budgets effectively.

Prior professional experience in education is not a prerequisite, but a passion for it is.

Compensation and Benefits:

We offer a competitive salary and benefits package. We regularly benchmark our compensation against comparable businesses, social ventures and non-profits.

Rising’s goal is to be transparent about salaries at all levels of the organisation and have a standard, global pay scale for all positions that is non-negotiable.

The benefits we offer are built to have a strong added value on our staff’s well-being and we are excited to discuss this further with you in the process.

Rising is an Equal Opportunity Employer. We celebrate diversity and are committed to providing a work environment that is inclusive and free of discrimination and harassment. All employment decisions are based on individual qualifications without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, sexual orientation, ethnicity, gender identity and expression, national origin, family or parental status, veteran or disability status.

Rising is committed to creating a culture within the organisation, and its schools, that recognises the importance of safeguarding children and prioritising their rights and needs. We strive to uphold international safeguarding standards, and keep the safety and well-being of our students at the heart of what we do. All Rising employees are expected to abide by the Child Protection Policy, and to have the same level of commitment to protect children from harm. Safeguarding questions are part of every interview process and all Rising employees undergo reference checks before joining the organisation.