Manager, Supporting Teacher Achievement in Rwandan Schools (STARS)

his is an exciting new role to be hired immediately! Innovations for Poverty Action (IPA) Rwanda, in partnership with the Georgetown University Initiative on Innovation, Development,
and Evaluation (gui2de), is seeking a Manager to work with the Rwanda Ministry of Education (MINEDUC) to scale the Supporting Teacher Achievement in Rwandan Schools (STARS) project. STARS focuses on the transformative potential of aligning teacher management practices with learning aims for children’s education in Rwanda, which is one of the top performing countries in sub-Saharan Africa in terms of access to education.

STARS will be implemented as one of the key projects under the Embedded Evidence Lab, which is housed within MINEDUC and jointly supported by IPA Rwanda and Georgetown University. This Lab draws on, and catalyzes investments in, the increasingly rich array of administrative datasets available within Rwanda's education system. It aims to support the development of data infrastructure, as well as capacity for both analysis and data-driven policymaking within MINEDUC and its affiliated agencies. As part of this initiative, Georgetown University and IPA are supporting the placement of embedded staff in the Rwanda Education Board (REB), the National Examination and School Inspection Authority (NESA), and the Directorate General of Education Policy and Analysis at MINEDUC.

Over a three-year work program, beginning in the 2022-23 school year, the STARS team will work with MINEDUC, REB, and NESA to design and execute an annual sequence of adaptive experiments to measure and reward teachers’ learning value added. This iterative approach will identify and adopt design dimensions that strengthen the learning impact of STARS by providing an opportunity to learn about the best ways to implement teacher performance contracts that align with learning outcomes, to generate evidence of the value of taking these to scale, and to build infrastructure and systems that will enable adoption of STARS at nationwide scale by MINEDUC. By the end of the three-year period, the STARS program aims to have been implemented in over 1,000 schools across 10 districts, reaching nearly 400,000 pupils and over 30,000 teachers, and will be poised to be sustainably implemented at nationwide scale by the Rwanda government.

The STARS Manager will be responsible for the end-to-end management and oversight of the STARS program execution including scope, delivery, finance and coordination with embedded staff, and key relationships within the central government and districts. This role will work with MINEDUC and other key partners to support the implementation of a governance structure for government ownership and scalability, oversee the field execution of program interventions for the successful implementation of the STARS program; and build, engage and nurture key government partnerships from national to school levels.

This role reports to IPA Rwanda’s Research and Policy Manager and will receive day-to-day technical oversight from partners at Georgetown University, including a Primary Investigator.

Responsibilities 

STARS program implementation and management

• Oversee the implementation of the STARS program interventions through government systems
• Work alongside MINEDUC staff to support intervention design, delivery, and management
• Lead work planning and project management to ensure effective and timely implementation of our work
• Coordinate with project personnel, including embedded staff
• Oversee transitions, on-boarding of new staff, and maintaining “institutional memory” of project activities
• Keep both the IPA and gui2de teams apprised of all developments on the project, and serve as key link between the IPA Rwanda office, project staff, and Principal Investigators
• Oversee project financial management, including creation and monitoring of project budgets, and ensure smooth integration of projects into IPA financial systems
• Develop and implement risk and mitigation strategies
• Ensure that project deliverables, such as reports and financial statements, are submitted to donors and partners on time

Strategy and Partnerships

• Proactively represent STARS and its implementing partners at IPA, Georgetown University, and within government
• Cultivate new relationships and strengthen existing relationships with key local decision- makers in the education sector and facilitate government ownership of the full-scale STARS program
• Develop a STARS operational manual, communications materials, and training content for project schools, and update them annually based on evaluation findings
• Draft, edit, and quality-assure project communications with external donors
• Build the knowledge of IPA’s internal teams about supporting evidence-based scale ups, through creating knowledge and communication products about the STARS experience
• Contribute to the development of new opportunities for scaling evidence- and data-driven education programs in Rwanda
• Contribute to growing the visibility of the STARS program with internal and external audiences

Technical Design Coordination

• Support improvements to data collection protocols for Comprehensive Assessment, Teacher Management Information System, and School Data Management System as part of the STARS path to scale and support adoption by partner districts
• Ensure quality, consistency and adherence to program and research design, for all technical and programming activities and events
• Coordinate key activities such as the dissemination of STARS to teachers and the operational use of government-collected data
• Coordinate the co-creation and dissemination of analytical work with MINEDUC counterparts

Qualifications 

• Master’s degree preferred in related field, such as development economics, public policy, public health, or education policy
• 7-9 years’ experience in a similar role in the education sectors with at least 3 years of demonstrable experience leading teams
• Experience in managing complex projects or programs
• Good working knowledge of the Rwandan Education system is an added advantage
• Fluent English speaker - Kinyarwanda and French are an added advantage

Additional Desired Qualifications:

• A roll-up-your-sleeves and ‘get it done’ attitude: maintains focus, measures progress and outcomes, and ensures accountability
• Great communicator: clearly and succinctly conveys information and ideas in a variety of situations, communicating in a focused and compelling way that drives others’ thoughts and actions
• Entrepreneurial spirit: takes calculated risks, offers fresh ideas and approaches to create greater value, impact and differentiation
• Positive approach: demonstrates a poised, credible, and confident demeanor that reassures others, commands respect, and conveys an image that is consistent with IPA’s core values even when faced with difficult situations
• Quality orientation: accomplishes work by considering all areas involved, no matter how detailed, shows concern for all aspects of the job, accurately checks processes and tasks, and ensures high quality outputs
• Data-driven leadership: is committed to the generation and use of data to inform policy design and tactical decision-making
• Strategic influence: Creates and executes strategies that gain commitment to their own ideas and persuades key stakeholders to take actions that will advance shared interest and the achievement of the STARS program goals
• Cultivating networks and partnerships: initiates and maintains strategic relationships with stakeholders and potential partners inside and outside the organization who are willing and able to provide the information, ideas, expertise and/or influence needed to achieve program progress and success