The Specialist, School Based Programs is the front line Save the Children (SC) staff member providing technical and management assistance to partners to ensure the effective coordination, implementation and monitoring of school-based partnerships and programs such as literacy, nutrition and physical activity. Under the supervision of the State director/Deputy Program Director and working as a team member within a State office, the Program Specialist oversees the implementation of the integrated programming at the assigned partner sites. (The number of sites will vary by location and the levels of guidance and support required by partners depending on their respective needs.) Specific responsibilities include managing relationships with assigned partner sites; lead partner planning; identify new partner sites and conduct site assessments; guiding new partners through the start-up process of the programs; providing training and technical assistance to partners to ensure high-quality programs; monitoring partner progress and performance to ensure that they are achieving program objectives. The position holder regularly consults with other support teams such as Education Specialists and sub-grant management teams to resolve complex issues and ensure compliance with sub-grant terms and conditions.
- Take lead role for the partner planning process in assigned sites to support effective and efficient implementation of program goals (10%).
- Visit assigned sites as and when needed to providing adequate professional development and support to all partner staff members related to effectively implementing the afterschool, in-school, and summer programs with particular attention to the three components of the Literacy Block: read-alouds, fluency-building activities, and guided independent reading practice (25%).
- Monitor the appropriate implementation of all school based program components according to SC’s established standards; and provide training and/or technical assistance as needed (20%).
- Upon receipt from USP Finance staff, review for appropriateness partner requests for funds, quarterly financial reports and budget revision requests, and provide confirmation or questions to Finance and Subgrants staff for processing (10%).
- Support partner sites to comply with key sponsorship requirements (10%).
- Participate in the identification of new sites, work with team members to complete site assessments, and lead new site start-up procedures as needed (5%).
- Indirectly supervise the coordinators at assigned sites and ensure that they meet the performance standards and expectations (10%).
- Host visitors to the assigned sites and facilitate logistical arrangements for Donor, VIP or USP staff members (10%).
- Minimum 3-5 years' experience in elementary education.
- Professional level of specialized knowledge to manage complex tasks, programs or projects.
- Accountable for day to day decisions around execution of job.
- Requires little or no supervision on routine work assignments, but may require supervision to review work progress and results on non-routine work assignments.
- Keeps manager informed of important issues.
- Builds effective relationships within immediate or peer workgroup.
- Ability to use MS Outlook, Word, Excel, PPT and on-line technologies proficiently.
- Willingness to travel regularly in the region.
Preferred Qualifications
- Bachelor’s Degree plus is preferred
- Experience working in rural communities with limited resources, and working with families who are economically challenged.
- Must be willing to deploy to U.S. disaster for 3-6 weeks
- Minimum 5-7 years' experience in functional area including working directly with groups of children and their caregivers.
- Strong level of technical and/ or managerial knowledge, skills, and experience to lead a program area, or provide the technical advice, guidance and direction related to various size programs and grants
- Excellent communication and presentation/facilitation skills
- Highly collaborative team player
- Proficiency in Microsoft Office Suite
- Travel up to 30%
Preferred Qualifications
- Master’s degree in Social Work, Psychology, Counseling, Public Health, Behavioral Health, Child Development or related field.
- Experience working in U.S. disaster recovery contexts
- Experience developing and delivering training to adult learners
- Experience in partnership cultivation and management
- Demonstrated ability programming to adapt programming in changing or complex environments
- Fluency in Spanish