The Education Alliance - Senior Manager - State Reform

Position: Senior Manager, State Reform

Location: Bhopal

Introduction:

About BCG:

Boston Consulting Group (BCG) has been working with five States, supporting them on systemic, large scale transformation of their public education systems. BCG teams bring unparalleled experience and strategic systems thinking, providing end to end support to Departments of Education on conceptualizing the elements of a transformation, designing the different initiatives in a scalable sustainable manner, providing handholding/ implementation support, and overall ensuring a mission mode focus and accountability towards the achievement of improved learning outcomes across the organization.

About TEA:

- The Education Alliance (TEA) is a non-profit organisation registered in India to catalyse quality transformations in the public-school system through strategic partnership support. TEA aims to build an ecosystem in which governments can strategically partner with mission oriented non-profit educational organisations to deliver high quality education. Our goal is to empower government schools to create the next generation of leaders by transforming the quality of education offered in these schools. A high-quality education for every child in India would call for a system that is accountable, collaborative and equitable.

- TEA sets up a Project Management Unit (PMU) to support the state education departments to partner more strategically with non-state actors and to design and deliver programmes with the objective of building governments- own capacity to sustain these initiatives post the exit of external partners. TEA currently has ongoing programs in Delhi, Tamil Nadu and Madhya Pradesh.

Position Summary :

- The current opportunity is about working with the Madhya Pradesh Education Department on the BCG-led System Reform project in Bhopal. TEA will support BCG through a four-person team (1 Senior Manager and 3 Managers) to deliver on their commitments to the State.

- TEA and BCG will both participate in the hiring process of individuals for the TEA team who will work closely with BCG for the education reform process being carried out in Madhya Pradesh. The consultants will however be full-time employees of TEA. The TEA employees would work in the same capacity and in a similar role as that of other BCG consultants staffed on the project.

- The TEA employees will be based out of Bhopal- for the duration of the project (a minimum of 2 years starting from April 2020 until planned exit from State). During this period, they will be expected to connect with the central TEA team based in Delhi on a fortnightly basis.

Key Responsibilities include, but are not limited to :

- Design program strategy and approach

- Identify key gaps in the state education system and devise evidence-based solutions to address them

- Work with BCG and government counterparts to design actionable implementation plan with clear timeline, budget targets and division of responsibilities between TEA team members

- Co-design M&E framework with clearly defined performance indicators, targets and milestones

Stakeholder management:

- Act as an interface between key stakeholders, including Central Committee, State Steering Committee, government officials, program partner, donors and other implementation partners (e.g. non-profits)

- Develop strong working relationships with state government officials, including Principal Secretary, State Directors etc.

- Conduct periodic update meetings/check-ins with stakeholders to communicate program progress

- On-ground implementation and monitoring

- Oversee and guide Managers on specific verticals in executing the program strategy

- Coordinate with partners (government officials, BCG team, PFEL team, partner organizations etc.) to deliver on program objectives

- Enable implementation partners, including government officials, to meet outcome, budget and timeline targets. Ensure availability, timely deployment and efficient utilization of resources

- Identify operational bottlenecks and weaknesses, wherever applicable, and devise work-around strategies

- Track program progress on key indicators according to the M&E framework

- Ensure quality of documents prepared by TEA team members, including reports, presentations, proposals etc.

- TEA knowledge and capacity-building

- Ensure effective transfer of knowledge from BCG to TEA team, to build the latter's institutional knowledge and capacity

- Understand key aspects of strategy, such as which programs work, as well as ways to scale interventions, monitor program outcomes, improve governance structures and sustain govt. relations

- Synthesize best practices and program learnings to strengthen TEA's institutional knowledge and support thought leadership activities

- Support grant management activities, through proposals, donor reports, concept notes etc.

- Represent TEA at key forums such as meeting and conferences at the state/regional/national level

- Provide effective mentoring to TEA team members to develop their skills and capabilities

Required Qualifications, Skills and Abilities:

- MBA or MPP/MPA

- 4 to 7 years of work experience with track record of high achievement

- Strong analytical and problem-solving skills

- Excellent project management skills: ability to manage projects & delivery schedules

- Ability to handle large scale programs

- Ability to independently manage multiple stakeholders, including senior State officials

- Experience in leading high performing teams

- Prior exposure to education sector, public sector, development sector, or consulting is desirable

- High level of spoken and written fluency in English and Hindi

Desired Qualities:

- Strong alignment to work towards ensuring quality education to all children

- Drive to excel in every aspect of work with high level of innovation and strong perseverance

- Ability to be rational in taking smart risks and being nimble

- Ability to adapt and exhibit confidence in a highly evolving, agile and fast paced work environment

- High level of collaboration and consistent passion for work and a positive attitude

- Entrepreneurial spirit and can-do attitude

- Operating style suited to working in a small-organization setting, where teamwork and resourcefulness are highly valued

- Excellent leadership skills, including ability to manage multiple projects at a time

Compensation: Remuneration will be competitive with Indian philanthropy pay scales and will depend upon the candidate's experience levels.