Vacant Positions: Tusome Early Grade
Reading Activity
RTI is an independent organization
dedicated to conducting innovative, multidisciplinary research that improves
the human condition.
Universities in North Carolina
founded RTI in 1958 as a centerpiece of the Research Triangle Park.
The Tusome Early Grade Reading
Activity is focused on classroom support, teacher training and improved access
to learning materials to improve the quality of early literacy instruction in
formal and APBET schools through a national literacy intervention.
Senior Education Specialist – Nairobi
The Senior Education Specialist will
provide technical support for the implementation of Tusome in a large part of
Kenya.
The Specialist will supervise
technical teams in three offices in their work of developing and revising
training materials, implementing training plans, and classroom
supervision.
The Senior Education Specialist will
work with RTI technical staff to identify, develop, and harmonize effective
literacy instructional approaches to be used in Class 1 and 2.
The Senior Education Specialist will
report to the Deputy Chief of Party Programs and will supervise the work of
Education Officers for high quality and timely delivery of work, work closely
with the MoEST and county officials, provide support to technical
implementation and lead several technical teams.
S/he will also provide support to TAC
tutors and instructional coaches in the implementation of Tusome.
Geographically, the Senior Education
Specialist will supervise three offices and activities in APBET institutions,
as well as manage additional technical activities as assigned.
The assignment is designed to provide
high level technical support for effective project implementation.
Required Qualifications and
Experience:
Minimum 10 year’s relevant experience
in education development.
S/he needs to have a Minimum of
Master’s degree in Education or in a related field.
S/he needs to have proven record in
teacher training, teacher management, and experience supervising education
officers.
Experience and knowledge working in
early literacy is an added advantage, as is experience with APBET
institutions.
Familiarity with the policies and
procedures of the Ministry of Education, Science & Technology, the
Teachers’ Service Commission, county level education leadership and local
school communities is required.
Oral and written English and
Kiswahili language skills are required.
Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) Officer - Nanyuki
The M&E Officer will work closely
with the Senior Monitoring and Evaluation Officer and is responsible for
supporting M&E activities for the Nanyuki region, supporting several
counties.
S/he will manage the monitoring data
and share it with external internal experts to improve Tusome’s use of data for
decision-making.
S/he will submit high quality and
clean data for aggregation to national level, and be able to quickly generate
high quality periodic reports on Tusome progress.
The M&E Officer will also oversee
particular research studies and supervise M&E Assistants in the
organization.
The officer will support a small team
of M&E Assistants, and play a proactive role to ensure that Tusome data is
of high quality, that reports are done well and on time, and that
decision-makers have data for decision-making.
S/he will provide direct assistance
to build clients’ capabilities in M&E and act as a trainer of other
technical assistance providers as needed.
Qualifications & Experience
- Minimum of Master’s degree in Statistics,
Demography, population studies or a related field in Social Sciences with
at least (8) eight years of experience in monitoring &
evaluation.
- Experience in M&E capacity building for
individuals and organizations required.
- Previous M&E experience on a donor funded
program desired.
- Proficiency in evaluation design and
development of indicators; designing and conducting small-scale research
studies; report writing and working knowledge of descriptive and
inferential statistics required.
- Stata or SPSS skills preferred. Previous
supervisory experience required.
Temporary Graphic Designer – Nairobi
The graphic designer is responsible
for creating design solutions for learning materials.
The role involves listening to RTI
staff and other stakeholders and understanding their design needs; thinking
creatively to produce new concepts, through developing designs to improve
learning outcomes purpose.
Drawing and developing charts,
graphs, basic illustrations, and other artwork, and laying out learning
materials is the core part of the work.
The designer should have experience
in supervising illustrators and using Adobe InDesign and other design software,
including Illustrator and Photoshop or equivalent tools.
Qualifications & Experience:
- A diploma or bachelor degree in Fine Art, Communication
design, Media arts, Print and digital media management or Visual
communication and design.
- At least five years of experience as a graphic
designer in a mainstream publishing outlet with demonstrated experience in
layout and creative services.
- S/he needs to have proven competence in
desktop publishing tools and design and image processing software.
- Accuracy and attention to detail and
professional approach to time, costs and deadlines a must.
- Experience in developing instructional
material for the education sector will be an added advantage.
Tusome Kenya Consultancy Opportunity
Background: Tusome
is a national level activity with goal of improving the Class 1 and 2 quality
of instruction and student outcomes in Kiswahili and English.
Tusome provides pupils with literacy
books and teachers with the training, ongoing support, and lesson plans that
enable them to improve their daily instructional practice.
The Tusome activity, funded by USAID,
also uses ICT interventions including tablets as tools for TAC Tutors and
coaches.
This activity has allowed Tusome to
design materials that have been implemented on tablets to help instructional
supervisors, called TAC tutors and coaches, support learning gains efficiently
and at scale.
The Tusome Activity has as one of its
main goals to support and build capacity of the relevant GOK entities to be
able to sustain the work after the activity has concluded.
The following is a scope of work for
a consultant to support an assessment of existing capacity of the primary
education sector.
This assessment will allow RTI to
work closely with the GOK to further build capacity and make policy
recommendations.
Objectives:
1. Lead a team of 7 people from the
MoEST and Tusome in the preparation and implementation of a capacity building
assessment
a. Support capacity area
specification
b. Support tool development
c. Support tool piloting
d. Support assessment implementation
b. Support tool development
c. Support tool piloting
d. Support assessment implementation
2. Provide technical oversight and
input on all aspects of the capacity assessment exercise
3. Oversee the analysis of the
information gathered
4. With input from the capacity
assessment team, author the capacity assessment report
a. Include in the assessment report
specific capacity building areas recommended with action plans
5. Implement capacity building
activities
The consultant will be engaged to
lead, manage and actively participate in the work of the capacity assessment
team.
The priority areas for capacity
assessment will have already been discussed and agreed to with MoEST, USAID and
the Tusome Project.
The consultant, in consultation with
RTI and Tusome Project, will therefore lead the capacity assessment team in
devising the methods and means of gathering information related to
institutional capacity in those priority/target areas.
The assessment would probe both the
human and institutional factors impacting the relevant offices capacity,
including:
Human Factors:
- Adequacy of staff (in terms of numbers and
organization)
- Knowledge and skills of staff (do they have
people with the right skill sets playing the right roles)
- Motivation and incentives – how are the
motivational levels of the officers align (or not) to the objectives of
the Programme (or Institution) in an effort to raise productivity levels?
Institutional Factors:
- Whether roles and responsibilities are
appropriately defined all the required areas of expertise of the
programme.
- Whether guidelines for work processes exist
and whether the expectations for each office are clearly articulated and
communicated (made tangible)
- Adequacy of materials, tools, time and support
(including best practices in Africa & international) for accomplishing
the job.
- Incentives/positive work environment that
offers people an opportunity to succeed and recognition for doing so
Specific Tasks:
1. Work with Tusome project staff and
the capacity assessment team to identify all relevant background documents and
other information related to the technical areas deemed priority targets for the
assessment work during the programme life.
2. Work with RTI and Tusome Project
staff to develop an initial draft of the following:
a. Capacity assessment instruments,
including interview protocols and frameworks for summarizing the organizational
structure, staffing, and roles and responsibilities of the relevant
offices.
The tools should be able to gather
information related to the human and institutional factors mentioned above, as
well as address practical questions such as:
i. What office(s) is (are)
responsible for the priority technical area (all relevant directorates, SAGAs,
ESQAC & TSC)?
ii. What is the structure and
staffing of that (those) office(s)?
iii. What activities did they carry
out this past year?
iv. How did those activities get
accomplished – how were activities identified, planned and resourced, which
staff were involved, what other offices may have been involved, how were
decisions / implementation managed, what TA or other assistance was involved,
how long did it take, etc.?
v. How effective was the
implementation of those activities? What was done well, what was done poorly,
what wasn’t done?
b. Capacity assessment information
gathering framework and strategy, including, for example, the approach to
reviewing pertinent documents related to the roles and responsibilities of the
offices to be surveyed, any recent evaluation or other study findings relevant
to the targeted offices, and documenting examples of recent work
products/accomplishments of PRIMR to the targeted offices.
Also, including a methodology for
selecting a sample of county and sub-county offices to be included in the
survey, consideration of team assignments for gathering information at the
county and sub-county levels and methods for summarizing and compiling all the
data that will be collected. Mainstream the system in the structures that are
by backing it on the policy and legal documents that exist in education.
3. Review with the capacity
assessment team the draft instruments and draft information gathering framework
and strategy mentioned above.
4. Work with capacity assessment
team, and in consultation with RTI and the Tusome Project, to finalize the
capacity assessment instruments and information gathering framework and
strategy, including the detailed work plan, work assignments and calendar for
completing the survey.
5. Support the logistical
arrangements for field data collection and participate as a member of one of
the teams assigned to complete the interviews and data compilation.
6. Supervise the capacity assessment
team as it summarizes all the gathered information and provide overall quality
assurance as the team applies the designed frameworks and methods for compiling
and summarizing the relevant information.
7. Develop a draft outline for the
capacity assessment report and review and finalize that draft outline with RTI,
Tusome Project staff, the capacity assessment team and the MoEST. The outline
should include space for recommending a capacity building strategy.
8. Work in conjunction with RTI and
Tusome Project staff to analyze and interpret the summarized and compiled
information.
9. Produce and submit to RTI and the
Tusome Project an initial draft report.
10. Incorporate feedback from RTI and
the Tusome Project on that initial draft and prepare a second draft to be
shared with the capacity assessment team.
11. Facilitate a work session among
the capacity assessment team members to process the team’s feedback and agree
on what should be incorporated into a subsequent third draft of the capacity
assessment report. During this session also facilitate discussion among the
team of their recommendations for a capacity building strategy that would
respond to the findings of the assessment.
12. Create the third draft report
based on the results of the above consultation/work session and submit that
report to RTI, the Tusome Project and MoEST for review and comment.
13. Incorporate feedback received
into the final report.
Deliverables:
- Capacity assessment instruments
- Draft assessment report outline
- Report of works session to disseminate
findings
- Finalized assessment report
Level of Effort
- 30 working days
- Field work as necessary
Start date: ~ June 18
Vacant Position: Procurement & Logistics Specialist
RTI is an independent organization
dedicated to conducting innovative, multidisciplinary research that improves
the human condition.
With a worldwide staff of more than
4,000 people, RTI offers innovative research and development and a full
spectrum of multidisciplinary services. Universities in North Carolina founded
RTI in 1958 as a centerpiece of the Research Triangle Park.
This position will be located in
RTI’s Africa Regional Office in Kenya and will support RTI’s projects based in
the Africa region.
As a member of the Regional Office
procurement function the Procurement & Logistics Specialist position will
act as a resource to ensure that all project purchases are made according to
RTI regulations as well as aligned with strategic sourcing initiatives where
global agreements/contracts are available
The day-to-day activities of this
position encompass all aspects of supply chain management, from market research
and supplier identification to logistics and post procurement support as well
as identifying and developing Africa Region qualified suppliers for a broad
range of commodities and services in support of project activities.
In addition, he/she will provide
support in the administration of RTI’s procurement policies and procedures for
the Africa projects which includes procurement oversight, review & and
advise for the Regional Office procurement portfolio.
Requirements for this position are:
A minimum of a Bachelor’s degree with
at least three (3) years of related experience.
Knowledge of procurement/contracts
principles and terminology as well as basics of contracts administration and
finance or accounting.
Knowledge of, and experience with,
the use and interpretation of regulatory material such as the Federal
Acquisition Regulations (FAR), Agency Supplementary Regulations (especially
various USAID regulations and policies), Code of Federal Regulations, and
Uniform Commercial Code.
Experience working under USAID or
DFID funded international projects and Working knowledge of sourcing and
management of consultants and grants preferred.
Applicants must exhibit a flexible
work attitude: the ability to work productively in a team environment within a
matrix organization.
They must also be able to work well
independently to meet unexpected demands.
This position requires travel outside
Kenya for up to 20%. This position does not attract international allowances.
To Apply; please email cover letter
and CV to hrapplications@nb.rti.org by 12th June, 2015
Applicants must include the POSITION
TITLE in the subject line of their email.
Please do not attach copies of
certificates.
We regret that only shortlisted
applicants will be contacted.
We are proud to be an EEO/AA employer
M/F/D/V