Program Associate – Education

Results for Development (R4D) is a leading non-profit global development partner. We collaborate with change agents around the world — government officials, civil society leaders and social innovators — to create strong systems that support healthy, educated people. We help our partners move from knowing their goal to knowing how to reach it. We combine global expertise in health, education and nutrition with analytic rigor, practical support for decision-making and implementation and access to peer problem-solving networks. Together with our partners, we build self-sustaining systems that serve everyone and deliver lasting results. Then we share what we learn so others can achieve results for development, too.

We have a unique and vibrant culture at R4D. Diversity, equity and inclusion are at the heart of our work environment and help advance our mission. Diversity—of ideas, identities, perspectives and backgrounds—is vital to who we are and what we do. We seek people who embrace these values and will help reinforce them. Our work culture is collaborative, creative and entrepreneurial. We operate based on trust and respect. Teams across the organization frequently collaborate on programmatic work and support each other in continuously building a better R4D.

R4D seeks a highly motivated and dynamic Program Associate to play a key role in the Global Education practice to provide analytical support to education projects, as well as project management support. The Program Associate will be pivotal to furthering our team’s work of working closely with external partners to translate evidence to practice, generate new learning, and facilitate the sharing of evidence, knowledge, and experience between experts, countries, and stakeholder groups.

If being part of a highly committed and supportive team, working in a fast-paced environment to deliver high quality work, and engaging with global and country-level partners to improve education systems sounds like a job that was made for you — we’d love to read your application; pleas apply!

This position is based in Washington, DC and will report to a Senior Program Officer in the Global Education practice.

Practice:

R4D’s Global Education practice is centered around working with partners across the globe to untangle the “how” of strengthening education systems. How can communities ensure that a well-trained and supported teacher workforce has the knowledge and skills to deliver high-quality instruction? How can the private sector partner with government officials to ensure students graduate with an education that prepares them to find meaningful employment? How can government officials pay for critical early childhood development services? How can parents and communities be engaged to improve children’s learning? How can technology accelerate learning for the most marginalized? How should play-based learning be introduced into early education programs so that young minds can thrive?

Our starting point is to listen to and understand the questions our partners have about how to improve the education systems in which they work. Then, we support them in answering those questions using three distinct but complementary approaches:

1. ACTION NETWORKS. We build and support action networks to convene practitioners and policymakers and facilitate opportunities for them to learn from one another’s experience and jointly develop new solutions. Then we share widely the lessons learned and tools they have generated.

2. ANALYSIS. We conduct new, rigorous analysis requested by our local partners to support them in making evidence-based decisions to pressing policy or programmatic questions. We present our findings in accessible, actionable ways that can be relevant to others facing similar challenges.

3. ADAPTIVE LEARNING. We use rigorous methods to directly support local partners as they design and test key elements of their programs, helping them design experiments, adapt their activities based on results and ultimately get to better programs faster. We make sure the evidence we generate gets into the hands of other change agents in different contexts working on related issues.

Read more about our work here.

Opportunity:

As Program Associate, you will work with members of the R4D Education team to provide technical and project management support to the team’s projects. You will have the opportunity to work on projects related to: translating research to practice through the facilitation of peer-learning communities; evaluating global and country-level education programs and policies; and conducting landscape reviews of key topics in global education including early childhood development, education technology, and teacher development. You will have the opportunity to build your skills in applied research, evaluation, facilitation, project management, and partner engagement.

You will work on project teams managed by leaders on the R4D education team, receiving mentorship and coaching as you support projects with your technical and project management skills. You will be successful in this role if you are highly-motivated; a creative problem solver, have strong analytical, communication, and collaboration skills; and have a commitment to excellence and producing results. We are a team that is resourceful, responsible, tenacious, high-energy, and always has a positive attitude.

Responsibilities

The Program Associate will be expected to provide a broad range of technical and project management functions that include, but are not limited to:

• Contributing to the development of high-quality work products, including presentations, concept notes, thought pieces, briefing materials, blog posts, newsletters, meeting summaries, and e-communications to share with both internal and external audiences.
• Contributing to technical activities, such as conducting qualitative and quantitative analysis on technical and policy issues related to international education (including but not limited to early childhood development, teaching and learning, education technology, etc.)
• Coordinating and developing project deliverables (reports, workplans, tracking progress against targets, etc.).
• Facilitating and supporting routine business processes, such as recruitment, procurement, financial/budget analysis, contracting, and payments.
• Performing and supporting internal administrative processes critical to the functioning of a rapidly growing team and organization.
• Providing organization and logistics support for convening of stakeholder meetings, workshops, and other collaborative forums.
• Supporting the development and maintenance of positive relationships with multiple stakeholders, including within R4D and with partner and funding organizations

Qualifications

Successful candidates are likely to have the following qualifications:

• Undergraduate / graduate training in education, international development, economics, Business Administration, Management, Public Policy, Political Science, International Affairs, or other relevant discipline;
• One (1) to three (3) years of relevant work experience in a research institution, government, bilateral or multilateral development agency, consulting firm, NGO, or think tank.
• Excellent analytical and critical thinking skills;
• Exceptional oral & written communications skills;
• Experience working in a team environment, including with team members and partners in diverse cultural, socioeconomic, and geographic contexts
• Demonstrated interest in international education
• Ability to deliver high-quality outputs and results within tight timeframes;
• Familiarity with routine administrative and project management functions;
• Proficiency in Google Suite, Microsoft Office, Excel, PowerPoint, and Word; and
• Full professional fluency in written and spoken English.
• Willingness to travel internationally, depending on project need

Additionally, R4D prizes people who are:

• Good and active listeners and facilitators;
• Productive, energetic, creative and task oriented;
• Adept at exchanging constructive feedback;
• Multilingual, with particular interest in candidates who are able to work professionally in French given our growing portfolio of work in francophone Africa
• Skilful communicators before scientific, policy and lay audiences;
• Equally comfortable and capable working independently and in teams;
• Highly collaborative and approachable; and
• Enthusiastic about joining a diverse and inclusive work environment.