EduSpots Ghana – Country Team Lead

Downloadable job description: Country Team Lead – Ghana Job Description March 2021.docx

Job Description

Location: Ghana, location tbc 

Reporting to: The Chair of Trustees

Hours & Contract: Full-time 40 hours week – Permanent 

Salary: 4,000-5,000 cedis/month subject to skills and experience

About Us

EduSpots is a small but rapidly growing education charity dedicated to supporting individuals in Ghana, and the UK, to be changemakers in the world. EduSpots primarily exists to enable community members – whether teachers, parents or students – to realise their ambitions for their community through education. We connect individuals and communities who are passionate about education, and driven to make a difference, in order to achieve our vision of  ‘A world in which communities unite to create the future they want to see.’

Until 2019 we were known as ‘Reading Spots’, set up in 2016 to help communities in Ghana build and run local libraries and reading centres known as ‘Spots’. In 2018 we won the Times Educational Supplement’s (TES) ‘International Award’ for the best UK international education project.  

By 2019, with a network of thriving ‘Spots’ across Ghana, it was becoming clear that these spaces were developing into wider education places and not just ‘reading’ spots.   This combined with the development of our ‘Catalyst’ programmes and the birth of our online courses, it felt the right time for a change of name to EduSpots.

We are excited by our future.

In 2021 Edu Spots will be:

• Continuing to oversee and support the existing network of community-led libraries or education ‘Spots’
• Rolling out a new and innovative ‘Catalyst’ training programme – Community Leadership in Education (CLEd), giving our volunteers the skills, knowledge and experience they need to lead and influence positive, sustainable change in their communities through their ‘Spots’.
• Managing the amazing growth of our global online courses & schools partnership work, enabling more people around the world to effect positive change 
• Delivering EduLit & EduSTEM programmes incorporated into CLEd, STEM Summer Camps programme, etc.

 

About this role

As we enter an exciting phase of development, we are looking to bring on board a motivated, experienced and committed individual as our Ghana Team Lead to work with our team in the UK. This role requires a confident individual, experienced in managing a remote working team in an international or community development setting. We are looking for someone who has the operational skills to oversee and manage a dynamic portfolio of community-led education programmes, get the best out of our team of committed staff and volunteers, and who knows how to produce great operational support and relationship outcomes in a fast-growing, fast-paced organisation.

This exciting new role would give the candidate operational responsibility in Ghana, and line management responsibility of the Ghana delivery team.  They will work closely with the team in the UK, to ensure the successful development and delivery of our programmes to time and budget, as well as supporting our extensive network of volunteers across Ghana. 

The location of the role is to be discussed at interview.  The salary is competitive and will be commensurate with skills and experience of the successful candidate.

 

Main Duties and Responsibilities

Operational Management

• Responsibility for the day-to-day management of EduSpots Ghana operations, including project development and delivery, budget management, monitoring and impact evaluation, and all operational administration tasks.
• Managing the successful development and delivery of EduSpots portfolio of education projects across Ghana including the roll out of the CLEd programme, EduLIT and EduSTEM programmes and our online courses.
• Maintaining oversight of the ‘Spot’ network through the Regional Training Leads, ensuring Spots are actively moving towards the ‘Dream Spot’ model.
• Responsibility for ensuring all project monitoring, data capture and impact evaluation is completed, accurately recorded, evaluated and reported as required.

 

Staff Management

• Line management of a small but dynamic part-time team of delivery staff located across Ghana, dealing with all day-to-day operational and staffing issues, but with the ability to know when to escalate issues to the Chair.
• Providing high quality and supportive leadership and management to the team, inspiring and motivating staff and volunteers to achieve our delivery and organisational objectives.
• Subject to growth of the team, in time taking on line management responsibility for support staff e.g communications officer, fundraising officer.

 

Finance

• Management of all project budgets, including grant funds, ensuring accurate record keeping and timely reporting as required in liaison with the Finance Officer.
• Oversight and approval of all staff expenses in line with budgets, reporting accurate and timely information to the Finance Officer for payment processing.
• Preparation of financial information and reports for the Chair and Board of Trustees as required.

 

Partnerships

 

• Managing and developing our existing project & donor partner relationships including Book Aid International and Dext Technology.
• Building and maintaining a range of new and beneficial relationships with key strategic partners and donors, including the relevant Ghana authorities, such as the Library Authority and Ministry of Education.
• Working with the Head of School Partnerships to support the delivery of global citizenship education projects in schools in the UK and Ghana. 

 

Fundraising 

• Proactively identifying in-country partnership & grant funding opportunities, working with the Chair and fundraising staff to take forward appropriate opportunities.
• Contributing to funding applications as directed.
• Organising and supporting fundraising activities and events e.g. book drives, gala evenings and online challenges.

 

Administrative tasks

 

• Carrying out all administrative tasks required to effectively deliver the duties and responsibilities of the role.
• Maintaining and updating current databases and records, including those of donors, partners, community Spots and network volunteers, developing these and introducing new more efficient systems as appropriate.
• Producing high quality written communications including delivery reports, funding reports, formal letters etc.
• Organising, or assisting with the organisation of, trips and visits, including overseas visitors and volunteers, annual and regional conferences and other events as required.
• Contributing to media and publicity in Ghana and the UK including social media posts, newsletter articles, blog posts etc .  
• Supporting the UK team on administrative duties and tasks as necessary.
• Complying with Data Protection requirements and maintaining confidentiality as required.

Policies and procedures 

• Ensuring all Health & Safety requirements, Safeguarding and other approved policies and procedures are adhered to across the Ghana operations and within the wider network of Spots.
• Acting as the in-country Safeguarding Lead.
• Carrying out risk assessments as required.

Personal Specifications

Essential 

Knowledge & Experience

• 5-7 years’ experience in operations management, or a similar role, in an education, international development or community development NGO setting.
• Exceptional project management skills and experience, ideally in a community setting.
• Experience of leading a team, including line management responsibility.  Ideally with experience of managing remote working staff.
• Experience of working with/managing volunteers.
• Strong experience of financial management at project and programme level, including setting and managing budgets, grant management and financial reporting.
• Experience of developing and maintaining effective working relationships and strategic partnerships.
• Experience in monitoring health and safety, and safeguarding procedures.
• Strong IT knowledge and experience

Personal Qualities & Skills

• Self motivated, proactive and able to work to maintain a high standard of performance with minimum supervision.
• Exceptional interpersonal skills, with the ability to create good working relationships with staff, volunteers and a range of stakeholders at all levels.
• Exemplary written and verbal communication skills.
• Diplomatic, yet assertive and decisive.
• A high level of attention to detail.
• Strong problem-solving skills, yet the ability to know when to escalate issues or seek further support.
• Ability to work under pressure, prioritise and meet deadlines.
• Ability to respond to feedback effectively. 
• Flexible with the ability to react to change and be adaptable.
• Able to be accountable and self-reflective, leading  to development of own working practices.
• A team player.
• Strong personal affinity with EduSpots’ mission.
• Ability to create and foster a culture of respect, honesty and commitment to our values and organisational aims.

Highly desirable 

• Experience of working in a multicultural team.
• Masters qualification in a related field. 
• Volunteer experience. 

How to apply:

Please send a covering letter explaining your specific interest and experience relating to this role and CV addressed to the Chair, Miss Cat Davison at info@eduspots.org by Saturday 3rd April with a hope to meet shortlisted candidates for a first round interview in the week starting 13th April. 

For further information please see www.eduspots.org  or contact us at info@eduspots.org 

Also follow us on social media – @eduspots on Twitter and Facebook 

EduSpots is committed to the safeguarding of children. Appointment will be subject to an enhanced child protection screening appropriate to the post. Please note that you may be required to provide additional documentation as proof of your identity and qualifications.

Note that we reserve the right to appoint before the deadline, should we find the right candidate.