Senior Director of Programs - The Luminos Fund

The Luminos Fund is looking for an experienced and dynamic Senior Director of Programs to contribute to its rapid growth and expansion. The Senior Director of Programs will ensure that Luminos’ foundational learning programs in different geographies are achieving maximum impact.

This position calls for an outstanding people manager with technical expertise in teaching and learning. The Senior Director of Programs will oversee the design and delivery of programs in one or more countries. In addition, the Senior Director of Programs will manage technical experts (in curriculum, data, teaching, safeguarding, etc.) who advise and build the capacity of country teams.

This is a full-time position, preferably based in an African country. The role holder could be based in one of our existing offices in Accra, Addis Ababa, Banjul, or Monrovia, or work remotely from another African country. We would also be open to an individual located outside of Africa provided they were in the GMT-5 to GMT+2 time zones.

Reporting to the Vice President of Programs, the Senior Director of Programs will partner closely with Luminos’ other senior program leads and the broader team to ensure the success of our education mission.

ABOUT THE LUMINOS FUND

The Luminos Fund (www.luminosfund.org) provides transformative education programs to thousands of out-of-school children, helping them to catch up to grade level, reintegrate into government schools, and prepare for lifelong learning. Working in partnership with community-based organizations, Luminos is scaling up its accelerated learning program to ensure all children have equal access to joyful, foundational learning, especially those shut out of education by crisis, poverty, or discrimination.

To date, Luminos has helped over 218,541 children secure a second chance to learn. A registered 501(c)(3) non-profit, Luminos is working in Ethiopia, Ghana, Lebanon, Liberia, and The Gambia.

Luminos is supported by a range of funding partners, including Cartier Philanthropy, Dubai Cares, Legatum, and UBS Optimus Foundation. Luminos has been recognized for its achievements globally, receiving the 2022 Klaus J. Jacobs Best Practice Prize, the Library of Congress International Literacy Award, the Lipman Family Prize, the WISE Award, and the HundrED Global Innovation Award for the last six years.

DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

Program Development and Management

• Hold strategic oversight of Luminos’ programming to support foundational literacy and numeracy programming in one or more countries and provide effective line management and coaching to the country manager.
• Manage and oversee in-country operational and financial management.
• Lead program design and work to contextualize program elements (e.g., lesson plans, training, and manuals) based on needs and geographies, drawing on Luminos technical experts as required.
• Scope and launch programs in new geographies.
• Build and support a framework of continuous learning: drive the program’s monitoring, evaluation, and learning strategy by building on existing internal and external M&E frameworks.
• Source and develop strong external evaluation partners and ensure the timely delivery of rigorous, accurate, and actionable external evaluations.
• Manage and mentor a team of technical experts and support them to advise and build capacity within country teams.
• Capture insights from program design and development in blogs and articles, developed in coordination with the Luminos communications team.

Staff and Stakeholder Management

• Plan staffing expansion across country programs in support of aggressive growth goals.
• Recruit and develop world-class talent from a range of different national contexts.
• Build a strong, diverse team with a wide array of talents, held together by strong core values and ways of working.
• Manage key in-country relations with various stakeholders, including senior Ministry of Education officials.
• Source and secure speaking opportunities at major national and international conferences, and represent Luminos with skill, eloquence, and dynamism.
• Analyze and report on program performance for senior leadership and the Board of Directors.

Fundraising and Donor Relationship Management

• Ensure delivery of timely, accurate, and accessible reporting across a range of donor requirements.
• Expertly steward existing donor relationships, listening closely for unspoken needs, and building a strong sense of connection and ownership of the work through strategic sharing of anecdotes and lessons learned.
• Source and build new funding relationships; map major funders in key program geographies and lead relationship building and outreach.
• Manage the drafting of complex program proposals and budgeting in conjunction with the Luminos fundraising and finance teams.

REQUIRED EXPERIENCE

• Bachelor’s Degree required; Master’s degree preferred.
• 10+ years’ of relevant work experience with increasing levels of management responsibility across the business or nonprofit sectors, especially in the Global South.
• At least one of the following:
  • Proven thought-leader on foundational learning (with expertise in topics such as foundational skills, the learning crisis, phonics-based instruction, learning outcome measurement etc.), and an aptitude for effective and empowering people management.
  • At least 10 years’ experience managing and developing teams, with a tangible track record of exceptional management of people and projects, and an affinity for data and evidence along with a willingness to rapidly build knowledge in key technical areas.

Within your application, please answer the following questions with a brief statement (300 words per question):

• What role do you think structured pedagogy should play in global education programming? What evidence has informed your view?
• What do you feel are the qualities of an outstanding people manager?

SKILLS AND CORE ATTRIBUTES

• Belief in and demonstrated passion for the mission, vision, and values of the Luminos Fund.
• Impeccable integrity and can-do attitude.
• Natural curiosity and hunger for continuous learning,
• Belief that success lies in the details,
• Innate sense of responsibility for delivery of quality work, even in adverse circumstances.
• Self-motivated, with the ability to work independently in challenging international contexts.
• Experience working with diverse constituents, teams, and colleagues.
• Natural affinity for technology and a love of data.
• Readiness to problem solve creatively on a myriad of fronts and go above and beyond to deliver outsized success.
• Advanced skills in the suite of Microsoft Office Tools, especially Excel and PowerPoint.
• Fluency in written and spoken English, and superb writing and communication skills.

Candidates should have legal authorization to work in the country in which they will be based.