Company Profile

EduSpots is an innovative, dynamic, and locally driven UK and Ghanaian registered charity which connects, trains, and equips voluntary community educators to create transformative literacy and STEM opportunities through education spaces named ‘Spots’, with a focus on female empowerment and environmental action. Together, we are creating a movement of community-based changemakers.

Since 2016, through collaborating extensively with over 250 local volunteers, we have supported 50 communities in creating and running community-led and owned education spaces named ‘Spots’, with a strategy to support them in moving towards our ‘Dream Spot Model’. We are developing a model for a community-led education space with accompanying network engagement that could have applications across the world.

Our 16-strong but entirely part-time and remote working Ghanaian team creates collaborative learning opportunities through our Ignite and Community Leadership in Development (CLEd) Programmes which include training to lead our EduLit, EduSTEM, EduKidz and Ignite Girls clubs, alongside locally designed education projects, reaching over 15,000 students of all ages annually. Read our 2022 Impact Report here.

We are in an exciting period of our development. We won the Tes International Award in 2018 and the Big Give Supporters’ Choice Award in 2022, and we were recently selected as a finalist for the Their World Scale-Up Innovation Prize. In 2021, our Founder was a Finalist in The Varkey Foundation’s $1 million Global Teacher Prize, supported by UNESCO, partly for her role in developing EduSpots.

We are excited by our future. Do visit www.eduspots.org for further information.

Job Description

• Location: Remote working (home-based in Ghana, with some travel)
• Report to: CEO
• Hours: Full-time
• Salary: Competitive
• About Us

Our Ghanaian-based team creates collaborative learning opportunities through three leadership programmes for volunteers: the Ignite, Catalyse and Inspire Mentoring Programmes. These enable the Catalysts to lead DigLit, EduSTEM, EduKidz and Ignite Equity clubs alongside locally designed education projects, reaching over 10,000 students of all ages annually. Read our 2022 Impact Report here.

We are in an exciting period of development, having more than doubled our income, programme breadth and reach in the last year. We have been recently selected for two accelerator programmes that are supporting us as we consider the scaling potential of our model. 

We won the Tes International Award in 2018 and the Big Give Supporters’ Choice Award in 2022, and we were recently selected as a finalist for the Their World Scale-Up Innovation Prize. In 2021, our Founder was a Finalist in UNESCO-backed The Varkey Foundation’s $1 million Global Teacher Prize.

About this role

We are looking for an organised, analytic and IT-savvy leader and team player, with the skills and experience to take oversight of EduSpots’ Leadership Programmes and Spot development work, as we enter into an exciting period of growth.

This integral Ghana-based leadership role, reporting directly to the CEO, will involve responsibility for management of our leadership programmes in Ghana and beyond, with a focus on advancing the quality, sustainability and reach of outcomes, underpinned by a strong understanding of our collaborative and community-driven approach to programme delivery.

In this role, the candidate will manage the full-time Leadership Programmes Manager, and a team of four regional coordinators, also working closely with the Head of Programmes (Education & Research) and the Head of Operations, feeding into activities led by over 400 Catalysts reaching 10,000+ learners, with plans to double this reach in the next period.

The post holder will have leadership responsibility of our Ignite Programme, the Catalyse Leadership Programme, alongside the coaching/mentorship of Catalysts and ensuring that all our Spots are safe spaces to learn as the designated safeguarding lead in Ghana.

We are looking for the following core competencies:

• Strong team management skills in a remote working setting, able to ensure that the key deliverables and goals of their team are met, with effective prioritisation and advanced work planning support. They will be able to have difficult conversations, nurture positive staff working habits and enable goal-oriented performance; ultimately they will inspire the team to thrive and be problem solvers and energisers within the wider network.
• Highly experienced at creating and managing spreadsheets, and using data strategically and independently to track, manage and evaluate our progress. This will include working with the Head of Operations to develop and increase uptake of the EduSpots app as a pivotal tool in supporting EduSpots’ educational outcomes.
• Able to thrive in working in a fast-paced environment, with multi-directional requests on their time and shifting priorities with a high expectation on volume of work deliverables, including constant detailed review of programme and strategy documents, with strategic input constantly offered into our programme and wider organizational development.
• Experienced in facilitation with strong session and programme design skills across a range of capacity building areas stretched across leadership, teamwork, entrepreneurship, operations and community engagement, with creative instinct on how to inspire local Catalysts to lead positive change.
• For this role, it is vital to have experience working with teachers, students and community members in a grassroots Ghanaian context, with the skills, knowledge and crucially, passion, needed to work alongside local change makers in developing their own strategies to meet their aspirations for their community’s future.
• In a fast-developing organizational context, in time, there will likely be opportunities ahead for outstanding candidates to apply for internal promotions in this role, including, for full oversight of programmes or wider organizational leadership roles at the country level or beyond.
• EduSpots is an impact-driven working environment, with a strong commitment to the professional development of staff, and the nurturing of an optimistic, supportive and caring working culture with well-being, teamwork and creativity at its heart – all whilst striving towards the best possible outcomes for all members of this collaborative organization.

Main Duties and Responsibilities 

• To oversee four regional coordinators, ensuring that they offer outstanding coaching and mentorship support to Catalysts to enable community teams to meet core requirements and deliverables, and progress towards our Dream Spot Model.
• Leading on the tracking of Spot outcomes and development, using data effectively to inform the wider team’s strategic decision-making. 
• To manage our Leadership Programmes Manager to ensure the effective delivery of the Catalyse  Leadership Programme, and Spot Lead strand.
• To work with the Programmes Manager and regional coordinators to ensure the effective recruitment, induction and tracking of Catalysts at local and central levels.
• To work alongside our Head of Programmes (Education & Research), ensuring the effective delivery of learner programmes via the regional coordinators team.
• To support the continued refinement of the Spot Model, using learnings to constantly feed into the agreed approach, creating supporting material to enable all staff, Catalysts and Peer Mentors to understand the intended approach at community level.
• Leading the monitoring, evaluation and learning across our leadership programmes, writing reports and contributing to funding proposals.
• Ensuring child protection and safeguarding, and wider risk management and promotion of positive well-being is at the heart of all our programme planning, taking a leadership role in safeguarding, dependent on experience.
• To support the creation of sessions, handbooks, resources & PowerPoints to meet organisational needs as requested, working with the Head of Programmes (Education and Research).
• Leading the professional development and appraisal of their team members, and contributing to the development of the wider team.
• To play a key part of the leadership team, offering strategic insight to the development of the organisation at a high level, including joining scale-up strategic planning meetings.
• To carry out all other duties as reasonably required under the job role, supporting the wider work of the organisation.
• To act at all times in line with the expectations of staff as set out in the Staff & Volunteers Handbook, and other relevant policies and procedures

Required Skills or Experience

Knowledge & Experience

• An outstanding ability to independently create systems to improve quality of programme delivery and volunteer engagement at an organizational and local level.
• Strong IT knowledge and skills with exceptional skills in data analysis.
• Strong skills and experience in programme development and management with an ability to ensure a large team meet their task deadlines, and produce high quality outcomes.
• Strong personnel management experience, including experience having difficult conversations and managing performance of diverse staff.
• Knowledge of different monitoring, evaluation and learning approaches.
• Experience in online working environments and home-based working.
• Experience of working with volunteers to drive change.
• Experience delivering programmes across various regions of Ghana, including rural and remote locations.
• Experience preparing high quality reports on project targets and deliverables.

Personal Qualities & Skills

• Excellent team management and leadership skills, with the ability to support and inspire staff to improve performance outcomes and hold staff firmly to account where needed, with limited intervention from the CEO.
• A team player with a belief in the value of collaborative approaches to learning.
• Self-motivated, proactive, and able to work to maintain a high standard of performance with minimum supervision.
• A strong session facilitator, able to lead collaborative and inspiring training and professional development sessions for both staff and Catalysts. 
• Exemplary written and verbal communication skills
• Ability to work under pressure, prioritise and meet deadlines.
• Ability to respond to feedback effectively, always looking for improvements in their work, and that of the organisation.
• Flexible with the ability to react to change and be adaptable.
• An ability to understand and meet agreed international standards of working and promote strong professional standards in their team.
• A strong personal affinity with EduSpots’ mission, vision and values (community leadership, play, care, passion, teamwork and sustainable impact) with a genuine passion for educational equity and community-led development, with the ability to work collaboratively with grassroots volunteers who are the foundational changemakers of our network.

Desirable

• Experience of working in a multicultural team
• Master’s qualification in a related field
• Volunteer experience and commitment