EDUCATION DEVELOPMENT CENTER (EDC)

Education Development Center (EDC) is a global nonprofit that advances lasting solutions to improve education, promote health, and expand economic opportunity, with a focus on vulnerable and under-served populations.  Since 1958, we have been a leader in designing, implementing, and evaluating powerful and innovative programs in more than 80 countries around the world.

EDC promotes equity and access to high quality education and health services and products that contribute to thriving communities where people from diverse backgrounds learn, live, and work together. We support an inclusive workplace culture that embraces many perspectives and broadens our understanding of the communities we serve, enhancing and enriching our work.   

EDC is committed to equity, diversity and inclusion in the workplace.

Project Description 

The goal of the five-year, $30 million, USAID-funded Basic Education Quality and Transition Activity is to improve foundational reading, writing, math, and social and emotional skills acquisition for children and youth through the formal education system and to increase the transition rate of students from primary to lower secondary education in targeted rural municipalities of Guatemala. The Activity is planned to be an initial award with a follow-on transition award to a local subrecipient(s), and as such aims to strengthen the organizational and technical capacities of local subrecipient(s) to manage funds from USAID or other donors and to sustain key components of the Activity. A key objective of BEQT is to build capacity of new and underutilized local subrecipient partner(s) to eventually become qualified lead implementers in a transition award, capable of implementing and sustaining key components of BEQT. 

BEQT will implement solutions to the development challenge in three municipalities each in Baja Verapaz, Huehuetenango, El Quiché, and San Marcos and must advance the following Activity Results: 

• Result 1: Reading, writing, math, SEL outcomes for all learners in primary school and primero básico in target areas improved 
• Result 2: Rate of student transition from the final grade of primary school to primero básico for all learners in target areas increased 
• Result 3: Local subrecipient(s) capacity to implement and sustain key components of the Activity strengthened 

Position Description 

The Foundational Education Skills Technical Advisor focuses on Literacy, Mathematics and Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) and leads overall technical oversight and guidance to the Activity’s support to improved reading, mathematics, and SEL instruction, including standards, benchmarks, curricula, and assessment systems. The Technical Advisor supervises: production of all activity-supported learning materials, including bilingual literacy; all activity-supported trainings in foundational skills; all teacher and classroom supervision and monitoring; and all student testing efforts. The Technical Advisor also ensures complementarity of activity approaches in reading across the activity departments and language areas, liaises with government representatives and technicians on technical matters, and leads efforts to ensure  that children in activity-supported schools achieve improved learning outcomes. 

Functional Responsibilities:  

• Provide overall strategic guidance and technical oversight to advance the activity’s bilingual  education approach in supporting Government of Guatemala’s Primary Schools and non-formal systems; 
• Guide technical staff on essential components of literacy, numeracy and social and emotional learning programs, including curriculum design, lesson planning, teacher professional development, materials development and distribution, classroom-level assessment, and universal design for learning to develop and integrate highly effective and accessible activities to maximize outcomes; 
• Build strong collaborative relationships with the Ministry of Education and its decentralized  offices at the departmental, municipal and district levels, donor, and partner organizations, and other NGOs/CSOs to enhance quality and effectiveness of programming, plan for scalability and foster institutionalization;  
• Supervise the production of activity-supported materials, trainings, teacher and classroom supervision and monitoring strategies, and student assessments; 
• Contribute to the design and implementation of the project’s learning agenda; 
• Build community and host country government awareness regarding the importance of foundational skills education; 
• Work with home office experts and local partners to ensure activity relevance and quality; and 
• Other duties, as assigned. 

Reporting and Organizational Relationships: 

The Foundational Education Skills Technical Advisor is a full-time position reporting to the Chief of Party and is based in Guatemala City, Guatemala, and will travel up to 50% of the time to project implementation areas.

Please Note: This position is not eligible for relocation or posting allowances and the salary will be paid in Guatemalan quetzal.

The candidate for the position of Foundational Education Skills Technical Advisor shall have at a minimum the following qualifications: 

Education:  

Master’s degree (or foreign equivalent) in education, literacy, early grade reading, or related field; a focus on diversity-inclusive education desired. Ph.D. preferred.  

Skills and Experience:  

• A minimum of 10 years of progressively responsible leadership experience in education, literacy or early grade reading and mathematics; 
• Expertise in teacher training, universal design for learning, curriculum design, classroom assessment, inclusive education, bilingual education, social-emotional learning, and gender-sensitive pedagogy; 
• Familiarity with evidence-based education tools and approaches to improving education outcomes, including those of USAID; 
• Experience working in complex, crisis or fragile environments; 
• Understanding of the education systems in Guatemala. 

Language:  

Full fluency in Spanish is required. Working proficiency with English and familiarity with Western Highlands local language is highly preferred.  

EDC is committed to enhancing the diversity of its workforce and ensuring an equitable and highly inclusive work environment. EDC is a smoke-free workplace, and offers a supportive work environment, competitive salary, and excellent benefits. Women, minorities, and individuals with disabilities are encouraged to apply.