Associate Director, Teaching and Learning

Associate Director, Teaching and Learning

The Luminos Fund, a fast-growing international nonprofit bringing education opportunities to the world’s most vulnerable children, is looking for an Associate Director of Teaching and Learning. The Teaching and Learning team is responsible for developing structured pedagogy materials, supporting teacher training, and building capability across the organization. This position calls for experience developing structured pedagogy materials to improve foundational learning in low-income countries.

This is a full-time role that may be based in one of our offices in Accra, Addis Ababa, Boston, London, or Monrovia, or remotely in a time zone from GMT to GMT+4. Reporting to the Director of Teaching and Learning, the role holder will collaborate with country-based program teams and the Impact team to ensure the success of our education mission. The position will involve some travel to challenging contexts in Africa and the Middle East.

About the Luminos Fund

The Luminos Fund (www.luminosfund.org) provides transformative education programs to thousands of vulnerable children each year, helping them to catch up to grade level and prepare for lifelong learning. Working in partnership with community-based organizations in sub-Saharan Africa and the Middle East, Luminos is scaling up its accelerated learning program through the Luminos Method (www.luminosmethod.org) — an evidence-based approach that helps children catch up fast and discover the joy of learning.

Luminos is supported by a range of funding partners, including Cartier Philanthropy, the Gates Foundation, UBS Optimus Foundation, and UNICEF. 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.

Duties and Responsibilities

Material Development

• Support the Director of Teaching and Learning in developing high-quality teacher guides, student books, and supplementary materials for structured pedagogy programs focused on foundational skills.
• Ensure teaching and learning materials are informed by the latest evidence on the science of teaching, including phonics-based literacy approaches and numeracy teaching methods that build number sense.
• Optimize teaching and learning materials for all students, including those with learning differences and those learning in a language they are not familiar with).
• Ensure teaching and learning materials are clear, user-friendly, and accessible for community teachers with varying levels of literacy.
• Ensure teaching and learning materials promote gender equality and socio-emotional well-being.
• Maintain high standards for material formatting, design, and illustration.

Teacher Training

• Support the development of clear and impactful training materials for trainings of trainers and teacher trainings.
• Lead and/or assist in planning and delivering trainings of trainers and teacher training sessions.
• Provide ongoing monitoring and coaching to country teams on effective pedagogical approaches.

Please note that the Luminos Fund is a highly dynamic work environment, and the role holder may need to take on additional workstreams not included in the description above. In some instances, they will face challenges in areas where they are not experts and where situations are ambiguous. They will need to scope out known information, propose and appraise response options, and then own and drive the implementation solutions.

Required Skills and Experience

• Bachelor’s Degree required; Master’s degree preferred.
• A minimum of five years of relevant experience in international development, education, or nonprofit sectors, with increasing responsibility in bilateral, multilateral, or non-governmental development organizations (experience of 3+ years working on structured pedagogy programs is a strong advantage).
• Thorough knowledge of research and policy relating to foundational learning, including familiarity with the scale of the learning crisis, the science of reading, and structured pedagogy approaches.
• Understanding of curriculum development, the design of teaching and learning materials, and the development and validation of literacy assessments.
• Exceptional attention to detail, with a strong commitment to producing high-quality, error-free teaching and learning materials
• Experience supporting foundational literacy programs which have led to significant improvement in learning outcomes.
• Proven track record of overseeing and improving the quality of others’ work, ensuring all outputs meet high pedagogical and design standards.
• Outstanding organizational skills with a proven ability to deliver complex outcomes to a high-quality standard and according to pre-agreed timelines.
• Demonstrated commitment to and passion for the mission, vision, and values of the Luminos Fund.
• Strong analytical and conceptual skills with the ability to think and plan strategically. Well-developed negotiation and communication skills are essential, including proficiency in spoken and written English.
• Advanced proficiency in the Microsoft Office Suite, with the ability to: build well formatted documents using tables, Styles, sections, automated table of contents etc. in MS Word; use formulas, filter/sort data, use pivot tables, create charts etc. in MS Excel; and design clean, coherent slide decks with consistent themes and layouts in MS PowerPoint.

Luminos Core Beliefs and Values

1. We believe that every child is capable of learning a remarkable amount in a short period of time, if given the chance.
2. We keep children’s joy and well-being at the heart of everything we do.
3. We embrace assessment as a key component of effective teaching and learning.
4. We celebrate and empower local leadership throughout our work with partner communities and governments.
5. We use research, program data, and skilled classroom observation in the tenacious pursuit of excellence.
6. We celebrate the unique contexts and cultures of the communities we serve in our curricula and pedagogy.
7. We act with the highest standards of integrity and care, ensuring mutual accountability among colleagues and partners.
8. We take the initiative to solve problems where we find them, managing details large and small, with urgency.
9. We act deliberately to ensure that our organization is inclusive for people of different genders, racial backgrounds, ethnicities, sexual orientations, religious beliefs, abilities, and other sources of diversity.
10. We build deep, authentic relationships with our supporters in celebration of the mutually transformative power of giving.

To apply for this role, please complete the online application with your resume or CV. A thoughtfully written cover letter that describes why you're interested in this position and the value you'll bring to the role is welcome but not required. Please also upload an example of a teacher guide/lesson plan that you have created. This should be a resource created for foundational literacy or numeracy.   

We often receive hundreds of applications for our roles, and many applicants submit materials or answers generated by AI tools. We are looking for information written by you, about you. We want to understand your interests, experience, and enthusiasm for the role. Materials written with AI support tend to be generic and are often identical to that of other applicants. They do not give us enough insight into your unique profile. We request that you do not use AI for your application or that, if you must do so, that you mindfully edit or review the AI-generated information appropriately.

Please confirm the following information as part of your application:

• Permanent address and present address (if different from permanent), e-mail address, and telephone number
• Disclose any existing personal relationships with existing Luminos Fund employees or Implementing Partners (IPs.)

Salary is commensurate with experience and location.

The Luminos Fund is an equal opportunity employer. We celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees. All applicants will be considered for employment without attention to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, veteran, or disability status.