Position Overview:
The Officer, Material will work under the guidance and direction of Manager, Literacy. Officer, Material will organize and oversee the complete process of Quality Reading Material (QRM) Unit of Room to Read in Nepal ensuring the quality of children's books and designing of instructional materials in coordination with Instructional Design and Teacher Support (IDTS) Unit and Curriculum Development Centre/government and other relevant organizations.
Duties & Responsibilities:
Management:
Sets Professional and business goals and activities for self and direct reports
Participates and supports Literacy Program (LP) design and development orientations in Country Office (CO) and Field Offices (FOs)
Participates and involves during the orientations and development of staff professional development activities, training packages, monitoring tools and templates including material development process (for better understanding of layout and design)
Develops the clear understanding of layout and design of Teaching Learning Material (TLM), Supplementary Reading Material (SRM) and other materials based on Room to Read (RtR) strategy in close coordination with LP team members
Conducts 1:1 with direct report and supervisor on monthly basis (if not weekly) to clarify expectations and set future plans
Manages all the materials related soft and hard copies of information, files, reports and updates supervisor
Completes and manages all Implementation Calendar (IC) based activities and meets RtR’s design standard
Completes and manages quality improvement of material design and development through revisions, received feedbacks and Research, Monitoring and Evaluation (RM&E) findings
Actively participates in workshops (LP, RM&E, any others as required)
Manages, engages and collaborates with Admin and support units during procurement and printing process of TLM, SRM and other instructional and educational materials for the timely completion. This includes approval, raising requisition and proceed for reprint, adaptation and printing of new titles
Makes visit to project schools for manuscript field testing before sending them for printing. This requires good coordination with Literacy Director (LD), LM, RM&E team, Operations and Associate, Material and FOs
Finalizes IBC tools and collaborates with Admin team to publish the notice in the national newspaper
Manages IBC (selection, categorization and finalization) based on QRM manual in coordination with Officer, Design and Training; and prepares and submits its report to LM
Identifies and works with local authors and illustrators to fill the gaps by commissioning and publishing reading materials
Tracks implemented and planned activities based on IC keeping in mind tasks, time, budget, accountability, quality, resource allocation and result delivery
Prepares initial draft of Assessment Criteria (AC), Annual Planning and Budgeting (AP&B) and activities formulation related to LP or QRM
Edits new book text content, illustration, design and layout, or other related design based on global Quality Reading Materials (QRM) book development guidelines. Edits in both English and Nepali. Comfortably uses Nepali fonts (RtR’s font and other popular fonts like Preeti, Kantipur, Himali etc.). This also requires using and making changes in in-design and Photoshop files
Translates and shares the manuscript to GO counterpart to collect technical feedback. Incorporates technical feedback on the manuscript, illustration, layout and design to improve the quality, and proceeds through GSD for GO sign off/approval after incorporating feedback and suggestion form GO
Coordination and Collaboration:
Collaborates with technical design, material development and training team to improve material development, layout, illustrations and production with quality by incorporating feedback from LD, LM and FOs
Collaborates with LP support and operations teams during material development, procurement, printing process and delivery of materials to field
Prepares and finalizes Terms of Reference (ToR) after incorporating comments from LM and takes approval from LD for consultant procurement
Supports LM and admin team to technically evaluate quality of procured goods and services
Coordinates with Global Office to finalize English portions of books, including dedication language, copyright information, story summaries, and author/illustrator biographies.
Coordinates with Global Office staff to facilitate and finalize the book titles and other relevant information as per need/requirement
Completes editing of all the reading and instructional materials before sending them for printing
Collaborates with Admin/Procurement team to source needed materials and ensure delivery to schools
Professional Development:
Conducts writers' workshop based on global QRM manual/guidelines to internal and external new and existing writers
Conducts illustrators' workshop to develop new book illustrations based on global QRM module
Participates for self-professional development process (course, training, workshop, seminar, visits, and orientations)
Others:
Participates in meeting and networking activities with likeminded organization and institutions
Participates in any other activities which may be required to be undertaken to fulfill the objectives of the organization.
Undertakes any other activities as per the direction of the supervisor
Qualifications:
Required:
Master's degree in Education with specialization in Nepali or related field
Minimum 5 years of professional experience (Teacher training/instructional materials design & development, library management, children's book design, development and publication)
Experience of working in book publishing industry
Excellent verbal and written communication skills in Nepali and English
Knowledge and working ability of Adobe CC- mainly InDesign and Photoshop
Experience in typing Nepali language and is comfortable editing Nepali fonts like Preeti, Kantipur, Himali of Himalb, etc.
Edit stories and QRM books in Nepali language (content, grammar, spelling, vocabularies, sentence structure)
Able to edit Nepali language by using InDesign software
Preferred:
Experience of teaching at the primary grade
Work experience in a non-profit organization
Prior track record of achieving results in a fast-paced, growth-oriented global or regional organization
Compensation:
Room to Read offers a competitive salary with excellent benefits; benefits including 13th month bonus, provident fund, health and accidental insurances for staff and their family; leaves and staff professional development. The non-monetary compensation includes a unique opportunity to be part of an innovative, meaningful, fun, and rapidly growing organization that is changing, transforming the lives of millions of children in developing countries by focusing on literacy and gender equality in education.
Location(s)
Nepal - Main - Lalitpur
To be successful at Room to Read, you will also:
Have passion for our mission and a strong desire to impact a dynamic nonprofit organization
Be a proactive and innovative thinker who achieves results and creates positive change
Have a very high level of personal and professional integrity and trustworthiness
Embrace diversity and a commitment to collaboration
Thrive in a fast-paced and fun environment
Room to Read is proud to be an equal opportunity employer committed to identifying and developing the skills and leadership of people from diverse backgrounds. EOE/M/F/Vet/Disabled
We envision a world in which all children can pursue a quality education, reach their full potential and contribute to their community and the world.
To achieve this goal, we focus on two areas where we believe we can have the greatest impact: literacy and gender equality in education. We work in collaboration with communities and local governments across Asia and Africa to develop literacy skills and a habit of reading among primary school children, and support girls to complete secondary school with the life skills they’ll need to succeed in school and beyond.