Position Overview:

Room to Read is seeking a Education Consultant (“the Consultant”) in Uganda who specializes in the management of education-related development projects to work together on a technical assistance project for approximately 6-8 months. The Consultant will facilitate the creation of an Ideal Book Collection (IBC) for Uganda, adapting the existing Room to Read children’s storybooks to the Ugandan context and languages. The Consultant will upload the adapted local language titles to an online digital platform (Literacy Cloud) and promote its use.

The Consultant will be accountable for coordinating project logistics within Uganda, including travel (if possible); government and other stakeholder engagement; security; convening selection and adaptation committees; in-person or virtual workshops; translation; tracking spending per project budget; managing printing, storage, and distribution of books; as well as managing all risks associated with the project. The Consultant will work under the guidance of the Room to Read global technical team.

In the area of children’s book publishing, Room to Read will support the Consultant in working with local expertise (translators, writers, and designers) to select, review carefully, translate, and adapt Room to Read storybook titles into a local Ugandan language. The storybooks will be edited and redesigned to ensure words, characters, and storylines are relevant for young readers in the Ugandan context. Upon completion, the storybooks will be uploaded to the Literacy Cloud digital storybook sharing platform and printed and distributed to schools through education networks throughout the country.

Room to Read, as the project lead, will be responsible for overseeing overall project work. The Consultant will work under the guidance of the Room to Read Project Manager based out of Kenya. Room to Read will work with the Consultant to finalize the project implementation plan and set up regular check-ins to discuss ongoing progress and updates as the broader project continues to evolve in Uganda. The Consultant will manage all logistics for the project and liaise with any external partner organizations, publishers, private sector entities, national and local governments, as needed, on matters related to project coordination.

Duties & Responsibilities:

Government engagement

• Engage government in the book approval process, digital platform promotion, book distribution, and any government protocols
• Liaise with national and local government in project discussions regularly to ensure that the project continues to align with the national education agenda
• Adapting and translating Room to Read project implementation materials as needed for the Ugandan context in preparation for technical workshops.
• Facilitating an analysis of existing children’s storybooks in the market and develop an ideal list of books to procure for the libraries.
• Adapting 25-40 existing Room to Read storybook titles into a local language (preferably Luganda):
• Identify local expertise from the education and book publishing community to select culturally relevant titles from the Room to Read global library;
• Coordinate a virtual Adaptation Workshop with writers, editors, and designers, including all logistical support for approximately 10 participants;
• Facilitate printing of approximately 12,000 copies of Room to Read adapted titles and distribution to schools and libraries through local education networks;
• Facilitate translation of the Literacy Cloud digital platform into local language and upload all local language digital titles to the platform, about 3 hours should be budgeted to uploading each title
• Promote materials on the Literacy Cloud through local networks and government.
• Managing project-related logistics, including, but not exclusive to the following:
• Coordinating project-related communication, travel, security, and other logistics within Uganda for project and Room to Read staff travel (if possible);
• Recruiting local experts to participate in book adaptations, translations, and design;
• Liaising with publishers, private sector entities and government, as needed, on matters related to project coordination;

Qualifications:

Required:

• University degree, preferably Advanced University degree
• Have 5+ years of experience and a positive track record in managing education-related projects in Uganda, including capacity building, monitoring, and projects that work with storybooks;
• An excellent professional standing amongst the government, non-profit organizations, and businesses, for high-quality work in the area of technical assistance and capacity building;
• Have an in-depth understanding of the education situation in the Uganda context, including national education policies, programs and priorities, and the respective roles of national, provincial and district government in the education sector;
• Financially responsible with a proven track record in managing, tracking and reporting project-related expenses among other institutions;
• Experience in gathering, processing and analyzing quantitative and qualitative data;
• Ability to communicate effectively and prepare reports in English;
• Awareness and sensitivity to the cultural and social situation(s) in the regions being served under the project;
• Ability to commit to the full scope and timeline of the project;
• Established networks in Uganda to facilitate the recruitment of book adaptation participants and distribution of books;
• Authorized to work in Uganda under the local laws.

Source:https://osv-rtr.wd5.myworkdayjobs.com/en-US/RoomToRead/job/Africa-Regional-Office---Remote/Uganda-Education-Consultant_R-01311