Head of Curriculum Publishing

The context:

Across the developing world, more children than ever are in school but they are not learning. A recent study estimated that less than 1% of school children in Sub-Saharan Africa attend a school where the teaching meets basic standards of quality. At Rising Academies, were changing that, and we want your help.

About us:

At Rising Academies, our mission is to create the best schools and the most powerful teaching and learning tools for the people that need it most. The goal is to unleash the full potential of every student, equipping them with the knowledge, skills, and character to succeed in further study, work, and day-to-day life. Were one of the fastest-growing quality-focused education companies in Africa, and a Certified B Corp.

We own and operate our own great value private schools, partner with governments to improve the quality of public school systems, and use our content and technology to help other education providers. Founded in Sierra Leone in 2014, we provided emergency education to children kept out of school by the Ebola Epidemic before opening our first school in April 2015. Today, we serve more than 250, 000 students across more than 900 schools in Sierra Leone, Liberia, Ghana and now Rwanda.

Through great curriculum, intensive teacher coaching and actionable data, we help teachers and school leaders bring quality to every classroom. And we get results: independent studies show Rising students make more than twice the progress of their peers in comparable schools. We continually evaluate our efforts to identify where we can improve our curriculum and coaching support for teachers and school leaders.

About the role:

We are looking for an experienced Head of Curriculum Publishing to join our Impact team at Rising Academies. The Head of Curriculum Publishing will lead in the execution of our curriculum strategy and expand the team needed to raise the bar for how we develop, deliver, and continuously improve curriculum content across multiple formats. The ideal candidate will navigate seamlessly between a high-level vision and detailed execution to create processes and systems that drive results for teachers and students.

The Head of Curriculum Publishing will:

• Execute Risings curriculum strategy in line with achieving our organisational mission
• Build and lead a dynamic curriculum production team, focused on improving Rising's Pre-K through Grade 9 in English and Math curriculum and accelerated learning programs
• Codify a curriculum production process that results in consistent, high quality, and relevant content for our school partners
• Enable curriculum materials to be shared in both paper-based and digital formats, expanding accessibility across school contexts
• Define and leverage the use of AI tools to streamline the content development process, driving efficiency and ensuring our curriculum remains relevant and engaging
• Collaborate with Rising's Digital team to integrate curriculum into the Bambai product suite, enriching the overall educational experience
• Effectively manage the curriculum budget to maximise impact
• Ensure that Risings commitment to safeguarding is reflected in our curriculum

Location and reporting:

This is a full-time remote position reporting to Risings Director of Innovation.

Application deadline:

The target start-date for this role is December 1, 2023

Requirements

Qualifications and Experience:

• 6+ years' experience in publishing, educational material production, project management etc
• Deep understanding of current curriculum standards, teaching strategies, and assessment tools
• Demonstrated experience managing remote-teams and budget to deliver exceptional results
• Demonstrated experience with digital content authoring and delivery platforms
• Demonstrated experience developing quality assurance systems and processes
• Master's Degree in Project Management, Curriculum and Instruction, Publishing, Communications, or a related field

About You:

• You can communicate with stakeholders in a multicultural environment, as well as clearly document high level strategy and reports for these audiences
• You have a keen interest in student learning and leveraging digital tools to improve curriculum design and delivery
• You have excellent verbal and written communication skills, and interpersonal skills
• You excel at building and managing teams
• You demonstrate people skills; must be able to collaborate effectively with diverse personalities and skill sets, and enjoy constructive conflict
• You have a strong track record of professionalism, trustworthiness and working independently sometimes
• You possess strong analytical and reasoning skills with ability to adapt to changes in a fast-paced agile environment
• You are proactive, self-driven and can take initiative and problem-solve
• You are comfortable working with senior leadership, reporting on data and outcomes
• You are willing to take risks, fail, learn, give and receive feedback, and try new approaches
• Basic familiarity with technology, including desktop computers, Microsoft and Google Suite
• You are passionate about improving the quality of education across Africa

Benefits

Compensation and Benefits:

We offer a competitive salary and benefits package. We regularly benchmark our compensation against comparable businesses, social ventures and non-profits.

Risings goal is to be transparent about salaries at all levels of the organisation and have a standard, global pay scale for all positions that is non-negotiable.

The benefits we offer are built to have a strong added value on our staffs well-being and we are excited to discuss this further with you in the process.

Rising is an Equal Opportunity Employer.We celebrate diversity and are committed to providing a work environment that is inclusive and free of discrimination and harassment. All employment decisions are based on individual qualifications without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, sexual orientation, ethnicity, gender identity and expression, national origin, family or parental status, veteran or disability status.

Rising is committed to creating a culture within the organisation, and its schools, that recognises the importance of safeguarding children and prioritising their rights and needs. We strive to uphold international safeguarding standards, and keep the safety and well-being of our students at the heart of what we do. All Rising employees are expected to abide by the Child Protection Policy, and to have the same level of commitment to protect children from harm. Safeguarding questions are part of every interview process and all Rising employees undergo reference checks before joining the organisation.