United States of America: Education Program Specialist (TESOL)

Education Program Specialist (TESOL)

The World Learning (WL) TESOL Education Program Specialist will provide technical expertise, leadership and coordination in the development, dissemination and promotion of WL’s education program strategies, standards and tools. This position will also oversee quality of our SIT TESOL Certificate, Best Practices in TESOL and PCELT programs. The TESOL Education Program Specialist collaborates with other WL units, Country Offices and field staff to diversify WL’s funding and programming portfolio in this sector and increase its internal capacity in program methodologies and concepts, including program design. Additionally, this position will work to encourage and facilitate the documentation of best practices and lessons learned, directed toward multiple audiences, to influence policy formation, develop capacity and foster professionalism.

The TESOL Program Specialist will build and maintain relationships with external and internal partners in order to enhance their understanding of WL’s program standards and strategies. This position reports to the Education Director and is based in Washington, D.C.

Specific Responsibilities:

1. Program Development

• Lead in the identification and follow up of new project opportunities related to the education sector, with a particular emphasis on the TESOL field and TESOL Certificate;
• Lead in the design and proposal development process for new projects, in coordination with Program Development Team, Program Officers, and
  field staff, as assigned (this could include field assessment/design missions, proposal writing, proposal review, or proposal process coordination, and
  coordination with local and international NGOs and partners during program design process);
• Lead in positioning WL with external stakeholders (NGOs, contractors, donors, etc.) as a preferred partners in area of education programs;
• Lead in the creation and implementation of sector strategies for program development;
• Collaborate with team to develop new training courses (online and face-to-face versions) for donor-funded projects and WL tuition-based programs;
• Lead the process of updating existing training programs to reflect innovation and current best practices.

2. Program Implementation

• Provide technical leadership and support for educational programs both domestically and to WL Country Offices, including participatory program reviews/evaluation, provision of advice/recommendations on standards, tools, guidelines, policies, procedures that can contribute to the strengthening of program operations in the area of TESOL education, teacher training, content-based language teaching, and any sectors as required within the field of education;
• Provide HQ sectoral backstopping to assigned projects, coordinating with WL operations staff who will lead on contractual compliance issues and fiscal management, and coordinating with assigned Program Officers;
• Prepare, assist with, and/or submit reports, work plans, and various project documents and deliverables in conjunction with HQ or field staff and as required by donor organizations; meet with/respond to donors as required;
• Maintain complete project files for assigned portfolio;
• Visit field projects once a year (as applicable) or according to program requirements; coordinate international technical assistance needs required by the project or as requested by field staff;
• Work with project subcontractors/subgrantees, coordinating their input into project deliverables and documents;
• Monitor assigned project implementation and ensure project compliance with deliverables;
• Design and deliver training curricula for TESOL programming as required.

3. SIT TESOL Certificate, Best Practices in TESOL and PCELT Program Quality

• Manage trainers and assessors;
• Create, manage, and update systems and policies;
• Manage the trainer and assessor qualification process;
• Facilitate professional development and information sharing among TESOL Network;
• Lead TESOL team in TESOL-training courses in curriculum review and revision efforts, as needed.

4. Outreach and Quality Promotion

• Liaise with external and internal stakeholder to increase WL’s profile in TESOL and other education programs;
• Lead in the creation of sector standards and tools for use by WL;
• Support new center start-up;
• Facilitate documentation of best practices, innovations, lessons learned and proven methodologies in Education programs;
• Provide sector training to HQ and field staff;
• Lead outreach through social media.

Core Responsibilities

• Leverage corporate WL assets and information for assigned projects or for new projects under development;
• Represent WL at meetings, conferences, etc., relevant to the subject matter and themes of the assigned portfolio and disseminate information regarding WL’s overall capabilities;
• Contribute to the development of key WL planning documents including strategy statements, budget reviews, work plans, and reports to the Board of Directors;
• Contribute other written materials that support divisional needs (brochures, summary project information, etc.);
• Contribute to project support, marketing and other unit/divisional activities in ways which tap special expertise or experience, e.g., sectoral, geographical;
• Perform other duties as assigned.

Required Qualifications

• Advanced degree in TESOL or other education-related field education is required (e.g., Master’s degree, Doctorate, or other professional degree); Minimum of 4 years as an SIT TESOL Certificate Licensed Trainer;
• Minimum of 2 years as an SIT TESOL Certificate Trainer of Trainers (ToT);
• Minimum 5 years of experience in managing, implementing and designing training programs for teachers and students is required;
• Minimum 2 years experience in conducting research, analyzing data and writing research report is preferred;
• Experience with/knowledge of one or more international donor organizations (preferably USAID and/or US-DOS) and familiarity with their project management/documentation/proposal requirements, preferably USAID/US-DOS grants and contracts knowledge;
• Experience in proposal writing, including conceptualizing and technical writing;
• Experience in/familiarity with fiscal and budget management of development projects;
• Excellent oral and written communication skills;
• Ability to coordinate people and processes;
• Fluency in Spanish, Portuguese or Arabic (preferred).

World Learning is an equal employment opportunity/affirmative action/veterans/ADA employer, committed to increasing the diversity of its workforce.

Interested candidates should apply through the following link on World Learning's website.