Associate, Program Operations

World Change Starts with Educated Children®

IMPORTANT: All applicants must be legally eligible to work in the country where the position is located. Room to Read is not able to provide sponsorship.

Position Overview:

The Associate, Program Operations will support the effective implementation of literacy and gender equality programs across states. . Reporting to the Manager/Senior Manager, Program Operations, the role will assist in program planning, execution, reporting, and budget management to ensure alignment with organizational objectives. The position involves close coordination with state teams, as well as departments at the Country Office (CO) and Global Office (GO) levels while ensuring adherence to organizational policies and guidelines.

Responsibilities:

• Support procurement processes ensuring compliance with quality standards and procurement guidelines.

• Support timely preparation and submission of program, project & event reports and Implementation Calendars for allocated states, coordinate monthly operation calls.

• Coordinate the submission and review of Country Office (CO) and Global Office (GO) level reports from assigned states, working closely with RM&E for final reporting.

• Coordinate across department teams, including Finance, Admin, GEP, and Literacy Programs to complete activities at Country and State level, to ensure smooth operations, identify operational challenges and facilitate timely resolution.

• Maintain records of state-level partnerships, ensuring timely renewal of agreements and MoUs.

• Identify implementation challenges and propose actionable solutions, escalating unresolved issues to the Manager.

• Undertake field visits as per touch points and program requirement, participate in the trainings and review meetings in consultation with the manager.

Operational Excellence Support:

• Provide operational support to State and Country Office teams to ensure efficient program delivery while maintaining quality standards.

• Support in designing and implementing adaptive systems to enhance field-level operational efficiency, including updating ICs and managing trackers, toolkits, and frameworks.

• Support the progress tracking for agreed program outcomes, collate monthly and quarterly program reports, dashboards, and performance metrics.

• Coordinate the weekly and monthly meetings, review meetings with the state teams and departments and share the meeting minutes.

• Contribute to generating timely reports on GSD to track program implementation and conduct basic data analysis.

• Support operations team in coordinating with all departments for execution of national events, trainings and meeting, along with managing procurement, logistics and administration as required.

People & Team Coordination:

• Assist in coordinating recruitment, onboarding, and capacity-building efforts for State teams.

• Ensure compliance with HR policies, labor laws, and workplace regulations.

Financial & Compliance Support:

·

• Support in analyzing budgets and forecasts for LP & GEP programs and respective activities, highlighting variances in spending and escalating issues as needed.

• Work closely with program operations and senior leadership to develop accurate and realistic budgets aligned with organizational goals. Additionally, lead the budget revisions process which is necessary throughout the fiscal year in response to changing circumstances and organizational priorities, ensuring financial stability and alignment with strategic objectives.

• Support the budget planning, Outlook, Cash Forecast, BVA, payments and financial approvals for allocated states, ensuring compliance with financial guidelines.

• Collaborate with state teams to ensure effective budget utilization aligned with the program plan.

• Support the Annual Planning and Budget process.

• Ensure compliance with Room to Read’s Child Protection Policy and organizational standards.

• Monitor budget vs. actual performance and provide timely analysis and recommendations to ensure financial targets are met

• Track expenses against the donor budget and report variances.

• Provide support in preparing budgets for donor proposals in collaboration with the Global Donor Finance Team.
• Collaborate with Dev and Operations team to ensure donor budget adherence.

Technical Assistance, Donor & Government Engagement Support:

• Assist in preparing technical assistance proposals for allocated states.

• Provide logistical and operational support to State Teams in implementing technical assistance projects.

• Support in coordination of donor visits in collaboration with Communications and Development teams.

• Coordinate the timely submission of donor reports and case studies.

• Support in documenting the best practices and learning from state-level implementation.

• undefined

Qualifications:

Required:

• Master’s in education / social sciences / Social Work/management/consulting or equivalent.

• Minimum 3-6 years of relevant experience.

• Knowledge of various programs and organizations in the field of early grade reading/literacy in India and abroad.

• Excellent managerial and interpersonal skills, including skills of managing and mentoring people.

• Good written and oral communication skills.

• Knowledge/ training in linguistics will be an added advantage.

• Have passion for our mission and a strong desire to impact a dynamic non-profit organization.

• Be an innovative and creative thinker that tries new things and inspires others to do so.

• Have a very high level of personal and professional integrity and trustworthiness.

• Have a strong work ethic and require minimal direction.

• Work well independently as well as part of a team.

• Thrive in a fast-paced and fun environment.

Compensation:

Room to Read offers a competitive salary with excellent benefits. Benefits include thirteenth month bonus, health insurance and a retirement plan. The non-monetary compensation includes a unique opportunity to be part of an innovative, meaningful, and rapidly growing organization that is changing transforming the lives of millions of children in developing countries on literacy and gender equality in education.

Room to Read is a child-safe organization.

Read is a child-safe organization; all personnel must adhere to Room to Read’s Child Protection Policy, Child Protection Code of Conduct and Prevention of Sexual Exploitation and Abuse (PSEA) Policy.

Room to Read is an equal opportunity employer committed to identifying and developing the skills and leadership of people from diverse backgrounds.

Child Protection Principles

• Room to Read is committed to the education and welfare of children and protecting them from abuse and exploitation
• Room to Read has zero tolerance for child abuse and exploitation.
• All children have the right to be free from abuse and exploitation, including neglect, maltreatment, and physical, mental or sexual violence, injury or abuse.
• All children should be treated with respect and dignity.
• The well-being of the child is Room to Read’s first priority when dealing with all identified or suspected cases of child abuse.
• Room to Read shall integrate child protection into all its organizational strategies, structures and work practices.

Protection from Sexual Exploitation and Abuse (PSEA) Principles

• Room to Read Representatives must create and maintain an environment that prevents sexual exploitation and sexual abuse.
• Room to Read has zero tolerance for adult sexual exploitation and abuse.
• Sexual exploitation and abuse are serious violations of fundamental human rights and will not be accepted or tolerated.
• All adults should be treated with respect and dignity.
• Room to Read implements a survivor-centered approach, putting the survivor’s rights and dignity at the forefront.
• Survivors referred to available professional assistance (e.g. mental health counselling), upon consent.

About Room to Read:

Founded in 2000 on the belief that World Change Starts with Educated Children®, Room to Read envisions a world free from illiteracy and gender inequality, where all children have room to read, learn and grow - creating lasting change. Through our Literacy Portfolio, we train and coach teachers of the early grades in literacy instruction; create and publish quality books and curricular materials in local languages; and establish children’s libraries filled with diverse children’s books that can be enjoyed at school and home. Our Gender Equality Portfolio supports adolescents, particularly girls, in developing life skills that promote gender equality, helping them to pursue lifelong learning and make informed decisions.

We support young people of all genders to overcome gender biases and build the knowledge and skills to create a gender-equal world. Room to Read collaborates with local communities, partner organizations, publishers, and governments to test and implement innovative models that can be integrated into the education system to deliver positive outcomes for children at scale. To date, Room to Read has benefited more than 50 million children in 28 countries.

Learn more at www.roomtoread.org.