Global Senior Program Manager x2

About The Jacobs Foundation

Whatever their background, all young people should have access to a high-quality education. Yet all too often, programs and interventions designed to improve a child’s learning and education provide one-size-fits-all instruction and are not rooted in evidence. Founded by Klaus J. Jacobs in 1989, the Jacobs Foundation’s vision is a world in which every child is given the evidence-based learning opportunities they need to thrive. To move closer to this vision, our flagship Strategy 2030 has pledged CHF 500 million to improve children’s learning and education by promoting the generation and translation of evidence into policy and practice. We accomplish this by funding research to understand how children learn, promoting the use of evidence in teaching and learning, and supporting four focus countries (Switzerland, Ghana, Cote d’Ivoire, and Colombia) to integrate evidence into education policy and implementation.

Read more here: https://jacobsfoundation.org/strategy-2030/

Job Summary

The Jacobs Foundation (JF) is seeking two Senior Program Managers to join our Global Learning and Evidence team. It is expected that one role will be focused on research initiatives, and the other on policy-oriented efforts. These roles support the director-level Program Co-Leads in the implementation and management of a large portfolio of global research and policy work. Operating at a global level from the JF offices in Zurich, the Senior Program Managers will also liaise closely with our country teams in Colombia, Cote d’Ivoire, Ghana, and Switzerland to support programming and leverage opportunities for knowledge building and shared learning.

• Provide support in the execution of the Global Learning and Evidence Program (comprised of global flagship programs such as the JF Research Fellowship, LEVANTE, and the JF Research Prize):
  • lead the development of program deliverables (e.g., grantee proposals, preparation of internal decision documents);
  • lead main aspects of program management (e.g., report progress against strategic goals, milestones, and decision points for portfolio review and Board meetings, provide analytic and research support for decision-making; manage grants and external service providers).
• Stay abreast of the latest discussions and developments around evidence in education, child learning and development, and global research funding.
• Provide strategy planning, content development, and project management support (agenda, materials, facilitation, minutes, follow-up items) for team meetings, partner convenings, team retreats, and conferences.
• Work closely with JF in-country team leads to coordinate on programmatic priorities and goals, align on implementation approaches, and reflect on learning and insights from global-level and country-level efforts; willingness to travel to JF focus countries on a regular basis.
• Harvest learning and knowledge across the Global Program, ensuring insights are captured, shared, and integrated into strategies and practices.
• Collaborate closely with the communication and knowledge team with regard to strategic communications, knowledge management, and monitoring and learning.
• Represent the foundation at international fora and in discussions with partners, peers, and collaborators.

Qualifications and Experience

• Master’s degree in a relevant discipline (e.g., humanities or social sciences, international development, business, public policy) or equivalent.
• 5-7 years of professional experience in programmatic work, preferably in the education, philanthropic or research sector; practical experience in research funding and management is an advantage.
• Strong quantitative, analytical, strategic, and project management skills, with an eye for detail; ability to create structures and develop frameworks to increase clarity and visibility of decisions, trade-offs, and impact on organizational resources; familiarity with a range of research methods is an advantage.
• Passion for evidence generation and translation that can support solution development, validation, or adaptation of practices to new settings.
• Interest in education policy and policy-making processes, direct experience with such processes is an advantage.
• Interest in child and youth development, education, and learning; work experience in these areas is an advantage.
• Familiarity with the contexts, or direct work experience in West Africa and/or Latin America is an advantage.
• Strong partnership development, engagement, and facilitation skills.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills with experience in conveying messages effectively to a range of audiences; fluency (verbal and written) in English is essential, other languages relevant to the foundation’s work (German, French, or Spanish) are an advantage.
• Ability to prioritize and manage diverse tasks across multiple projects and workstreams meeting competing time/resource demands; high level of personal organization, professionalism, and reliability in contributing both independently and as a team member.

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