Brief Description of JAAGO Foundation Trust
JAAGO Foundation Trust is a non-profit development organization with a mission to eradicate poverty in Bangladesh through education and positive change. JAAGO focuses on various sectors, including education, youth development, women empowerment, climate change, and governance. JAAGO provides free, high-quality education to children through conventional and digital schooling programs, serving 4500 students currently. Our Youth Development Program empowers 50,000 young citizens with skills and resources for national development. JAAGO addresses challenges faced by women and girls, offering alternative learning opportunities in underrepresented communities. JAAGO actively collaborates with local communities, women, youth, and marginalized groups to develop climate resilience and sustainable livelihood options. JAAGO promotes civic education to enhance youth civic participation, collective action, and leadership for effective societal change.
Position Summary
The Project Manager for the Educate the Most Disadvantaged Children (EMDC) project is responsible for providing high- level leadership, strategic oversight, and adaptive management for educational initiatives within complex geographic terrains, specifically the Bandarban Hill Tracts region. This role bridges grassroots implementation with strategic institutional frameworks, ensuring operational continuity, financial integrity, governance compliance, and multi- stakeholder collaboration. The Project Manager oversees multidisciplinary teams, drives Multigrade Multilevel (MGML) learning innovations, and ensures that project milestones are achieved transparently and effectively.
Job Responsibilities
Management:
Manager as a role model: Embody JAAGO's values daily and act as a professional role model for team members and external stakeholders.
Manager as a coach for meaning: Understand the overarching strategy, make it explicit, translate it into clear operational objectives for the team, and lead necessary changes. Give meaning to each management action, encourage inter- and intradepartmental exchanges of practice, and foster innovation and calculated risk- taking.
Operational manager: Organize the operational management of the team, structure work around identified processes, steer performance metrics, and facilitate the prompt resolution of operational problems.
First HR & Coach: Contribute to the professional development of staff, creating the necessary conditions for their commitment, professionalism, and attachment to JAAGO. Ensure strict compliance with the code of conduct, institutional policies, the organizational mindset, and expected individual and collective behaviors.
Strategy and Steering:
Spearhead the strategic direction and overall execution of the Educate the Most Disadvantaged Children (EMDC) project in challenging and remote regions, ensuring alignment with organizational goals and donor frameworks.
Oversee structured operational transitions and focal point handovers to maintain continuous institutional memory, community trust, and project momentum.
Foster high-level institutional advocacy and partnerships by representing the project in national forums, policy dissemination events, and multi-agency consultations.
Operational Implementation:
Ensure the implementation of the project is in line with the logical framework and allocated budget: Manage regional project budgets, oversee ledger reconciliations, correct recurring activity coding errors (such as 4.3.5 and 6.3.5) to align with programmatic realignments, and track implementation indicators against strategic targets.
Ensure that project implementation complies with the existing frameworks: Uphold rigorous internal governance, enforce merit- based evaluation protocols (such as differentiated candidate scoring), mandate transparent meeting resolution practices (e.g., formal draft and read- aloud protocols), and audit implementation modules for compliance.
Ensure project data management: Oversee systematic data collection, review indicator tracking tables, maintain secure digital archives, and ensure qualitative and quantitative reporting accuracy for donor compliance.
Coordinate the teams involved in the project: Lead multidisciplinary teams through structured task delegation, weekly synchronization meetings, and clear operational guidelines across educational, financial, and field units.
Contribute to external project communication: Draft commemorative narratives, public advocacy briefs, and social media content for major institutional milestones, maintaining a formal and diplomatic communication tone.
Emergency Preparedness and Response:
Rapidly convene emergency coordination digital sessions with project directors and international partners during crises, enforce real- time documentation protocols, and reallocate resources to mitigate field risks.
Expertise:
Champion innovative educational methodologies, including Multigrade Multilevel (MGML) learning programs and foundational literacy strategies like SQ3R, while continuously evaluating lesson plans and teacher training outcomes for remote contexts.
Safeguarding:
Uphold and promote the organization's safeguarding policies to ensure the safety, dignity, and well- being of all children, young people, and vulnerable adults engaged in our activities.
Immediately report any concerns, suspicions, or incidents of safeguarding breaches in line with the organization's reporting procedures.
Maintain professional boundaries and conduct that fosters a safe and respectful environment for all beneficiaries, colleagues, and stakeholders.
Qualifications and Experience
Education:
Master's degree in Education, Development Studies, Social Sciences, Public Administration, or a related discipline from a recognized university.
Experience:
Minimum of 05 to 07 years of professional experience in the development sector, with a proven track record of managing education projects, ideally in remote, hilly, or underserved regions like the Bandarban Hill Tracts.
Demonstrated experience in donor- funded project management, budget oversight, compliance auditing, and multi- stakeholder coordination with national and international bodies (e.g., UNICEF).
Skills and Competencies
Exceptional cross- cultural communication and diplomatic advocacy skills, with fluency in both written and spoken English and Bengali.
Strong ability to translate empirical field data into actionable strategies and national- level policy dialogues.
High adaptability, resilience, and problem- solving capabilities when managing remote field operations under logistical and environmental constraints.
Advanced proficiency in project monitoring, indicator tracking, and financial budget realignment.
Expertise in educational pedagogy, curriculum management, and teacher training outcome evaluation.
Proficient in digital collaboration platforms, emergency coordination protocols, and professional report writing.
Demonstrated leadership in team building, multidisciplinary task delegation, and remote staff supervision.
Strong capacity for institutional governance enforcement, structured meeting facilitation, coaching, and transparent documentation tracking.
JAAGO is an equal employment and affirmative action employer whereby we do not engage in practices that discriminate against any person employed or seeking employment based on race, color, religion, gender, national or ethnic origin, age, marital status, disability, veteran status or any other status or characteristic protected under applicable law.
JAAGO is also committed to safeguarding the safety, dignity and well-being of children, young people and other vulnerable groups. All applicants must share this commitment, will be required to adhere to JAAGO’s Safeguarding Policy and Code of Conduct if appointed, and may be subject to pre-employment reference and background checks and mandatory safeguarding training.
