JOB DESCRIPTION
 PROGRAM OFFICER, Girls’ Education and Gender Equality Program (GEP)

Organization Profile

Founded in 2000 on the belief that World Change Starts with Educated Children®, Room to Read is creating a world free from illiteracy and gender inequality through education. We are achieving this goal by helping children in historically low-income communities develop literacy skills and a habit of reading, and by supporting girls as they build life skills to succeed in secondary school and negotiate key life decisions. Room to Read collaborates with local communities, partner organizations 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 39 million children and has worked in 24 countries and in more than 192,000 communities, providing additional support through remote solutions that facilitate learning beyond the classroom. Room to Read aims to benefit 40 million children by 2025. Learn more at www.roomtoread.org.  

Since 2009 in Bangladesh, Room to Read has been implementing education support Programs in low-income and remote communities in Cox’s Bazar, Dhaka, Moulvibazar, Narail and Natore districts. Till 2023, we have supported the education of more than 0.4 million children in Primary and 7,386 girls in Secondary schools. We are proud to have worked with DPE, NCTB, NAPE, DSHE, a2i as well as national radio and TV in executing scalable and systemic initiatives to eradicate illiteracy and embed life-skills.

Program Officer for the Girls’ Education and Gender Equality Program (GEP)
(Based in Moulvibazar/Jhalakathi Office and Reports to the Field Manager)
1 in Moulvibazar and 1 in Jhalakathi

Position Overview:

The Program Officer for the Girls’ Education and Gender Equality Program (GEP) at Room to Read will oversee all aspects of the Program at the field level. The role involves developing, planning, training, implementing, and monitoring programs for Social Mobilizers, supporting teachers, and enhancing the progress of participants. The position focuses on scaling up GEP activities at the school level, assisting teachers in effectively delivering global life skill sessions, improving the sustainability of the Girls’ Education and Gender Equality Program, and ensuring that Room to Read participants receive a quality education and perform well academically. The position requires skills in project management, Gender responsive approach life skill education, mentoring, networking, accounting, and supervising. The Program Officer, GEP will report to the Field Manager. This position is based in Moulvibazar/Jhalakathi and the Social Mobilizers are the direct reports to Program Officer-GEP.

Duties & Responsibilities:

Program Implementation and Training:

  • Support Teachers in providing targeted and relevant assistance to ensure that girls participate in high-quality life skill sessions aligned with global program content standards. Support SMs in delivering parent workshops to ensure that parents benefit from well-structured sessions aligned with global program content standards
  • Guide social mobilizers (SM) to conduct group mentoring sessions and well as need based Individual mentoring support
  • Ensure that social mobilizers (SM) are trained to recognize and support school authority to implement different activities at school level
  • Coach social mobilizers (SM) to ensure they are providing appropriate support to Master Trainer and Teachers for financial literacy session preparation
  • Ensure that social mobilizers (SMs) regularly update the Weekly Action Plan (WAP) and deliver tasks as per the plan
  • Organize review meetings for social mobilizers (SM) to discuss challenges they face, address data collection issues, and find solutions related to field-level program implementation
  • Observe life skill sessions, financial literacy sessions, parenting sessions, and community events conducted by social mobilizers (SM) and provide onsite support and coaching for continuous improvement and efficient implementation of planned activities
  • Guide SMs in building and maintaining relationships with community leaders, local government officials, and other stakeholders to advocate for the Girls’ Education and Gender Equality Program
  • Collaborate with both Technical and Operations team to ensure that program implementation meets Room to Read’s standards, including local adaptation of program content
  • Verify that school authorities and communities actively support the program and fulfill their agreements
  • Ensure that all GEP schools have a functional LSE Club room
  • Conduct training sessions for Master Trainer, teachers and SMs, possibly co-facilitating with the country office GEP technical team
  • Attending planned training sessions, meetings with Room to Read staff, school authorities and regular review meetings to achieve organizational objectives
  • Develop PR, TOR, TOT, Logistic support (Different Journal, Register, Manual, Event, training, meeting etc); Provide support to the admin team
  • Organize various events according to the program's yearly plan. Collaborate with Country Office GEP technical team for getting technical support and guidance  
  • Participate in donor site visits, providing information about Room to Read’s Girls’ Education and Gender Equality Program as needed
  • Maintain liaison with government officials and various networks
  • Conduct performance reviews for Social Mobilizers (SM)

Planning, Reporting and Documentation:

  • Ensure Global Database is updated promptly with appropriate and reliable data 
  • Prepare PIM report and submit it to Field Manager
  • Ensure that teachers are monitoring and recording girls' attendance, academic performance, and other program activities as required by the program design
  • Ensure the Social Mobilizers are monitoring and maintain records of girls’ information record book, different tools; including attendance, academic performance, and other program activities as required by the program design
  • Prepare and compile various reports (both internal and external)
  • Support the Field Manager in developing GEP annual plan and budgets
  • Review the GEP budget monthly and assist the Field Manager in preparing the monthly cash forecast, budget expenses report 
  • Take responsibility for expenses and expense reporting in project areas of assignment
  • Document best practices, case studies and lessons learned and share them with the GEP Team

Qualifications:

Required:

  • Only female candidates will be considered for this position
  • Bachelor/master’s degree or equivalent in a related field (e.g. Education, Social Work, Community Development, Social Science, Women & Gender Studies,)
  • Minimum 5 years of relevant work experience
  • Prior experience in planning and facilitating training
  • Prior experience coaching others
  • Good interpersonal skills and a team player
  • Strong organizational and planning skills including the ability to monitor progress of program implementation
  • Ability to juggle multiple priorities simultaneously and take initiative
  • Prior success working closely and building relationships with diverse groups of people
  • Experience working with and or mentoring adolescent girls
  • Strong computer skills including Microsoft Office and Outlook
  • Fluency in language spoken by girls
  • English fluency

Preferred:

  • Prior success working closely and building relationships with diverse groups of people
  • Effectiveness in working or volunteering with a non-profit organization focused on maintaining high-quality work and low overhead
  • Ability to travel frequently within the project area, including remote and rural locations
  • Prior experience in a fast-paced, growth-oriented global or regional organization
  • Proven track record of achieving results
  • Ability to juggle multiple priorities simultaneously and take initiative
  • Prior experience living and/or working in hard-to-reach areas
  • Experience working with schools, teachers, administrators and government officials
  • Experience in successful implementation of a wide range of tasks and developing/ implementing improvements in a prior position

To be successful as a member of the Room to Read team, you will also:

  • Have a passion for our mission and a strong desire to impact a dynamic non-profit organization
  • Be an innovative and creative thinker – not afraid to try something new and inspire 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
Room to Read is committed to the education and welfare of children and protecting them from abuse and exploitation (Child Protection Principles)
Room to Read Representatives must create and maintain an environment that prevents sexual exploitation and sexual abuse. (PSEA Principles)
  • 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.
  • 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-centred approach, putting the survivor’s rights and dignity at the forefront.
  • Survivors referred to available professional assistance (e.g. mental health counselling), upon consent.

Compensation:

We offer a competitive salary. The benefits include:

  • Provident Fund
  • 13th Month Allowance
  • Gratuity
  • Health coverage for staff and dependents
  • Insurances
  • Professional Development opportunities. The most significant benefit is the opportunity to work with one of the fastest growing international organizations, which has sole focus on education & continuously innovating efficient & effective social entrepreneurship

Application Procedure:
Interested candidates meeting the above requirements should apply online

on or before 17 August 2025. Any persuasion attempt will disqualify your candidacy. Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted.

“Qualified female candidates are strongly encouraged to apply”