Project Manager - Promoting language inclusive education in Marma
Contract length: up to January 2025, possibility to extend depending on funding
Hours: Part time - 50 %
Location: Bangladesh, Dhaka
Travel: Minimal
Reporting to: Program Manager
Remuneration: 240,000-270,000 BDT/month (prorated to part-time hours)
Application Deadline: 1 May, 2024*
*Due to the urgency of this vacancy, screening and interviews will commence immediately and the candidate can be selected at any stage before the closing date.
To apply, please click here.
CLEAR Global/Translators without Borders (TWB) is an equal-opportunity employer, committed to having a diverse team where individuals of all backgrounds collaborate and learn from one another. We believe we can be most effective with diverse experience and expertise in our team. We recruit on merit, actively seek diverse applicant pools and encourage candidates of all backgrounds to apply. We do not discriminate on the basis of disability, age, gender identity and expression, national origin, race and ethnicity, religious beliefs, marital or parental status, or sexual orientation, and welcome all types of diversity.
We offer in addition to salary:
- Provident fund (both contributory): 10% of gross salary of individual staff members/month
- 10 days of casual leave and up to 15 days of recognised public holidays per year
Background
Education in Bangladesh has historically been in Bangla, and there has been limited scope for indigenous children and adults to become acquainted with their mother tongue in written form. In 2010, the government recognised indigenous children's right to education in their respective mother tongues and updated the National Education Policy with activities to arrange indigenous textbooks and teachers. Since then various initiatives have been taken to implement the policies however the work has not yet reached the desired scale and reach.
CLEAR Global, commissioned by the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT), has undertaken to investigate language and communication challenges faced by speakers of indigenous languages, focusing on speakers of Marma language in the Chittagong hill tract region. The project is two-fold: a baseline study will be carried out to better understand the communication needs and challenges of the Marma people in Bangladesh, and in parallel the team will explore how language technology and inclusive digital solutions can improve access to government led initiatives (ICT tools) that aim to increase quality of education through online training and skill development for teachers.
The Role
The Project Manager (PM) is responsible for ensuring operational quality, effectiveness and efficiency across project activities.The PM will ensure the timely and effective planning and delivery, monitoring and learning of activities, and contract and budget management. The PM will play an important role in establishing relationships with local governmental institutions, organizations, and tech partners seeking sustainability and continuity of the solution. The PM will also coordinate and contribute to proposal writing and fundraising, financial, and people management.
They are a primary champion of CLEAR Global/TWB’s organizational culture and code of conduct, they nurture a positive work environment of quality, innovation, and drive to achieve.
Responsibilities
Design, implementation, and monitoring of project activities
- Work with the project team to implement defined activities
- Develop mutually beneficial partnerships/projects with local and international agencies to pilot/research/implement language interventions to improve delivery of public services and access to information for indigenous communities
- Coordinate the daily management, ensure timely high-quality delivery and monitoring of all activities agreed with partners and donors. This will include liaising with the in-country team and a specialized global team (translation team, international programs team, tech team, Comms team, etc…) for the activities under the PM’s direct responsibility
- Ensure that learning becomes a systematic part of the project cycle
Fundraising, financial and human resources management
- Identify funding opportunities and network with partners and donors with a view to to collaborate on future phases of the project and actively contribute to the proposal writing
- Monitor and manage delegated budget lines in compliance with CLEAR Global/TWB and donor requirements
- Line manage team members
- Maintain open and professional relationships with the CLEAR Global/TWB team, volunteers, partner agencies and donors
- Contribute to a positive, innovative and supportive work environment
Reporting and knowledge management
- Document project activities
- Ensure CLEAR Global/TWB complies with donor reporting requirements, including writing narrative reports and working with the finance team to contribute in preparing financial reports corresponding with narrative
- Contribute other written materials that support CLEAR Global/TWB needs (brochures, summary project information, etc.)
- Leverage CLEAR Global/TWB approaches and innovations for new projects under development
- Contribute to a positive, innovative, and supportive work environment where CLEAR Global/TWB’s values are understood and upheld
Please note that these roles and responsibilities are approximate and may change over time.
Qualifications
The Project Manager should be a creative self-starter with a strong sense of initiative, experienced leading projects supporting humanitarian or international development interventions and tech, and enthusiastic about the importance of giving a voice to marginalized communities, improving access to knowledge through language. The right candidate is an energetic team player who agrees with CLEAR Global/TWB’s basic beliefs and values and who can work virtually with team members based throughout the world.
Required qualifications:
- Higher education degree in one of the following fields: social sciences or other relevant international development field or within information and communication technology field.
- Minimum five years of experience in managing, implementing and designing projects with demonstrated understanding of community engagement, communication, digital solutions, and accountability
- Experience in proposal writing, including conceptualizing and technical writing
- Knowledge and understanding of challenges and language exclusion in the contemporary education system in Bangladesh
- Proven experience in working with marginalized communities and speakers of minority or indigenous languages
- Ability to work independently, flexibly, and with remote teams
- Demonstrated ability to lead with fairness, treating all team members with respect while also fostering individual growth and promoting a strong team dynamic.
- Experience with/knowledge of one or more international donor organizations
- Excellent communication, interpersonal and representational skills
- Excellent English oral and written communication skills
- Ability to coordinate people and processes
Desirable qualifications:
- Experience of practical and creative solutions to deliver results in organizations with minimal resources
- Understanding of language dynamics in Bangladesh
- Experience in/familiarity with budget management of development/humanitarian projects
- Experience in conducting research, analyzing data and report writing
- Proficient knowledge in Bangla is required.
- Knowledge of Marma or one of the indigenous languages of Chittagong Hill tracts is an advantage.
About CLEAR Global/Translators without Borders
CLEAR Global exists to help people get vital information, and be heard, whatever language they speak. We believe that everyone has the right to give and receive information in a language and format they understand. We work with nonprofit partners and a global community of language professionals to build local language translation capacity, and raise awareness of language barriers. Our network of over 100,000 linguists translates millions of words of lifesaving and life-changing information a year.
Core values
CLEAR Global/ Translators without Borders employees and volunteers are made of people who believe passionately about the value of this work and take personal responsibility for achieving the mission. Translators without Borders’ mission and organizational spirit embody the core values established in its strategic framework:
- Excellence: As the leading voice for communicating humanitarian information in the right language, Translators without Borders is a leader in the translation industry and in the non-profit sector.
- Integrity: Translators without Borders believes that every person, whether it is the people who we serve, our volunteers or our staff, has value, deserves respect and has inherent dignity.
- Empowerment: Translators without Borders believes in using language to empower people around the world to control their own development and destiny.
- Innovation: Translators without Borders recognizes and celebrates the power of innovation to address humanitarian and crisis issues around the world.
- Sustainability: Translators without Borders recognizes that meeting our mission necessitates establishment and maintenance of a solid financial and organizational infrastructure.
- Tolerance: Our staff and volunteers are highly knowledgeable and skilled; value each other, our partner and our recipients; create a supportive work environment; and conduct themselves professionally at all times.
CLEAR Global/ TWB may re-advertise the vacancy, cancel the recruitment, offer an appointment with a modified job description or for a different duration at its discretion.