The posting
Background
Leadership For Skilled Education Foundation (branded as Leadership for Equity, LFE) is a non-profit organisation based in Pune, Maharashtra, working to strengthen India’s public education system so that every child learns and thrives. We envision public education systems that refuse to let children down.
LFE partners with state and district governments across multiple states—including Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, and Haryana—to improve teaching practices and build sustained academic support structures within the public system. Our work is anchored in the belief that public education systems are the gatekeepers of social equity, and strengthening them is essential to ensuring that every child has access to strong foundational and future-ready learning.
Approach
LFE’s systems-change approach focuses on improving classroom practice and enabling government ownership through three core levers:
- Co-creating high-quality curricular resources and building teacher capacity
- Developing academic leadership of system leaders to coach teachers and mentor them
- Providing data-driven advisory support and policy implementation guidance
Our model empowers teachers as instructional leaders and embeds long-term support through government-run mentor cadres, continuous classroom observation cycles, and in-system academic structures. Technology plays a critical role, including an in-house Classroom Observation App for real-time monitoring and a WhatsApp-based teacher support chatbot for contextual resource delivery.
The approach is iterative and context-responsive, grounded in classroom realities and tailored to state and district needs. Implementation varies across geographies—whether working directly with teachers or through government-appointed mentors—ensuring relevance and feasibility within existing structures. A continuous feedback loop of training, observation, and coaching moves beyond one-time interventions toward sustained practice change. All programs are co-designed and co-implemented with government partners to ensure scale, sustainability, and systemic ownership, ultimately leading to improved student learning outcomes in foundational and future literacy.
About District Transformation Program:
The District Transformation Program (DTP) aims to improve the quality of teaching and learning in Zilla Parishad schools across a district. The program started in Nashik in 2018 and is now implemented across five districts in Maharashtra. Through DTP, LFE works to improve teacher practices and the quality of classroom interactions so that student learning outcomes in Foundational Literacy and Numeracy (FLN), improve.
As part of this work, LFE supports teacher professional development through government in service teacher training platforms. We also work with middle managers and academic leaders within the education system to strengthen classroom observation, mentoring, teacher support and the overall quality of academic implementation.
Our work happens at different levels, working closely with selected classrooms to understand and demonstrate strong practice, working with government cadres to strengthen implementation, and supporting the system to reach teachers at scale.
Job Description and Responsibilities
The Academic associate of DTP will be responsible for improving the quality of teacher and classroom practices across assigned blocks in Ahilyanagar. The Academic Associate will manage and coach a team of Academic Coordinators (ACs) and ensure that they are academically strong and prepared, to effectively support teachers and meet their field responsibilities. A key part of the role will be to develop strong demonstration classrooms, where effective FLN teaching and learning practices can be demonstrated, studied and improved. The academic associate will use classroom observations, teacher feedback and program data to understand what is working, identify gaps and improve teacher support.
The role will involve building the capacity of teachers and government officials through actual live demonstrations and training. The role will also involve program planning and monitoring, team development, understanding data and using it to make decisions and coordination with government stakeholders. The academic associate will report to the Senior Academic associate/Project Manager.. Academic coordinators will report to the academic associate.
Key Responsibilities
1. Program Implementation & Team Management – 30%
- Prepare and implement monthly and quarterly plans with clear teacher practice and classroom improvement goals across assigned blocks and schools.
- Manage and support a team of Academic Coordinators and set clear expectations for field implementation, teacher visits, classroom observations, coaching, demonstrations, training and reporting.
- Own program implementation and quality of inputs across assigned blocks, identify gaps early and ensure timely follow up with ACs and relevant stakeholders.
- Plan and monitor field visits, co-visits, classroom observations, mentoring and demonstration lessons.
- Regularly review progress against plans and ensure that agreed actions are completed on time.
- Identify field level implementation challenges and work with the team and relevant stakeholders to resolve them.
- Ensure that the team's focus is not only on completing activities, but also on improving the quality of teacher and classroom practices.
2. Academic Leadership, Classroom Observation & Teacher Support – 25%
- Lead the development of selected demonstration classrooms against identified teacher and classroom practices.
- Conduct regular co-observations with ACs and Kendra Pramukhs and provide feedback on the quality of observation and teacher mentoring.
- Identify 2-3 priority practices for each Depth teacher/classroom based on observation evidence and track improvement across observation cycles.
- Model FLN practices through classroom demonstrations and support ACs to do the same.
- Review whether feedback given to teachers is being implemented in subsequent classroom observations.
- Document practices from demonstration classrooms that are working well and use these learnings to improve teacher support and training.
3. Team Capacity Building & Training Facilitation – 20%
Develop Academic Coordinators
- Identify individual AC capacity and performance gaps through field visits, classroom observations, team reviews and 1:1 conversations.
- Plan and conduct need-based coaching, mentoring and skill-building sessions for ACs.
- Strengthen AC skills in FLN pedagogy, facilitation, classroom observation, feedback, communication and field implementation.
- Use modelling, practice, co-facilitation, shadowing and feedback to build AC capability.
- Track individual development goals and provide regular developmental feedback and support.
- Facilitate peer learning and sharing of good practices across the team.
Support Teacher and Middle Manager Training
- Plan and facilitate teacher training and middle-management training at block and cluster levels.
- Ensure training sessions include strong demonstrations, practice and opportunities for participants to apply what they are learning.
- Coordinate training schedules, participants, resources and follow-up.
- Track how training inputs are understood and used by ACs, government functionaries and teachers.
- Identify where concepts or practices are getting lost or becoming weaker as they move through different levels, and provide additional demonstration, practice or support where required.
- Use feedback and field evidence to continuously improve future training sessions.
4. Stakeholder Engagement – 15%
- Coordinate with Kendra Pramukhs, BEOs, Extension Officers and Headmasters to secure required dates, participation, school access and other support for program activities.
- Conduct regular program reviews and joint field visits with relevant government stakeholders.
- Maintain clear action points from government meetings and follow up until closure.
- Escalate delays in permissions, participation or implementation that affect program delivery.
5. Program Monitoring, Data and Documentation – 10%
- Track teacher coverage, classroom observations, coaching, demonstrations and training against monthly and quarterly plans.
- Track changes in identified teacher and classroom practices, not only completion of activities.
- Identify teachers, schools, clusters or ACs where implementation is below expectations and plan additional support.
- Identify high-performing teachers/classrooms and document what is working differently.
- Ensure program data submitted by ACs is complete and accurate through regular checks and field validation.
- Submit regular updates covering progress, gaps, evidence, actions and support required.
Requirements
Education & Experience
- 2-3 years of experience in FLN, education, teacher training or educational program implementation.
- Experience working with government teachers in Maharashtra through classroom teaching, FLN support, classroom observation, coaching or lesson demonstration is mandatory.
- Proficiency in reading, writing and speaking Marathi is compulsory.
- Experience in facilitating teacher training and/or managing or mentoring a small field team is mandatory.
- Graduation in D.Ed., B.Ed. or MA Education is highly desirable.
- Experience conducting classroom observations and providing feedback or coaching to teachers is highly desirable.
- Experience working with government education functionaries such as Kendra Pramukhs, Teacher Mentors, BRCs/CRCs, Head Teachers or DIET faculty is desirable.
- Experience supporting school improvement or demonstration classroom initiatives would be an advantage.
- Must have a valid two wheeler driving licence and access to a two wheeler for regular travel across assigned schools and blocks.
Knowledge, Skills & Capabilities
- Strong understanding of FLN and classroom pedagogy, demonstrated through facilitation, observation or classroom demonstrations.
- Ability to observe a classroom, identify specific gaps and provide actionable feedback.
- Ability to facilitate large group trainings
- Ability to coach through observation, modelling, practice and feedback.
- Ability to prepare and track implementation plans across multiple schools and blocks.
- Ability to read program data, identify gaps and convert findings into follow-up actions.
- Strong spoken and written Marathi, with working knowledge of English.
- Ability to document field observations, meeting actions, program progress and evidence clearly.
Location & Compensation
Location: Ahilyanaga, Maharashtra, with frequent travel across Panchayat Samitis, clusters, and schools in the district.
Compensation: ₹4 to 6 lakh per annum CTC, based on experience, qualifications, and role fit.
Applications from candidates identifying as part of the LGBTQIA+ community or persons with disabilities (PWD) would be prioritized.
Leadership for Equity is an Equal Opportunity Employer and prohibits discrimination and harassment of any kind. We do not discriminate on the basis of caste, race, religion, colour, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, disability, or any other non-merit factor.
