Project Coordinator – American India Foundation

The American India Foundation is committed to improving the lives of India’s underprivileged, with a special focus on women, children, and youth. AIF does this through high impact interventions in education, health, and livelihoods, because poverty is multidimensional. AIF’s unique value proposition is its broad engagement between communities, civil society, and expertise, thereby building a lasting bridge between the United States and India. With offices in New York and California, twelve chapters across the U.S., and India operations headquartered in Delhi NCR, AIF has impacted 6.7 million lives across 26 states of India.

About the Project

Project – Vigyan Jyoti under Department of Science and Technology

Location – Delhi (remote currently)

About the Project: The Vigyan Jyoti program, an initiative to encourage girls to take an interest in science and build careers in STEM, was launched by the Department of Science & Technology (DST) to create a level-playing field for meritorious girls to pursue STEM education. American India Foundation, with the support of IBM India, is working towards bolstering the implementation of the Vigyan Jyoti program.

The Vigyan Jyoti program is reaching 30,000 girl students across 200 Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalayas schools located in 200 districts in 33 states and union territories across the country. As part of the Vigyan Jyoti program, several key interventions are being implemented with the objective of inculcating STEM mindset in girl students. These include student-parent counselling, visits to labs and knowledge centres, role model interactions with young innovators, science camps, academic support classes, resource material distribution and tinkering activities. Further, workshops on emerging areas of technology such as cybersecurity and role model interactions with young innovators are being organized for students.

Key Responsibilities: The Project Coordinator will be responsible for managing the implementation of the Vigyan Jyoti project across the country along with Project Lead and other members of the Vigyan Jyoti team. The Project Coordinator will also be responsible for facilitating the implementation of the MANAK program of the Department of Science and Technology, and for coordinating with other partners and IBM India, wherever necessary. The Project Coordinator may be required to travel to different locations where the project is being implemented. AIF is looking for self-driven and hard-working individuals, who are passionate about the cause of improving the gender divide in STEM education.

The responsibilities include, but are not limited to:

• Supporting the Project Lead with team management and assisting with project activities to ensure that appropriate project deliverables are met.

• Coordination with multiple stakeholders, including the funder, to ensure smooth implementation of the project.

• Coordination with AIF’s partners for conducting training sessions and workshops for students and teachers of Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalayas.

• Work towards improving the visibility and outreach of the project activities in coordination with the Communications team.

• Supporting the Monitoring and Evaluation team to track and report the progress of the project.

• Work closely with government stakeholders involved in the project to maintain strong relationships with them.

• Carry out administrative tasks for the project, as may be required from time to time. Qualifications and Experience: Bachelor/Master’s Degree with 1-3 years of work experience preferably in project management or the education sector.

Skills and Competencies:

• 1-3 years of experience preferably in a Project Associate/similar role.

• A passion for social justice with an understanding and commitment to the cause of the empowerment of women and girls from poor and marginalized communities in India.

• Knowledge of the Indian Education and Ed-tech sector and relevant stakeholders within it.

• Excellent project management and problem-solving skills.

• Analytical bent of mind and out-of-box thinking.

• Excellent written and verbal communication skills; proficiency in MS Office.

• Experience in data collation and analysis, research, content creation, and budget management will be preferred.

• Openness to short-term travel to different locations.

Reporting: The position will report to the Project Lead, Vigyan Jyoti.

Other: Salary will be commensurate with experience. Initially, the contract shall be issued till March 2022, which shall be renewed on yearly basis thereafter, based on the performance.

Position Availability: Immediately

Application Process: To apply for this position, send your CV and Cover Letter describing your suitability for the role to derecruitments@aif.org and anurag.vaishnav@aif.org with the subject line “Project Coordinator (Vigyan Jyoti)”.

Deadline for applications: Applications will be considered on a rolling basis.

Note: Only applications of short-listed candidates will be acknowledged