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Job Opportunity: Program Assistant, Education

Title

Program Assistant, Education

Reports to

Program Director, Education

Job Description

The Inter-American Dialogue seeks a staff person to join its education team. The Program Assistant will support the senior staff in a range of activities (see below). S/he will have initiative, excellent problem-solving skills, and the ability to communicate effectively in both English and Spanish. The position brings a committed individual into contact with an active group of civil society leaders, policymakers, and academics in the field of education policy in Latin America and exposes them to cutting-edge policy issues in education.

The education program at the Dialogue seeks to shape and influence the regional policy agenda through its highly regarded analytical work and outreach activities. Within the broad field of education, we cover a range of topics, with a particular focus on early childhood development (ECD), teacher policies, and skills development. In ECD, we have engaged many stakeholders in an ambitious effort to promote better ECD programs and policies and to monitor their implementation. In Central America, together with a network of civil society organizations, we have an initiative to evaluate the state of teacher policies. Finally, acknowledging that weak human capital has become a serious bottleneck to growth and competitiveness in Latin America, we are analyzing areas such as technical education, workforce development, and English teaching.

Responsibilities

The Program Assistant will work under the direction of the Education Program Director. Specific responsibilities include:

  • Carry out independent analytical work and publish articles.
  • Provide research support to senior staff for specific projects and presentations.
  • Assist with the editing, translation, design, and publication of program reports, memos, press releases, proposals, and other materials. This includes drafting reports to funders and maintaining a record of program impacts.
  • Coordinate day-to-day relations with funders and partners.
  • Review and monitor program deliverables.
  • Manage the logistics of public events, conferences, delegations and ad hoc meetings, as required, including drafting event agendas and making travel and lodging arrangements.
  • Oversee the selection and management of the program intern each semester.
  • Manage and write for the PREAL blog, and maintain the education pages of the Inter-American Dialogue website and the program’s social media accounts.
  • Coordinate the production of the weekly education newsletter.
  • Help manage financial logistics of the program, such as reconciliation of expenditures and sub-grants to partner organizations throughout Latin America.
  • Coordinate travel, meetings, and scheduling for senior staff.
  • Other responsibilities may include editing, commenting on, summarizing, or drafting documents in English or Spanish, responding to special requests from funders, and summarizing proceedings of program events, as assigned by the Program Director.
Qualifications
  • Bachelor’s degree in the social sciences (Master’s degree a plus).
  • Familiarity with issues in education and developing countries.
  • Experience (1+ year preferred) living, working, and/or studying in Latin America.
  • Fluency in Spanish and English is required, Portuguese a plus.
  • Strong conceptual, oral, and written communication skills and attention to detail.
  • Proficiency with Microsoft Office.
  • High level of initiative as well as the ability to work in a team.
How to Apply

For consideration, please submit your resume, a cover letter, one writing sample in English and one in Spanish, and one letter of recommendation to education@thedialogue.org by c.o.b. October 31, 2016. Please indicate last name and position for which you apply in subject line. The letter of recommendation can be sent by you or directly by your recommender. If you prefer, you may send the materials by mail to Education Program, Inter-American Dialogue, and 1211 Connecticut Avenue, NW, Suite 510, Washington, DC 20036. No phone calls, please.

About the Dialogue

The Inter-American Dialogue is Washington’s leading forum for exchange among opinion leaders of the Western Hemisphere, and an independent, nonpartisan center for policy analysis on economic and political relations in the Americas. Its 100 members from the United States, Canada and Latin America include former presidents, prominent political, business, labor, academic, media, military, and religious leaders.

The Inter-American Dialogue is an equal opportunity employer and considers applicants for all positions without regard to race, color, religion, creed, gender, national origin, age, disability, marital or veteran status, sexual orientation, or any other legally protected status. The Dialogue accepts resumes from all qualified applicants.