Special Needs, Associate Manager

Why do we exist What do we do

The quality of school education available to students from low-income communities across India is abysmal. Their chances of attending college or building a career are significantly lower than their high-income peers, condemning them to a life without voice or choice. iTeach Schools was born in 2015 to challenge this status quo and create a level playing field for ALL children.

We run free and high-impact schools and an exceptional college-to-career program for the most disadvantaged students in Pune and Navi Mumbai. We are known for our world-class professional development, our result-oriented team culture, and our student-centric school design. Read more about us at www.iTeachSchools.org.

The Special Needs Squad, consisting of the Counsellor and the Social Worker, is a specialised team inside every school that works with the most vulnerable group of students. They enable our students and their families to overcome hardships like financial constraints, chronic health concerns, early marriage, violence, abuse and neglect that prevent them from prioritising education as a life outcome.

Role Summary

The Special Needs, Associate Manager role has three key responsibility areas - directly impacting high-risk students and families, coaching and managing social workers and counsellors, and project management. These responsibilities cumulatively imply co-leading the school with your Principal and the school leadership team. We are looking for committed educators who want to spearhead well-being, safety and community improvement while demonstrating a strong belief and commitment to the All Students Can and Want mindset.

Responsibilities

Counsel/support one grade's students and families at risk (20% focus)

• The associate manager will be a counsellor/social worker to a group of 10 most vulnerable students or families of a grade to remove or reduce socio-economic, emotional, physical, and mental barriers that will come in the way of education.
• Develop and execute excellent support/investment plans for pressing-needs student and family cases that employ advanced counselling approaches.
• Establish strong monitoring and evaluation systems that enable frequent reflection, analysis, problem-solving and turnaround of high-risk cases.

Coaching & managing the Special Needs Squad (SNS) and educators (60% focus)

• Lead a group of four to five team members comprising social workers, counsellors, and educators (performance management, coaching, and career guidance).
• Set ambitious goals with your team, create individual growth plans and coach them toward life-changing outcomes for students (iTeach employs a hands-on coaching model with about two hours per team member per week of coaching).
• Lead strong relationships with students, parents, SMC and community stakeholders and mobilise relevant partnerships that will benefit the community at large.
• Co-create the overall school culture and strategy with your School Principal.
• Establish strong workflows within the SNS, like sprint management, to build outcome orientation, faster turnaround and depth in work.

Project Management (within school and org-wide) (20% focus)

• Design and execute various projects for the school program that enable overall well-being for students, staff and families (these could be for holistic development of students, initiatives for parent and community involvement, or for innovation in school practices).
• Contribute to org development by undertaking and executing projects (these could include professional development for the SNS, projects that improve staff well-being across the org, and need-based support other schools to manage high-risk cases on the ground)
• Measure outcomes and work on refining the design and implementation year on year.
• Document the project plans to enable other schools to replicate them.

Prerequisites

• Exceptional performance as a counsellor/social worker/advisor to youth for 2 years.
• A strong contributor to the larger ecosystem outside of their direct work.
• Ability to lead a part of a larger team and deliver strong results.
• Preferred: Experience in coaching and development of social sector professionals.

Compensation and Benefits: We take pride in offering competitive compensation and benefits commensurate with the candidate's education and work experience. The salary range for this position ranges from 7.8 - 9.45 LPA CTC, and we are dedicated to providing top-notch industry benefits. These benefits include PF, gratuity, medical insurance (up to 3 lakh PA), paid leaves, annual increments, and promotion opportunities.