Senior Project Manager - Foundational Learning - OD (DPMU)

Job Title: Senior Project Manager - District Project Management Unit (DPMU) - Dhenkanal, Odisha

Organisation: Central Square Foundation

Department: Foundational Learning - Odisha

Location: Dhenkanal, Odisha

About Central Square Foundation

Founded in 2012, Central Square Foundation (CSF) is a non-profit philanthropic organisation working towards the vision of ensuring quality school education for all children in India. We believe that effective foundational learning is essential for better learning outcomes for all children in school. The development of foundational literacy and numeracy skills by Grade 3 can help children progress to higher levels of learning and is an essential building block in a childs life.

We are driven by our mission to enable the school education system to adopt solutions that are scalable, sustainable, and effective so that all children get equal access to opportunities needed for leading a better life.

Read more about our work on our website.

About the Foundational Learning Team at CSF

The Foundational Learning team (FL) drives CSFs mission to ensure that all children in India achieve foundational literacy and numeracy by Grade 3.

We collaborate with state and district governments to:

• Support state and district administration with the design and on-ground implementation of State Foundational Learning. Missions aligned with NIPUN Bharat.
• Strengthen teacher capacity, academic design, and monitoring systems to improve classroom practice.

• Strengthen middle management to mentor teachers and 

  drive effective teaching-learning in classrooms

• Leverage data and technology for evidence-based decision

  making and targeted interventions.
• Drive EdTech adoption and innovation for in-class and a home learning.

• Our teams work across multiple states, helping governments translate strategy into execution and ensuring that every reform results in tangible learning gains for children.

About the Position:

The Senior Project Manager (SPM) will play a key role in collaborating closely with district administration to ensure implementation fidelity of the NIPUN Odisha mission in the district, with a focus on academic and governance components. The SPM will work with administrative and academic leaders to build mission salience, set short-term and mid-term goals, strengthen capacity for data-driven decision-making, and undertake micro-innovations that improve student learning outcomes for grades 1-3. The role offers an opportunity to build system capacity, improve education delivery mechanics, and ensure effective implementation of foundational learning through strategic, system-level engagement. The SPM will also be responsible for managing a small group of associates.

Key Responsibilities include, but are not limited to

Project Management and Execution

• Develop and manage detailed project plans, timelines, and budgets to ensure timely and effective implementation of initiatives.
• Coordinate activities across academic design, training, mentoring, and data workstreams.
• Identify risks, monitor progress, and support course correction as needed.

Stakeholder Management and Coordination

• Build and maintain strong working relationships with government officials across levels, including the District Collector, District Education Officer, Assistant DEO, and DIET Principal.
• Facilitate alignment and coordination between different departments within education (Collectorate, DEO, DIET, BEO, etc.) or education-adjacent departments (WCD, Tribal, Health), ensuring smooth program execution.
• Collaborate with technical partners and vendors supporting the FL mission.

Capacity Building and Field Support

• Oversee training design and delivery for teachers, mentors, and district officials to strengthen the teaching and learning processes
• Conduct field visits to observe classroom practices, collect insights, and support district teams in improving on-ground implementation.
• Enable middle management cadres (mentors, headmasters, resource persons, etc.) to provide effective school-level academic support.

Data and Insights for Decision-Making

• Strengthen data systems to enable regular and reliable collection of learning and implementation data.
• Analyse data to generate actionable insights and support state and district teams in evidence-based reviews.
• Facilitate data-driven planning and monitoring through dashboards and review structures.

Process Improvement and Knowledge Sharing

• Identify opportunities to improve implementation processes

  and system efficiency.
• Document key learnings, field insights, and success stories to inform scale-up and replication.
• Pilot innovative approaches to address specific implementation challenges.

Required Qualifications, Skills and Abilities

- A Bachelors or Masters degree in relevant disciplines from a reputed institution

- 4 to 7 years of relevant work experience, especially in the consulting, development, public sector, or large-scale program implementation

- Prior experience working with government stakeholders at either state or district-levels and familiarity with social development reform programs is strongly preferred.

- Strong project management and organisational skills, and an analytical mindset with the ability to derive insights from large datasets.

- Entrepreneurial mindset, resourcefulness, and a can-do attitude.

- Optimistic and enthusiastic, believing in achieving transformational change, and proactive in driving results in complex environments.

- Excellent communication skills, oral, written, and presentation. Spoken and written proficiency in Odia is required.

Location:

• Based in Dhenkanal district.

• Requires significant travel to the field (around 10-12 days/month).

• Regular travel to the state office in Bhubneshwar and the central office in Delhi.

Reporting & Team Responsibilities

1. This position will report to the Project Lead - Dhenkanal DPMU.

2. This role will need to work very closely with the District and State Project Management Units.

3. This position has the scope of managing 2-3 associates.

Compensation: Remuneration will be competitive and will depend on the candidates experience levels.

How to Apply:

• Fill out the application form here.

• Upload your resume on the application form (File Name: Firstname_Lastname_Resume).