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Mid-Career Resident, School Leadership Development

Program team

Remote, 3 Months

Applications for this position are now closed.

Global School Leaders’ Mid-Career Resident Program:

Global School Leaders’ Mid-Career Resident Program is intentionally designed to be an engaging and relevant work experience for our residents and to provide needed capacity and contributions for our teams. This experience is designed particularly for individuals who have been out of work for an extended period and are looking for an opportunity to transition back into the workforce or those looking to enter the nonprofit sector. 

 

Key elements of the GSL Mid-Career Resident Program:

  • Our teams choose or design projects that the residents can fully own or contribute to significantly and that will deepen the residents’ skills, knowledge, and practical experience.

  • We provide professional learning experiences for our residents, separate from their regular work. These experiences include exposure to other teams or aspects of typical non-profit work in the education sector.

  • A dedicated mentor to meet with periodically throughout the residency.

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Please note that this is a short-term position. We cannot guarantee that this position will lead to full-time employment. Mid-career residents will become part of our network and be notified when other positions are available.

Mid-Career Resident, School Leadership Development

This role will be a critical member of the Program Team. This team is responsible for integrating academic research and best practices to create versatile, evidence-based training resources for school leadership. Their primary goal is to enhance student outcomes.

Candidate Qualifications
Required Qualifications 

(we will use these in our screening process; if you do not meet each of these, you will be denied)

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  • Living in Africa or Asia (preferably South-East Asia).

  • At least five years experience working in schools, preferably under-resourced schools.

  • At least three years experience in school leadership OR experience supporting school leaders.

  • Deep understanding of education in the Global South.

  • Experience designing learning resources for adults.

  • Demonstrated evidence of distilling information from multiple sources and complex topics in a clear way.

  • Fluent in English.

  • Ability to commit to part-time work from around January 2025–March 2025 (exact beginning and end dates are flexible).

  • Ability to devote 10–15 hours per week to GSL projects with some early morning or late evening calls (some weeks might be heavier or lighter).

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Preferred Qualifications 

(these will not be used for screening purposes; if you feel you have some but not all of these, you are still encouraged to apply)
 

  • Some experience with branding and design.

  • Experience conducting desk research.

  • Experience working in self-directed roles.

Key Projects and Workstreams

This project involves the creation of "School Leadership Quick Guides," concise resources designed to provide school leaders with practical guidance on specific challenges they face. The intern will be involved in all aspects of this project, from initial brainstorming and topic selection to content development and finalization of the guides. The project can be broken down into these major workstreams:

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  1. Ideation and Conceptualization: Collaboratively define the scope, format, name, and overall approach for the School Leadership Quick Guides.

  2. Research and Topic Selection: Analyse our internal resources to identify key challenges school leaders face and prioritize topics for the guides. 

  3. Content Development and Curation: Develop clear, concise, and actionable guidance on each selected topic, adhering to a one- to two-page format. This will involve synthesizing information from various sources, writing original content, and potentially incorporating existing GSL resources.

  4. Branding and Design: Contribute to the naming of the guide series and ensure a consistent brand identity across all guides. This may involve collaborating with a designer or using basic design tools to create visually appealing layouts.

  5. Pilot Testing and Refinement: Share draft guides with a small group of school leaders for feedback and refine the content based on their input.

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Through this project, the resident will:

  • Deepen their understanding of school leadership: Through research and content development- and the difficult process of deciding what to exclude and include in the guides - the resident will gain valuable insights into the challenges and opportunities facing school leaders.

  • Develop practical skills in content creation and project management: The resident will gain hands-on experience in researching, writing, editing, and designing professional resources.

  • Gain experience in a non-profit setting: The resident will gain exposure to the operations and culture of a non-profit organization focused on supporting school leaders.

Working Remotely

  • You will work around 10–15 hours each week, with some weeks requiring more time than others.

  • You must have internet access and access to a computer. These will not be provided for you.

  • You will have little supervision and will be expected to own your work independently.

  • Because there is little supervision, you will need to be proactive about reaching out for help, asking questions, and scheduling time to talk to others on the team as needed.

  • Your working times can be flexible, but you will need to work with your manager to align your schedules. For example, you will not be able to work exclusively on weekends and you may need to have calls outside of typical working hours to account for the different time zones across our team.

  • You will be paid hourly and are expected to keep track of your time and submit timesheets and invoices. Your manager will review your time to ensure it is in line with the tasks you have completed.

Work Location and Remuneration

The Mid-Career Resident can be based in any country. They must have work authorization in their place of residence as GSL is not able to sponsor employment visas. A modest hourly rate is paid to all residents based on the cost of living and purchasing power in their country/city. Residents will be paid an hourly wage determined using the same calculation that project/product managers within the organization are paid.

Commitment to Diversity

GSL is an equal-opportunity employer.  We value diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive work environment for all employees - across nationalities, races, ethnicity, religions, economic backgrounds, sexual orientations, disabilities, languages, ages, genders, and prior experiences. In our hiring, we seek those with an inclusive mindset and who notice and correct inequities when they arise. 

Child Safeguarding

GSL is committed to safeguarding children. Background checks may be conducted as part of the hiring process. All team members are asked to agree to a safeguarding policy.

What we look for

Passion

You believe passionately that students can achieve at high levels, that education systems can be designed to ensure that achievement, and that developing school leaders is a key element in doing so.

Learning

You love to learn - from others, from research, from your work - and you are open to saying that you do not know the answer to a question, but that you will go and find the answers. You are also willing to help others on the team learn and are generous with your knowledge.

Leadership

You welcome opportunities to lead. Because we are a small team, everyone has a voice and has opportunities to lead meetings and projects. 

Relationships

You set a high bar for yourself and for others both in the work you produce and in the way you form relationships. You demonstrate care for others, and you think about the impact you have on those around you. You seek out, listen to and value the voices of those closest to children - students, teachers, school leaders, and our partners.

Self-Starter

You are a self-starter and great at managing your time. Because of our remote work, you will have a very flexible schedule but high expectations for what you accomplish during your work time. (Please note, though, that due to our team being spread across the globe, meetings may need to be scheduled at very early morning hours (5 or 6am) or very late evening/night hours (10 or 11pm).

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About GSL

School leaders have the potential to make incredible changes in the lives of students by building a strong school culture and helping teachers provide great instruction. Yet, school leadership has not been prioritized in low and middle-income countries. GSL works to change that through the following workstreams:
 

  1. We catalyze and support local partner organizations to deliver and scale high-quality training to school leaders. 
     

  2. We generate insights from our partners and the broader research community to inform education policymakers, researchers, and practitioners on the best ways to support and develop strong school leadership. 
     

  3. We connect our partner organizations with each other for deep learning between themselves and amongst the broader school leadership community - governments, funders, and policymakers.

We are a small but mighty remote team spread across the globe. We care about each other, and we care about the work.

In five years, we have: 
 

  • Partnered with organizations in India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Kenya, and Brazil that work with over 3,500 school leaders, impacting approximately 920,000 students.
     

  • Published an evidence review on what is known about school leadership globally, as well as two surveys that help the policy community hear from teacher and school leader voices.
     

  • Become one of the leading voices in conversations about school leadership in the global south, being asked to speak at conferences and webinars throughout the world, and being recognized for our work. In 2021, HundrED, in partnership with the World Bank, recognized GSL as one of the top ten impactful and scalable solutions that support teachers’ professional development. 
     

  • Established the School Leadership Network with the International Task Force on Teachers for Education 2030 hosted by UNESCO and the Varkey Foundation to convene online meetings with 100+ experts and 400+ school leaders from 50+ countries to foster peer learning, share innovative practices, and strengthen school leaders’ voice in policy circles.
     

  • Expanded our work to support needs during COVID in the Philippines, Ghana, Uganda, Nigeria, and Peru.

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