Job Openings at Bridge International Academies

Bridge utilizes a scripted-learning education methodology coupled with 'big data' (all teachers have tablets for instruction, assessment, and data-gathering) that allows us to make curriculum a little better every day.

With plans to enroll ten million students ten years from now, Bridge International Academies offers a tremendous opportunity to grow with one of the world’s most exciting, ambitious, and socially conscious companies, with leadership roles available across a number of competencies and geographies.

About the Role

The Teacher Trainer role at its heart is to ensure that talented and passionate candidates from each of our communities are made into high-quality trained teachers, passionate and motivated about their work, and prepped and ready to deliver education outcomes for pupils in their classrooms.   To accomplish this, the Teacher Trainer is responsible for training and selecting our teacher candidates at an intensive 3 - week residential training. These three - week trainings run back to back sometimes two to three times per term. Each training, the trainer will lead a classroom of 65 trainees through our scripted training curriculum – executing the training content with fidelity and mastery. Trainees must successfully complete the training in order to be offered a permanent position. Trainers are responsible for executing our selection tools with fidelity to ensure our teachers are prepared to be successful.

When not leading residential training, trainers will continue to develop our teachers as they enter their classroom through intensive coaching and mentoring.

Delivery excellence, integrity, quality and systematization are all part of ensuring successful implementation. You will work closely with the global training team who has and will continue to design the training sessions delivered in each country.
What you will do

• Onboard and induct teacher trainees into Bridge, investing them in our mission and the role they play in it.
• Create GREAT teachers by executing all content with fidelity, ensuring trainees engage in rigorous and meaningful practice and providing thoughtful feedback and coaching.
• Execute the selection and screening tools and processes to ensure that only the best teacher trainees are selected for hire.
• Continuously seek ways to improve content, systems and processes by taking initiative and sharing feedback with the leadership team.
• The measure of your success will be the learning outcomes delivered by teachers you trained and selected once they are placed in the classroom.

What you should have

• Experience in education either in a school or in an education related organization. Teaching experience is highly valued but not mandatory.
• A fundamental belief that great teachers are “made” not born
• Exceptional communication and presentation skills with the ability to engage a large group of individuals
• Strong interpersonal skills with the ability to easily form relationships and influence and motivate others
• Flexibility and a strong work ethic. The ability to overcome obstacles
• Strong organization and time management skills
• Strong people management skills – holding adults to high expectations
• Proficiency in Microsoft Word, Excel and PowerPoint
• First degree or Post-graduate degree in education

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[Development/Construction]

Our Development group (real estate, legal, physical planning, construction) owns the life cycle of academy expansion, from identifying potential land deals in our communities through to constructing academies, sometimes several dozen at a time. The construction team is a key area of the business and is responsible for the construction, modification or repair of school buildings prior to the opening of all academies. 
Above all else, we’re looking for ambition, organization, drive, intellect, problem solving, and respect for others. You will report to the Director of Development.

About the role
 
We have and are continuing to develop one of the most cost-effective approaches to constructing school buildings in the world.  We currently construct school classrooms for less than US$ 1,500 per classroom fully loaded (including all labour and site management, furniture, transport, and the amortized cost of the latrines, School Manager’s office, and fence). These results are achieved by using experienced site managers, who are supported by a central management team and a highly specified process and specifications.
 
Because of the speed of our scaling, we construct many schools simultaneously.  For example, the company will build or remodel 5 - 10 new schools.  That means we have to manage multiple simultaneous construction sites.   Within a couple of years the number of simultaneous construction sites will increase to well over 50.
 
We are looking for a full time Construction Manager who to provide critical leadership to manage these simultaneous construction projects being led by construction foremen and day labourers.  
 
We are looking for someone who is good with the details and not afraid of spending long hours in the field (in the slums) to make sure the job is accomplished.
 
What You Will Do

• Improve upon and develop new manuals, specifications, tracking tools, & training program to allow local construction managers to successfully replicate school design
• Refine and implement a sophisticated budgeting and payment tracking system to ensure that schools are being built under budget and on time.
• Refine and put in place audit systems to ensure that construction is being done correctly and financial controls are in place to ensure transparency
• Identifying, training and managing site foremen who are the actual implementers at each site
• Managing central construction team to help implement the design, process, and auditing.
• Constantly working to reduce cost and improve quality of school construction

What You Should Have

• 8 years experience in senior project management or construction management role, especially one where you were managing many sites/projects simultaneously.
• Experience with very process-oriented project management
• Experience in construction management, ideally in situations where budgets are incredibly constrained 
• Comfortable and willing to work in slums
• Experience with managing distributed teams of people
• Experience managing inventory at multiple sites and ensuring there are systems to prevent loss
• Experienced in developing budgeting/accounting system to ensure easy auditing of the financial transactions
• Experiened user of MS Project, ArchiCAD/AutoCAD and MS Excel
• A background or experience in detailed ultra-low cost engineering design a plus
• Comfortable with using and analyzing data, budgets, and information to make better decisions
• 'Love to get my hands dirty' is your middle name.  While you have been a manager, you have also demonstrated your willingness to jump into the very nitty-gritty details and get done what is needed to get done.
• You function well in a fast-paced, informal environment where constant change is the norm and the bar for quality is set high

You’re also

A detailed doer – You have a track record of getting things done. You’re organized and responsive. You take ownership of every idea you touch and execute it to a fine level of detail, setting targets, engaging others, and doing whatever it takes to get the job done. You can multi-task dozens of such projects at once and never lose sight of the details. Likely, you have some experience in a startup or social enterprise. 

A creative problem-solver – Growing any enterprise from scratch comes with massive and constant challenges. On top of that, Bridge works in often challenging, low-resource communities and runs on fees averaging just $6 a month per pupil. You need to be flexible and ready to get everything done effectively, quickly, and affordably with the materials at hand. Every dollar you spend is a dollar our customers, who live on less than $2 a day, will have to pay for.

A customer advocate – Our customers – these families living on less than $2 a day per person – never leave your mind. You know them, get them, have shared a meal with them (or would be happy to in the future). Every decision you make considers their customer benefit, experience, and value.

A life-long learner – You believe you can always do better. You welcome constructive criticism and provide it freely to others. You know you only get better tomorrow when others point out where you’ve missed things or failed today.

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As our Procurement Officer, you are an important member of the team that sources and obtains strong pricing across the various areas that we need items for – chiefly our academies, as well as for HQ functions. You uphold the highest standard of conduct.

This is a key position within the company’s Supply Chain team with important linkages to many other department.

What You Will Do:

• Develop and implement policies, procedures, tools and guidelines to ensure effective and efficient procurement processes in the company and to assure seamless procurement services
• Seek, evaluate and recommend reliable vendors or suppliers to provide quality goods or services at reasonable prices
• Develop and maintain strong working relationships with suppliers, contractors and other partners within the procurement services chain to create partnerships that add value
• Negotiate prices, lead times and other contractual terms with suppliers in Nigeria and other parts of the world as may be required
• Review and embed with user departments the technical specifications for all materials required for school operations, equipment or construction requirements
• Closely oversee the acquisition of materials needed for production of learning and training requirements, general supplies for offices and facilities, equipment, and construction contracts while ensuring visibility of the process at each stage.
• Work with department managers and other staff to forecast demand of procurement services and to ascertain that goods are received as ordered and payments processed only for certified confirmations of deliveries or service.
• Budget, report and analyse procurement costs to ensure high visibility and control of procurement related expenses.

What You Should Have

• Degree/professional qualifications in purchasing and supplies management
• Expert level of knowledge in procurement including, but not limited to sourcing, pricing, contracts, relationship management and due diligence on suppliers and contractors
• Ability to quickly learn and improve systems; technical competence in MS Office
• Experience working with an ERP (Experience working with Dynamics NAV will be an added advantage)

You Are Also:

• Proactive – You don’t always need supervision and you are a self-starter. Your personal drive to succeed and deliver keeps you working when you may not have a supervisor with you.

• A detailed doer - You have a track record of getting things done.  You’re organized and responsive. You take ownership of every idea you touch and execute it to a fine level of detail, setting targets, engaging others, and doing whatever it takes to get the job done.  You can multi-task dozens of such projects at once and never lose sight of the details. Likely, you have some experience in a start-up or other rapid-growth company. 
• A networking mastermind - You excel at meeting new people and turning them into advocates. You communicate in a clear, conscientious, and effective way in both written and oral speech. You can influence strangers in the course of a single conversation. Allies and colleagues will go to bat for your ideas. 
• A creative problem-solver - Growing any business from scratch comes with massive and constant challenges. On top of that, Bridge works in volatile, low-resource communities and runs on fees averaging around $7 a month per pupil. You need to be flexible and ready to get everything done effectively, quickly, and affordably with the materials at hand.  
• A customer advocate - Our customers – these families living on less than $2 a day per person – never leave your mind.  You know them, get them, have shared a meal with them (or would be happy to in the future).  You would never shrink back from shaking a parent’s hand or picking up a crying child, no matter what the person was wearing or looked like.  Every decision you make considers their customer benefit, experience, and value.
• A malleable learner - You believe you can always do better.  You welcome constructive criticism and provide it freely to others.  You know you only get better tomorrow when others point out where you’ve missed things or failed today.