National Lead- Vocational Education
- IPE Globals Social and Economic Empowerment practice workstowards building girl capital, empowering women and nurturing resilientcommunities by creating inclusive and sustainable solutions, including but notlimited to policy development, capacity building, adaptive management,community mobilization, behavioural change communication, deepening socialsafety nets, beneficiary feedback analysis, poverty assessment, andevidence-based monitoring
- We seek a dynamic and strategic leader to spearhead aninnovative program to support the delivery of vocational education in theschools in select States of India
- The Team Lead will be responsible foridentifying key barriers and designing interventions to expand vocationalpathways within secondary education with a core goal of reducing school dropoutrates and increasing student retention
- The role ensures alignment with thenational education policy and vocational skilling ecosystem
- It involvesextensive stakeholder engagement, capacity building, and program management topromote aspirational courses, hands-on skills, employability, andentrepreneurship among students
Key Responsibilities
Programme Strategy and Planning and Execution
- Develop a national roadmap for vocational educationexpansion in schools, aligned with NEP 2020 and national skills ecosystemreforms.
- Lead the development of guidelines, frameworks, andoperational manuals on curriculum, assessment, training delivery, teacher/VTdeployment, and industry engagement.
- Advise on new program design elements includingmulti-disciplinary pathways, work-based learning models, credit frameworks, andschool-to-work transition mechanisms.
- Support State teams in strategic planning and implementationof vocational education courses in secondary schools across select states inalignment with NEP, NSQF and industry standards.
- Analyse regional educational needs and student aspirationsto design targeted, evidence-based interventions that encourage continuedschooling.
- Facilitate effective coordination with States, includingreview meetings, and knowledge exchange.
- Promote adoption of technology-enabled instruction, digitalcontent, and MIS systems to improve monitoring and accountability.
- Strengthen quality assurance processesincluding industryvalidation, school readiness protocols, and program monitoring frameworks.
- Establish monitoring and evaluation systems to trackenrolment, retention, skill development, and employment outcomes, adaptingstrategies as needed.
- Manage resources, budgets, and timelines to ensure effectiveand timely program delivery with measurable impact.
Strategic Engagement and Partnership Management
- Build and sustain strong partnerships with governmentagencies at national and State levels.
- Leverage education schemes such as Samagra Shiksha, PM SHRI,and allied schemes to showcase results of vocational education in reducingdropout rates and improving retention of girls in secondary education.
- Coordinate with the relevant government departments andbodies to align school vocational initiatives with national skill missions.
- Collaborate with private sector partners, NGOs, anddevelopment agencies to mobilize resources and strengthen vocational educationinfrastructure.
Leadership and Team Management
- Lead a multidisciplinary team, fostering a culture ofcollaboration, innovation, and accountability.
- Provide technical mentorship and build team capacityfor effectively delivering programme objectives.
- Support in evidence generation: pilots, cost analyses, anddocumentation of best practices.
- Prepare high-quality reports, briefs, and research papers tosupport efforts and contribute to public discourse on skill-basededucation leading to education continuity and girlsempowerment.
- Represent the programme at national andinternational forums, sharing knowledge and steering a case for investingin actions to combat early marriages.
As job descriptions cannot be exhaustive, the Leader may berequired to undertake other duties that are broadly in line with the abovetasks as determined by the senior leadership.
Educational Background
Masters degree or higher in Education, Social Sciences,Public Policy, or a related field.
Work Experience and Expertise:
- Atleast 15 years of experience leading multi-state ornational-level programmes related to education and/or skilling and promotingstudent retention.
- Proven experience working with government educationdepartments, skill development ministries, civil society, and communitystakeholders.
- Strong understanding of NEP 2020, NSQF, and national andstate frameworks guiding vocational education in schools.
- Experience in designing gender-responsive, large-scalein-school programmes that enhance vocational skills, employability, and lifeskills for adolescents.
- Strong understanding of the socio-cultural, economic, andpolicy factors influencing school dropout rates and school based vocationaleducation, including poverty, gender discrimination, social norms, and systemicbarriers within the education system.
- Deep commitment to advancing youth empowerment, genderequality, and inclusive education, with a particular focus on enabling girlsaccess to in-school vocational pathways and lifelong skills.
Key Skills and Competencies
- Strategic Leadership: Demonstrated capacity to leadcomplex, multi-stakeholder programmes at scale.
- Analytical Thinking: Strong data interpretation skills,academic content decoding, and evidence-based decision-making.
- Communication and Negotiation: Exceptional verbal andwritten communication skills; ability to engage and persuade diversestakeholders.
- Team Building: Ability to lead and inspire amultidisciplinary team, fostering a culture of excellence and innovation.