TAU Academic specialist

As an Academic Specialist within the Technical Assistance Unit (TAU), you will play a central role in shaping the academic and systems design architecture of Project Pragati a large-scale initiative partnering with state governments to expand access to 10th-grade open schooling for out-of-school girls and young women (14 29 years)

Positioned at the intersection of curriculum design, government engagement, and system strengthening, you will lead the development of high-quality, contextualized academic resources that enable effective implementation across multiple states

This role requires strong ownership, strategic thinking, and the ability to translate policy vision into practical, scalable tools that support government stakeholders and field teams

In this role, you will be responsible for:

Develop curriculum-aligned academic toolkits for 10th-grade open school programs aligned to ODL principal for States

It may include materials like Textbook, Assessment Blueprint Sample Questions Paper /Tutor Marked Assessment and stakeholder orientation decks

Design capacity-building resources such as training modules, workshop structures, session plans, and learning aids for Government education department officials and field-level functionaries

Create structured process documents (SOPs, implementation workflows) to support areas such as learner registration, exam readiness, PCP implementation, and learner tracking

Collaborate with design and technology partners to produce multi-format content print-ready materials, presentation decks, and digital resources (eg WhatsApp-based learning, app-enabled quizzes)

Continuously review and recommend refinement in learning resources based on field insights, monitoring data and feedback from government Departments

Conduct desk research on national and international best practices in open schooling, secondary education, and Open school learning models

Analyse policy documents (NEP 2020, NCF-SE 2023, State OS guidelines) to inform academic design decisions

Review sample of learning resources of different states, check the usability trends, and field feedback on these resources to improve the materials

Develop research briefs, concept notes, and background papers to support academic planning and state engagement

Translate evidence and monitoring insights into actionable improvements in Academic Practices in capacity-building frameworks

Support Academic Lead in development of theory of change elements and outcome-linked academic frameworks

Support the Academic Lead in multi-state coordination efforts with State Education Departments and allied government bodies

Manage timelines, deliverables, and cross-functional collaboration across academic, field, and design teams

Support structured planning, review cycles, and quality assurance processes

Work closely with dashboards and monitoring systems to ensure data-informed academic decisions

Strong understanding of NEP 2020, NCF-SE 2023, and broader Indian education policies

Demonstrated experience in curriculum design, academic content development, and system reform initiatives

Proven project management and multi-stakeholder coordination skills

Experience engaging with State Education Departments or large-scale public education programs

Excellent documentation skills with the ability to simplify complex ideas into actionable resources

Strong written and verbal communication skills (English & Hindi)

Familiarity with training design, learning science principles, and adult capacity-building approaches

Comfort with data interpretation, dashboards, and iterative improvement processes

Strong organizational abilities and attention to detail

Problem-solving mindset with comfort working in evolving and ambiguous environments

Post-Graduation in Education (M

Ed

) or PHD in a related field

Strong writing, editing, and structured content development experience

Prior exposure to public education systems or curriculum reform initiatives

Ability to manage multiple workstreams and timelines simultaneously

Comfort working collaboratively across government, field, and central teams

Proficiency in Hindi and English (reading, writing, comprehension)

Willingness to travel 8-10 days per month across operational geographies