Employment opportunity: Senior Education Specialist

Be a part of positive social change

Imagine working for an organization whose core mission is to advance equality, social justice and respect for human dignity. Imagine your work aligning with your personal values and being a part of creating positive social change every day through transformative human rights education programs. Alongside 55 liked-minded colleagues based in Canada and partners all around the world, you could contribute to the empowerment of people to address inequalities and discrimination, and work to build more inclusive and rights‐respecting communities with Equitas.

The Opportunity

Equitas is seeking a highly motivated Senior Education Specialist with a passion for human rights, equality and inclusion and experience in the design, development and facilitation of educational materials both text-based and online. The Senior Education Specialist will be responsible for developing, delivering and evaluating education activities implemented as part of our activities with community partners, schools, and municipalities in Canada. In Canada, Equitas programs focus on supporting partners to use human rights education to engage children and youth as change-makers in their communities. Reporting to the Director of Education, the successful candidate is a team player and will work in close collaboration with the members of the Canadian Program Team which include Program Officers as well as other Education Specialists and the Director of Canadian Programs. The selected person may be called upon to support other projects in other countries.

The Senior Education Specialist will carry out these tasks with minimum supervision. He/she will also supervise and coach Education Specialists 2 and/or 1, and education interns as required. In addition, the Senior Education Specialist will lead and oversee particular activities related to the work of the education unit, as determined by the Director of Education, based on organizational needs.

Tasks and Responsibilities

• Lead and carry out the instructional design, development, and production of training materials for mainly text-based training resources but also online resources according to the text design templates. This includes materials for learning needs assessment, application forms, pre-training assignments, training manuals, evaluation instruments.
• Deliver and facilitate training sessions for specific projects. This includes working with Equitas partners in different regions of Canada, to develop training content, facilitating sessions, orientation of local facilitating team, leading and/or participating in debriefing sessions during the training, ensuring effective evaluation.
• Provide coaching and follow up related to educational design, training, evaluation and implementation of youth-led community mobilization projects.
• Contribute, as needed, in other activities related to program delivery including carrying out related administrative functions.
• Develop, design and implement monitoring and evaluation strategies and tools for programs in the region including baseline studies and needs validation in consultation with the Program Officer and partners.
• Oversee the collection and processing of evaluation data, conduct the analysis and produce evaluation reports.
• Contribute to the implementation of Equitas’ knowledge strategy, internally and externally.
• Contribute to the promotion of Equitas’ education programs and activities on social media, on the online Equitas Community, on the Equitas website, or the speakingrights.ca program website.
• Contribute to the management of the Equitas education resources.
• Contribute to the development of overall program/project strategies and annual planning and reporting.
•  Provide supervision, coaching and support to assigned members of the Education Unit in areas of design, delivery and evaluation of education programs.
• Lead and oversee particular activities of the Education Unit as determined by the Director of Education.
• Keep track of time allocated for various projects and alerts the Director of Education and the concerned Program Officer of any concerns that arise.
• Actively participate in, contribute to and support organizational and Education Unit processes (e.g., planning and budgeting processes, reflection/learning processes, team building activities, staff/project team/Education Unit meetings, staff training activities)
• Represent Equitas as appropriate and/or when requested.

About you

You’re passionate about human rights and social justice. You’re motivated by and have strong commitment to Equitas’ mission, vision, and values. You’re motivated by challenges committed to fostering a work environment that is inclusive and reflective of the diversity in the Equitas community. You have excellent conceptual and analytical skills, and the ability to plan and organize work. You have a keen interest for developing online trainings and for problem-solving. You are a leader who has excellent interpersonal skills, and who has the ability to work as part of a small team in a cross-cultural environment with a diversity of partners.

What is essential for role

• Eligibility to work in Canada and be based in Montreal.
• Ability to communicate orally, read and understand documents produced in both of Canada’s official languages (French and English). This position requires the ability to communicate in both languages written and orally, on a daily basis.
• A minimum of seven (7) years’ work experience in-learner-centered curriculum design and delivery of training.
• Formal education/training in instructional design/curriculum development (or equivalent experience).
• Proven skills in development, implementation, and evaluation of education activities, preferably for human rights education activities.
• Demonstrated facilitation skills.
• Strong planning and organization skills including the ability to work on multiple projects at the same time.
• Ability to work and communicate effectively in a cross-cultural setting.
• Ability to work as an effective member of a team.
• Excellent command of Microsoft Word for text design, InDesign, Photoshop, Survey Monkey for data collection and analysis, Excel and PowerPoint, Moodle (knowledge of SharePoint, Salesforce and other programs an asset).

What is an asset to the role

• Experience working on anti-racism issues, gender equality, and/or other social justice issues having an impact in Canada.
• Engagement in the fields of human rights, human rights education, and/or social justice issues.
• Experience developing and facilitating activities for children and youth.
• Experience developing and delivering training for community sector partners, schools, or municipalities.
• Skills in any languages in addition to English and French (especially Arabic, Haitian Creole, Spanish, Swahili, Wolof, Mooré and Dioula).

What we offer

• We offer the chance to be a part of and make up a diverse and engaged team who are all meaningfully contributing to positive social change in Canada and around the world in their own way.
• We value self-care, inclusion and empathy towards all team members and place a strong emphasis on work-life balance. In addition to vacation time, we offer 2 weeks off over the winter holidays.
• We’re all about learning and offer all employees the opportunity to participate in Learning Committees based on their interests and participate in a workplace culture that is constantly looking for ways to improve and innovate.
• We have a centrally located office with a beautiful view of Mont-Royal (although we’re currently operating remotely).
• We believe in trust and openness and offer a flexible work environment.
• We believe in creating space for everyone to lead and offer opportunities within our governance structure to allow for individuals in all roles to take on opportunities for leadership.
• We offer a comprehensive benefits package which includes a competitive salary for the NGO sector, 3 weeks paid vacation (4 weeks after 3 years), paid personal days, medical, dental and life insurance, a group RRSP and much more!

Join us!

Given the nature of our work, Equitas strongly encourages applications from any candidates who have experienced marginalization, in particular, Black, Indigenous, and People of Color, LGBTQ2I people, and people living with disabilities. Candidates who wish to do so may self-identify in their application. Equitas offers a competitive salary and benefits package in the NGO sector.

At Equitas, we do not tolerate harassment, discrimination, violence, or abuse of any form. All employment offers are conditional of the signing of Equitas’ Human Resources Policy, our Policy on Preventing Sexual Violence, Harassment and Discrimination and satisfactory references.

Equitas thanks all applicants for their interest. However, only applicants selected for an interview will be contacted.

How to apply?

Please send 1 attachment (cover letter and C.V.) with your name and ES3 in the subject line by May 23, 2021 to:

Catalina Lomanto
rhequitas@equitas.org

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