Materials and Production Manager

Job Description

This position will, under the supervision of Materials and Instruction Advisor/Team Lead, provide support and technical assistance for graphic designs in the development and production of early grade instructional and supplementary reading materials including student lesson books, decodable early grade readers, fiction and non-fiction texts, and teacher's guides. The Materials and Production Manager will work closely as part of the IR1 team, as well as with technical experts, in order to support Curriculum Development Centre (CDC) to develop materials, such as production/design and printing for Nepali L1, Nepali L2, and selected non-Nepali local languages teaching and learning materials. The Materials and Production Manager will be the main technical lead for production (design/layout) and printing and will help to coordinate and provide support to the writing/development stage of materials development. S/he will also work with expert consultants to coordinate efforts to support CDC in reviewing existing supplementary materials and selecting or developing as per identified gaps.

Primary Responsibilities:

The following responsibilities, related to production (i.e. graphic design/layout), and coordination of the development of teaching and learning materials, are expected to require 75% - 80% of the Materials and Production Managers time:
Technical Assistance for Production and Printing:  Under supervision of IR Team Leader:

• Lead the graphic design of all teaching and learning materials (student textbooks, teacher manuals, storybooks, etc.) and supplementary materials developed and adapted under Nepal EGRP. Is in charge of proposing design templates for covers and interiors of all materials based on their content and educational purpose.
• Ensure artistic quality of all graphic elements of teaching and learning titles developed under EGRP, including illustrations, photographs, tables, and graphs. Is also responsible for ensuring the print quality of all titles through careful supervision of image resolution, crop marks, PDF generation, etc.
• Support CDC relevant personnel to enhance their capacity on EGR materials production, such as best practices for EGR materials design, and utilization of software (such as InDesign, Bloom, and/or other materials production software) for materials development/design/production.
• Act as lead technical point-person for ensuring quality of printing of teaching and learning materials and supplementary materials, and work closely with procurement and M&E personnel for distribution planning. Work closely with procurement team for selection and contracting of firm(s) for printing/distribution.
• Maintain custody of al backup files of materials developed under Nepal EGRP in accordance with RTI guidelines for file organization and storage.

Coordination and Support of Materials Development:

Under supervision of IR Team Leader:

• Work closely with IR Team Leader and CDC to plan for, coordinate, and support materials development, including coordination of relevant language experts, for instructional and supplementary materials developed under EGRP.
• Support day-to-day materials development , coordinate and / provide technical assistance inputs (illustrations, design/layout) as appropriate, for Nepali L1, Nepali L2, and local non-Nepali languages materials.
• Coordinate review and gap analysis of supplementary reading materials (classroom library books). Facilitate the process with experts on the identification/selection and/or development of additional titles as needed based on outcome of gap analysis.

Remaining responsibilities will require 20%-25% of the Materials and Production Coordinator's time:

• Is in charge of the design and layout of other graphic materials developed under Nepal EGRP, including branding materials, newsletters, and other manuals, as needed.

Minimum Required Education & Experience and Skill:

• Master's degree and 6 years of Material and Production experience or Bachelor's Degree and 10 years of Material and Production experience or equivalent combination of education and experience.
• Have at least 6 years of experience in editorial design, preferably with a publisher (private, public, or non-for-profit) of educational materials or children's books. Candidates with experience at a magazine or newspaper will also be considered, though experience in educational or children's publishing is preferred.
• Have at least 2 years of experience in the management of art and graphics of large publishing projects. Will have demonstrable skills in organizing others' work and ensuring the timely and high-quality completion of objectives.
• Expert knowledge of Adobe InDesign, Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator, and Acrobat Pro.
• Familiarity with early grade reading programs and core principles for early grade reading, especially design principles for early readers. Experience in development of reading materials for young children / early grades preferred.
• Proficiency in the use of cloud storage services, such as Dropbox.
• Knowledge or proficiency in regional languages of Nepal, such as Tharu, Awadhi, or Maithili is a plus but not required.

Apply Instructions

Qualified candidates are requested to send their application with CV to the Human Resources/Operations Manager, EGRP, PO Box 14417, Kathmandu or by e-mail to sranathapa@np-egrp.rti.org by Sunday, September 10, 2017.Please clearly mark "Application for Materials and Production Manager" as subject of the email. Candidates are encouraged to apply as soon as possible. Only short listed applicants will be contacted. RTI is proud to be an EEO/AA employer M/F/DN.

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