About Program

Palladium is the Managing Contractor for the Australian Government’s Innovation for Indonesia's School Children (INOVASI) Phase 3. Indonesia’s Vision 2045 sets the goal for Indonesia to transition from a resource-based economy towards an advanced service, technology, and knowledge-based economy by the centenary of its independence (2045). The 2025-2045 National Long Term Development Plan emphasises the urgency of Indonesia’s human resource development to fully realise 2045 goals. 

Faced however with persistent low student performance that is emblematic of a learning crisis, significant improvement in student learning will be required to reach Indonesia’s 2045 goals. Government of Indonesia (GoI) has started an ambitious program of education reforms. Successive education ministers have set out to modernise the education system through reforming the national curriculum and teaching and assessment approaches, to produce citizens with strong foundational skills, open minds, and inclusive values. 

Australia is a long-term supporter of the Indonesian basic education sector, with continuous investments supporting education quality improvements for the past two decades, including through the INOVASI program (Phase 1 2016-2020; Phase 2 2020-2023) that focused on supporting acquisition of literacy and numeracy foundational skills in early grades classrooms; exploring local problems and solutions; and generating evidence to inform government policy development and practices. 

This third phase of INOVASI (2024-2027) builds upon the existing program’s approach and lessons learned and takes the focus on the development of foundational skills through to the end of the primary grades. Phase 3 will engage with priority issues of Australia’s development policy: gender equality, effective inclusion of children with a disability, responses to the climate change challenge in education. It will focus on the challenge of policy implementation and the gaps that exist between national policies and practices at district and school levels and use the well attested-success of INOVASI’s local problem-based approach to continuously support policy development for effective fit between policy and implementation context.

At the subnational level, INOVASI Phase 3 works in 25 districts and cities across the provinces of West Nusa Tenggara, East Nusa Tenggara, North Kalimantan, East Java, West Java, and Maluku. The program also works in Ibu Kota Nusantara (IKN). 

Role

The Program Director is the strategic leader for INOVASI Phase 3 and will ensure the Program achieves its expected End-of-Program-Outcomes, implements agreed approaches, and responds to GoA and GoI priorities. The Program Director ensures the Program is responsive to diverse circumstances and capabilities and draws on best practice in school improvement, educational administration, organisational change and international development. The position has overall in-country programmatic, financial and management responsibility for the Program.

Location 

The role is based in Jakarta (with travel to other INOVASI areas as necessary), Indonesia on a full-time basis.

Primary Duties and Responsibilities 

Under the direction of Contractor Representative, the Program Director will:

• Provide overall leadership of the INOVASI Phase 3 program and team;
• Serve as Palladium's senior representative, and as such ensure that risks are mitigated, company policies, processes and procedures are adhered to, and the project is compliant with DFAT policies, rules, regulations and reporting requirements;
• Serve as the primary liaison for high-level coordination with DFAT, key Gol stakeholders, and other donors, partners, and stakeholders. This includes supporting collaboration with other DFAT programs and exploring opportunities for strategic partnerships with civil society organisations and the private sector.
• Provide overall strategic, technical, programmatic, financial and management guidance and support for project activities;
• Lead the development and maintenance of all programmatic and operational strategy documents, planning documents and reports, ensuring appropriate consultation takes place with DFAT, GoI, the INOVASI team, and Palladium management;
• Ensure effective implementation of INOVASI work plans to ensure delivery is on time, within budget, meets DFAT and GoI expectations and is contractually compliant;
• Work with the Program’s senior management team to build and maintain a cohesive team, support the ongoing professional development and capacity for innovation of team members, ensure linkages and collaboration vertically and horizontally in the program;
• Ensure a continuous focus on achieving progress towards End of Program Outcomes (EOPOs) and regular review of the most effective strategies to achieve the EOPOs based on evidence, contextual shifts and the Program’s key approaches;
• Ensure consistent implementation of company Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) and, where applicable, recommend modifications;
• Ensure that the Program provides and demonstrates good Value for Money;
• Act as spokesperson for the program and present its work regionally and globally, where agreed in advance with DFAT;
• Regularly consult with DFAT, the Ministry of Basic and Secondary Education and the Ministry of Religious Affairs (MoRA) on the progress and direction of the Program including escalation of relevant risks to DFAT and determining ways to best respond to any feedback received;
• Build a culture within the INOVASI team of using lessons learned to support continuous improvement, as well as innovation and appropriate risk-taking;
• Other duties as may reasonably be required by the Contractor Representative or DFAT, consistent with the incumbent's qualifications and experience.

Qualifications and Experience

The Program Director will possess the following qualifications and experience:

• Advanced degree in a relevant development subject or appropriate tertiary qualification and significant, relevant experience in education;
• Over 15 years of professional experience on donor-funded development programs, experience on DFAT-funded programs is highly desirable;
• Substantial experience in senior or executive management positions on   development projects;
• Ability to provide leadership and guidance to a multi-disciplinary team and coordinate and manage a complex program of work to produce measurable outcomes;
• Experience working with GOI, in particular the Ministry of Basic and Secondary Education, the Ministry of Religious Affairs (MoRA), Bappenas, and subnational governments, is strongly desirable;
• Demonstrated ability to lead and manage teams to achieve results, including experience managing subnational teams; 
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills in English, fluency in Bahasa Indonesia is desirable;
• Sound problem solving and decision making skills; ability to work independently and as a part of a team; and
• A high level of integrity, initiative, adaptability, and ability to perform in a high-pressure environment.

Choose Palladium for

If you are looking for an opportunity that will allow you to create a positive impact in the international community development space, then this is the place for you. 

Palladium is a child-safe organisation, and screens applicants for suitability to work with children. A copy of Palladium’s Child Protection Guidelines is available on our website: thepalladiumgroup.com/policies.

Application closed on Wednesday, December 11^th 2024 at 11.59 PM (Jakarta time).

This position is open for both international and national candidates. A competitive salary package will be determined based on the candidate's experience and in alignment with the INOVASI salary benchmark.

Due to the anticipated volume of applications, only successful candidates will be contacted. All applications should be submitted through the Palladium website. Should you experience any issues lodging an application online please contact inovasi.recruitment@thepalladiumgroup.com stating the position in the subject line.

Equity, Diversity & Inclusion 

Palladium is committed to embedding equity, diversity, and inclusion into everything we do. We welcome applications from all sections of society and actively encourage diversity to drive innovation, creativity, success, and good practice. We positively welcome and seek to ensure we achieve diversity in our workforce; and that all job applicants and employees receive equal and fair treatment regardless of their background or personal characteristics. These include (but are not limited to): socio-economic background, age, race, gender identity and expression, religion, ethnicity, sexual orientation, disability, nationality, veteran, marital or Indigenous status.  

Should you require any adjustments or accommodation to be made due to a disability or you are a neurodivergent individual or for any other circumstance, please email our team at accessibility@thepalladiumgroup.com and we will be in touch to discuss. Female candidates and people with disabilities are strongly encouraged to apply.

Safeguarding 

We define Safeguarding as “the preventative action taken by Palladium to protect our people, clients and the communities we work with from harm”. We are committed to ensuring that all children and adults who come into contact with Palladium are treated with respect and are free from abuse.  All successful candidates will be subject to an enhanced selection process including safeguarding-focused interviews and a rigorous due diligence process.