Deputy Country Director - Nigeria

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Position: Deputy Country Director,

Reports to: Country Director TaRL Africa Nigeria

Location: Abuja, Nigeria

Deadline: 31st December 2025

TaRL Africa Initiative

TaRL Africa initiative is hosted by Empower Learning Africa, a not-for-profit organization registered and headquartered in Nairobi, Kenya, with teams in Côte d'Ivoire, Nigeria, and Zambia and locally registered offices in Nigeria and Côte d'Ivoire. TaRL Africa began as a joint venture by Pratham and J-PAL in 2019, with the goal of supporting governments and organizations across Africa to accelerate children's foundational skill learning using the evidence-based "Teaching at the Right Level" (TaRL) approach. TaRL Africa's vision is for every child across Africa to have foundational skills so that they can have a better future. Our mission is to ensure education systems effectively equip children with these foundational skills.

We support governments and organizations in over 16 countries in Sub-Saharan Africa to design, deliver and scale impactful TaRL program while learning and sharing how the approach can be improved for different contexts. Together with partners, TaRL Africa has reached over five million children with TaRL programming.

Summary of the Role:

The Deputy Country Director (DCD) will support the Country Director in leading the strategic, programmatic delivery of TaRL Africa’s work in Nigeria. The DCD will play a critical role in ensuring effective coordination across functions, strengthening external relationships with key stakeholders (especially government and donors), and supporting team performance, learning, and accountability. This position is designed to enhance leadership bandwidth, provide continuity, and drive cross-functional alignment across TaRL Nigeria’s expanding portfolio. The DCD forms part of the Country Management Team and reports directly to the Country Director. Based in Abuja, it requires significant travel across Nigeria and occasional international travel.

Key Responsibilities:

1. Strategic Leadership and Planning (20%)

• Support the Country Director in setting and implementing strategic priorities in line with TaRL Africa’s mission and Nigeria’s education sector needs.
• Lead cross-cutting initiatives and ensure strategic coherence across regions, programs, and partnerships.
• Drive program quality implementation and improvement activities across the regions and country.
• Identify opportunities for policy influence and system integration based on learning from implementation.
• Represent the Country Director as needed in high-level engagements and decision-making spaces.
  

2. Program Oversight and Quality Assurance (30%)

• Provide oversight and support to regional program managers to ensure timely, high-quality program delivery.
• Champion the use of data, evidence, and feedback to drive program improvement and innovation.
• Support the team to understand national and state education priorities, to ensure their work is aligned wherever possible.
• Ensure integration of cross-cutting principles across programming.
• Work closely with the Country Director and senior staff to align strategy and delivery.
  

3. Government and Partner Engagement (20%)

• Support the integration of advocacy and learning into operational planning.
• Represent the Country Director (where unavailable) with federal and state government counterparts, ensuring alignment with sector priorities and TaRL goals.
• Cultivate strong relationships with donor partners, peer organizations, and coalitions to advance shared objectives.
• Ensure preparation of timely and high-quality progress reports, program reports, donor reports, and stakeholder updates.
• Represent TaRL Nigeria in key external platforms, working groups, and policy dialogues.
  

4. Team Leadership and Supervision (30%)

• Directly supervise senior programmatic and/or operational staff, fostering a high-performance and collaborative culture.
• Support staff development through mentoring, coaching, and structured performance management.
• Promote cross-team coordination and learning to break silos and build shared ownership.
• Directly manage and expand the Lagos program
  
  

Key Competencies:

• Deep understanding of Nigeria’s education sector, particularly foundational learning.
• Ability to thrive in a dynamic, fast-paced environment.
• Demonstrated commitment to equity, inclusion, and participatory leadership.

Minimum Requirements:

• Advanced degree in education, public policy, international development, or a related field.
• Minimum of 10 years of progressive experience, with at least 5 years in a senior leadership role in development or education programming.
• Proven track record of leading cross-functional teams and delivering complex programs at scale.
• Experience working with government systems and stakeholders at national and sub-national levels.
• Excellent interpersonal, communication, and leadership skills.
• Strong strategic thinking, problem-solving, and organizational abilities.

TaRL Africa Values

1. We place children's learning first.
2. We are always learning, improving, and innovating.
3. We are locally rooted for high-quality delivery and sustainable impact.
4. We are kind, respectful and collaborative.
5. We are proactive, committed to integrity and doing our best each day.

This job description covers the main tasks and conveys the spirit of the sort of tasks that are anticipated proactively from staff. Other tasks may be assigned as necessary according to organizational needs.

TaRL Africa provides a nationally peer-benchmarked compensation package aligned with organizational salary scales, taking into account both qualifications and professional experience.

TaRL Africa is an equal-opportunity employer committed to having a diverse workforce