Academic Director, ITREB ANZ

Job Summary

The position

Job Summary
The Academic Director (AD) is a senior staff role at ITREB ANZ. Under the direction of the Board and the EO, the AD plays a pivotal role in assisting the ITREB to fulfil its Constitutional mandate to provide Religious Education (RE) for 0–25-year age segment. The AD will particularly focus on providing strategic, academic and programmatic leadership for Primary and Secondary RE while also providing academic direction to Early Childhood Development (ECD) programming, youth camps and post-secondary youth initiatives.

The AD will be directly responsible for the successful implementation of a professionalized infrastructure to support the Secondary Teacher Education Program (STEP) and will also play a key role in developing and implementing comprehensive RE strategies for the age groups mentioned above. In addition, the AD may also be required to support ITREB ANZ’s research activities, review of ITREB materials, act as a point of reference and consultation in matters of RE, and work in close collaboration with The Institute of Ismaili Studies.

Duties and Responsibilities
Duties and Responsibilities include but are not limited to:

Strategic Planning and Direction

1. Lead the development of the RE strategy plans for Primary and Secondary programs
2. Contribute to the development of the RE strategy for ECD and Youth.
3. Support the Secondary RE programme budget and operations, and the RE system’s performance to attain targets and benchmarks and ensure that it is functioning efficiently and effectively.
4. Regularly assess programmes relevance, pedagogy, and effectiveness grounded in student learning outcomes.
5. Stay abreast of external and internal issues and trends concerning education and teaching, including teaching of religion and the humanities in the secular system, religious instruction in faith community contexts etc.
6. Attend Board Meetings and provide academic input on various board matters.

Academic and Curricular Direction

1. Provide academic and curricular leadership to the Primary and STEP programs.
2. Provide academic support to the ECD programmes, youth camps and programming for post-secondary youth.
3. Implement strategies to ensure that volunteer educators (including teachers, mentors and other academic leaders associated with the delivery of Talim) and professionals have the requisite conceptual understanding, content knowledge, and age-specific pedagogy to effectively teach the curricula.
4. In collaboration with the relevant Board Members continue to strengthen ITREB’s parental engagement strategy (for the relevant age groups), ensuring that the strategy is being translated into appropriate programmatic interventions.
5. Conceptualise innovative learning approaches, including digital, informal, and camp-based formats that support student learning
6. Under the supervision of the Board, serve as a dialogue partner on behalf of the ITREB with the IIS on matters requiring academic input.

Quality Assurance and measurement of impact of RE

1. In collaboration with the relevant Board Member(s), design and implement a comprehensive framework of quality assurance and impact assessment.
2. Take measures to monitor and ensure that RE teaching and learning is in aligned with relevant curricular objectives and institutional priorities.
3. Conceptualise, design, support development and review of strategies to strengthen the impact of RE programming.
4. Travel on a regular basis throughout the area of field operations, to observe programming and to interact with teachers, students, staff and, where necessary, parents and other community partners.

Required Skills

Human Resource Development
The AD will provide academic leadership and management to the Teacher Lead and other ITREB educators (both staff and volunteers), including guiding recruitment, selection, professional development, and career progression.  

1. Working with the DJI and ITREB leadership, to oversee the recruitment and development of STEP teachers, as and when required.
2. Provide inputs on key staff related strategic concerns including (i) long-term career plans for STEP teachers; and (ii) STEP-teachers’ related HR policies and processes (in light of local context and global standards).
3. Make recommendations concerning personnel and organisational matters, including deployment of staff and volunteers to enhance the quality of and access to RE.
4. Work towards fostering a collaborative culture of academic rigour, research, continuous learning and reflective teaching practice.
5. Provide teachers with on-going guidance and feedback regarding academic matters in accordance with the SPDPR using the TESL framework.
6. Oversee the Continuous Professional Development (CPD) of ITREB Academic staff in line with individual Step Professional Development and Practice Review (SPDPR) goals and institutional priorities.
7. Make proposals concerning his/her own professional development.
8. Working with relevant Board members and/or volunteers to support primary Religious Education Centre (REC) teachers related processes including teachers’ professional development, retention and overall quality of their teaching practice.

Others

1. Maintain a limited teaching load of Secondary RE classes, to continue to remain connected with classroom practice.
2. Undertake other assignments and duties, commensurate with the role, as directed by the, Chair, Honorary Secretary and/or Executive Officer.

Profile: Qualifications, Experience and Attributes
The ideal candidate will be an exceptional educational practitioner and leader with several years of experience managing complex education systems and programming and a deep understanding of Ismaili Religious Education. The AD will have minimum 3 years of experience in Education Management or Teacher Education, preferably in a religious education setting. A minimum of 5 years of experience as a STEP teacher is mandatory with familiarity with education in the RE systems such as ECD, primary and youth education, is important. A proven ability to manage diverse staff and to develop, nurture and promote project teams and teamwork is important as is demonstrated leadership in implementing professional development for teachers, monitoring and evaluation of education programmes, and education/school quality and reform.

• A Masters degree in education, preferably in education management and STEP qualification is a minimum requirement.

The following attributes and skills are essential:

1. Familiarity with and empathy for the Jamat, including cultural diversity within the Jamat.
2. Deep sense of responsibility, sound judgement and discretion.
3. Good inter-personal skills in dealing with senior leaders, volunteers and staff in the system.
4. Effective problem solving and conflict resolution skills.
5. Capacity to be effective through collaboration and teamwork.
6. Demonstrated experience in successfully managing teams, staff, and/or projects.
7. Well-organised, self-motivated, able to multi-task, paying attention to detail, a “can do” attitude, a problem-solving mindset, and creativity in educational contexts.
8. Excellent written and verbal communication and presentation skills. An ability to articulate papers / reports that are concise and coherent.
9. Comfort in working with information and communication technology.

Location: Sydney, Australia