Tharaka Nithi County government in collaboration with Kenyatta University and the Economic Growth Center at Yale University are together seeking the expertise of a Project Manager for a project “Enhancing Women’s psychosocial wellbeing and child development through creche programme in Tharaka Nithi County, Kenya.”. The Project manager will be responsible for the day-to-day running of the randomised control trial (RCT) field research project the project aims to design and test a model for an early childhood development curriculum targeted at 3- and 4-year olds, working in collaboration with Tharaka Nithi County, the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics, and with Principal Investigators from Bangor University, Kenyatta University, and Yale University

The terms of reference will be:

• Developing the Tharaka Nithi County (TNC) government project implementation plan and scheduling of activities to support a randomized control trial (RCT) research project that will design, test and measure the impact of an innovative model for childcare provision that emphasizes child development and economic participation for women in a cost-effective manner.
• Responsible for TNC project deliverables as per the implementation plan
• Coordinate all project activities between the TNC government and research and intervention implementation teams at Kenyatta University (KU) and Yale University, keeping key stakeholders at TNC updated on project plans and ensuring TNC support of project activities that enable the project to follow required aspects of the specified RCT research design
• Ensuring TNC support for adherence of activities to established project schedules, phases and research specifications.
• Reporting to stakeholders and project partners from KU, and Yale on the progress of TNC engagement with the RCT intervention project.
• Coordinating stakeholders in the field, as needed
• Overseeing development of locally available teaching learning materials in coordination with research teams.
• Organize and participate in sensitization and validation workshops, per the specifications of the research team.

Requirement/ Qualifications

The nominee should be:

• Be fluent in written and spoken local languages in Tharaka Nithi County and English
• Well-experienced with demonstrated success in project management, stakeholder coordination and partner communication.
• Committed to the value of research to inform the effective design of education or other socially motivated interventions (direct experience with field research projects, including knowledge of randomized controlled trials, will be highly valued)
• Available for the 2 years duration of the project (through June 2025)
• A post graduate degree in early childhood education and development or a related degree will be an added advantage.

The nominated project manager will also be involved in the production and presentation of reports, journal articles, policy papers, conference papers, television programs, communication policy briefs, policy dialogues, media briefs, working papers, translations, documentaries etc.

The project manager will be appointed by the Vice Chancellor, Kenyatta University in consultation with the Tharaka Nithi County Governor and with input from the research team at Yale University

Project manager (ensures that personal and working teams and required learning resources are in place and functioning)

• Census of mothers with children in the right age category
• Listing and evaluating status of ECDE schools (space – learning rooms, facilities – learning environment, teachers – capacity)
• Organization of preparation and validation workshops
• Randomization for intervention schools (60) and control schools (60)
• Randomization for children (mothers): Intervention schools: – 5 3-year olds and 5 4 year olds (PP1) -900, 5 left on lottery; Control schools:- 5 3-year olds and 5 4 year olds(PP1) -600
• Recruitment of teacher assistants to intervention schools
• Recruiting and training mentors as ToT to support teacher’s delivery
• Recruitment of assessors and enumerators
• Ensure delivery by various actors
• Training of mothers at regular intervals for labour work
• Ensure project work packages are followed and implementers are informed in good time
• Timely reporting of progress of intervention activities