BUILDING TOMORROW REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS: CONSULTANT
Scale Strategy for Government Integration of Targeted Instruction and Community-Powered Learning Innovations
Location: Kampala, Uganda Type: Short-term consultancy (6-12 months, with potential extension) Start Date: August 11, 2025 Application Deadline: July 28, 2025 Reports To: Chief Dreamer, Building Tomorrow
BACKGROUND
Building Tomorrow is an international non-profit organization committed to expanding access to inclusive, quality education for underserved children in East Africa. Through its Roots to Rise learning camps, Building Tomorrow has helped over 700,000 learners across Uganda gain access to foundational literacy and numeracy in both schools and communities. With an innovative focus on community-powered learning, Building Tomorrow collaborates with governments, communities, and educators to deliver improved student learning and sustainable capacity within national education systems. Looking to the future, Building Tomorrow is seeking an experienced consultant to help develop and begin implementing a scale strategy that positions this work for eventual adoption by the Government of Uganda.
For more information about Building Tomorrow, please visit www.buildingtomorrow.org.
OBJECTIVE OF THE CONSULTANCY
To design and guide the implementation of a scalable, government-aligned strategy, building on the work of and in collaboration with the Building Tomorrow Government Relations Team, that enables Building Tomorrow's Roots to Rise program to be adopted and institutionalized within national and sub-national education systems in Uganda.
SCOPE OF WORK
The consultant will work in close partnership with Building Tomorrow's leadership, Government Relations and External Affairs leads, program teams, and government partners to deliver:
1. Landscape & Readiness Assessment (10% of time)
Building on the work of the Government Relations team–
- Analyze Uganda's political landscape and education policies, current and forthcoming financing (such as the World Bank's ULEARN program and the Education Sector Strategic Plan), and delivery systems for opportunities and constraints to scale, as well as identifying potential policy windows.
- Assess government (national and district level) readiness and stakeholder appetite for the political feasibility of adopting Building Tomorrow's programming, including Roots to Rise learning camps and Community Education Volunteers.
- Break down BT programming into subcomponents, identifying which can be adopted by or done in partnership with the government, how, and by whom; highlighting synergies between Building Tomorrow's work and government priorities, legislation, and the existing local and national capacities.
- Build upon current allies by further identifying potential champions within local and national government, donors, and peer education networks.
2. Scale Strategy Development (40% of time)
- Refine the current Education Systems Strengthening and Government Relations Strategies to better align with one another and to guide the transition between direct implementation of Building Tomorrow Fellows and government ownership.
- Define the optimal pathway for the growth of Roots to Rise by district and/or national government (e.g., phased integration, policy shifts, financing mechanisms).
- Develop a roadmap for scale that includes objectives, key activities, risks, timelines, decision points and key stakeholders and actors.
- Identify cost drivers, cost per learner targets, and financial implications for government adoption; outlining trade-offs between optimizing cost-effectiveness and quality/monitoring at scale.
- Consider both in-school programming and adoption of Community Education Volunteers as education extension agents
3. Stakeholder Engagement (15% of time)
- Provide technical support to Building Tomorrow in areas including stakeholder management and implementation of coalition-building strategies
- Advise on negotiation points and partnership frameworks with the Ministry of Education and Sports (MoES) and District Education Offices.
- Develop effective communication points so that Building Tomorrow can be best positioned to maximize government buy-in; aligning BT's approach with the government's plans and policies for remediation.
- In partnership with the Building Tomorrow Government Relations Team, facilitate joint planning sessions, workshops, and high-level convenings with key government and donor stakeholders.
- Develop communication strategy and materials for government partners and other key stakeholders; thinking about who should be the consumer of information versus a contributor.
- Document pending questions or gaps in government knowledge to be confident in adopting Building Tomorrow programming and suggest partnerships, research, data collection or repacking of information that can better "sell" Building Tomorrow's work.
4. Implementation Support (35% of time)
- Support the implementation of the pilot. ○ Support internal capacity development for Building Tomorrow staff during the early implementation of the scale strategy ○ Refine the pilot of the ESS program to align with the proposed design changes and national government feedback and requirements. ○ Identify key areas in which ownership can be transitioned from BT to government structures.
- Develop and help test tools, frameworks, and MEL systems aligned with government systems' data collection systems and tools. ○ Develop a testing and measurement strategy for the changes, demarcating clear success measures.
KEY DELIVERABLES
Primary Priorities
- Finalized evidence-based, contextualized scale strategy document and roadmap (district and national level)
- Revised design of ESS program
- Internal capacity development to support the implementation of ESS 2.0
- MEL frameworks to collect and analyze success of plans
- Government adoption readiness assessment
Secondary Priorities
- Stakeholder engagement and communications plan
- At least two high-level government convenings facilitated
- Monthly progress reports with clear milestones
- Final consultancy report with key learnings and recommendations
QUALIFICATIONS
We're looking for a highly strategic, collaborative, and experienced leader who brings:
- Proven experience designing or supporting government adoption of NGO or small business-led initiatives, ideally in education or public service delivery
- Deep familiarity with education systems in East Africa, especially Uganda
- Strong track record working with or within government ministries, especially Ministries of Education
- Demonstrated success facilitating multi-stakeholder partnerships and policy engagement
- Excellent strategic thinking, facilitation, and communication skills
PROPOSAL SUBMISSION REQUIREMENTS
Interested individuals or firms should submit the following by July 28 to scale@buildingtomorrow.org:
- A proposal (maximum 5 pages) including: ○ Approach to the consultancy ○ Relevant experience and qualifications ○ Initial thoughts on scale pathways for government adoption
- Resume/CV of lead consultant and any proposed team members
- Budget and timeline
- Two references from previous similar engagements
EVALUATION CRITERIA
Proposals will be evaluated based on:
- Relevant experience (35%)
- Strength of approach (30%)
- Cost and value for money (20%)
- References (15%)
This position was originally posted by Building Tomorrow and has been curated by PurposePhil Career. To apply, please visit the original listing on the "apply" link below. We are not affiliated with the employer organization of this job ad or consultancy, and provide this curated listing as a service to our users.
