Project Lead - Early Childhood Education Specialist (Academics)
About Central Square Foundation: Founded in 2012, Central Square Foundation (CSF) is a non-profit philanthropic foundation working on the vision of ensuring quality school education for all children in India. We are driven by our mission to transform the school education system with a focus on improving children's learning outcomes, especially in low-income communities.
Learn more about CSF on our website.
About the Role: The Program Lead – ECE Academics will serve as the academic anchor for the Early Childhood Education (ECE) portfolio, leading the design, strengthening, and scaling of high-quality, evidence-based ECE systems. This role is responsible for shaping curriculum frameworks, instructional models, assessment systems, and teacher development architecture aligned with the vision of National Education Policy 2020 and informed by global research in early childhood development. The Program Lead will work closely with state academic bodies (SCERTs, DIETs) and internal teams, but will primarily drive academic design, coherence, and quality.
Key Responsibilities
- Set the Academic Direction for ECE
- Define and own the academic vision and architecture for ECE aligned to National Education Policy 2020.
- Develop a coherent 3–6 year scope and sequence that ensures Grade 1 readiness.
- Anchor all academic decisions in global evidence from early childhood research and development science.
- Ensure curriculum, pedagogy, assessment, and teacher development operate as one integrated system.
- Lead Curriculum & Instructional Design
- Design and approve state-level ECE curriculum frameworks, learning outcome progressions, academic calendars, and teacher guides.
- Ensure materials are developmentally appropriate, instructionally rigorous, and feasible in government contexts.
- Embed research-backed practices (oral language-rich classrooms, structured early literacy, conceptually grounded numeracy, guided play, spiral progression).
- Establish non-negotiables for classroom practice.
- Build Robust Assessment & Quality Systems
- Design child assessment frameworks that inform instruction, not compliance.
- Define measurable learning indicators and classroom quality benchmarks.
- Develop classroom observation rubrics aligned to instructional expectations.
- Ensure assessment data drives academic review and course correction.
- Architect Teacher Professional Development
- Define teacher competency standards for ECE classrooms.
- Design structured professional development pathways (training, coaching, mentoring, feedback loops).
- Align training content directly to curriculum and classroom expectations.
- Build academic capacity within state institutions for long-term sustainability.
- Drive Academic Implementation at Scale
- Translate academic frameworks into implementation-ready tools and processes.
- Partner with SCERTs, DIETs, and PMUs to activate academic workstreams.
- Monitor implementation fidelity and lead structured course correction.
- Document and codify best practices into scalable playbooks.
- Lead with Research & Thought Leadership
- Continuously integrate global best practices from institutions.
- Translate research into actionable academic design principles.
Required Knowledge, Skills & Abilities
- Academic Expertise
- Deep understanding of child development (ages 3–6).
- Strong command over foundational literacy and early numeracy progressions.
- Familiarity with global ECE quality standards and research.
- Ability to balance developmental appropriateness with instructional rigor.
- Curriculum & Systems Design
- Proven ability to design coherent academic systems (curriculum, assessment, and teacher development).
- Expertise in scope-and-sequence planning and learning progression mapping.
- Strong analytical skills to align policy vision with classroom execution.
- Stakeholder Management
- Experience engaging and influencing academic stakeholders both within the organisation and outside as well.
- Ability to translate technical expertise into actionable state-level implementation plans.
- Strong cross-functional collaboration skills.
- Communication & Execution
- Excellent written and verbal communication (English required; Hindi preferred).
- High ownership, structured thinking, and execution discipline.
- Ability to manage multiple high-stakes workstreams simultaneously.
This position was originally posted by CSF and has been curated by PurposePhil Career. To apply, please visit the original listing on the "apply" link on the side. 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.
