Technical Officer II, Online Teacher Learning Events – OPEN Program

FHI 360 designs and implements academic, professional, cultural, and youth exchange programs for students and emerging leaders around the world. The Online Professional English Network (OPEN) Program, funded by the U.S. Department of State Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, Office of English Language Programs (OELP), offers online courses, webinars, virtual exchanges, an alumni Community of Practice (CoP) and social media content to English as a foreign language educators and other learners that build mutual understanding between peoples. If you have a background in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) and a passion for designing online learning events or webinars reaching hundreds of thousands of viewers, you could be the person we are looking for to join our team of professionals committed to increasing the availability of learning opportunities for English language educators and learners worldwide.

Job Summary:

The Technical Officer II, Online Teacher Learning Events reports to the Associate Director, Online Engagement Projects and collaborates with other OPEN staff members to support the implementation ofAmerican English (AE) Live teacher professional development webinars and other online events reaching international EFL teachers and OPEN program alumni. AE Live webinars share methodologies in English language learning and teaching.The Technical Officer II willcontribute to the design of technical tools related to webinar content development and implementation. Using their TESOL expertise, the Technical Officer IIwill provide technical feedbackon materials developed by consultants selected as webinar presenters. Materials will be reviewed for adherence to OPENguidelines (TESOL Content, Instructional Design and Creative Commons Licensing), global relevance,508-compliant accessibilityrequirements, and their ability to encourage exchange within the international TESOL community. The Technical Officer II will also provide technical support and guidance to new staff, consultants, and other stakeholders on standard operating procedures for webinar content development, including program technical guidelines, processes, and tools.

Accountabilities:

Technical Requirements/Project Design Implementation:

• Provides technical support for the development, implementation and dissemination of high-qualityonline learning sessions focused on best practice in English language teaching and learning.

• Works closely with OPEN program staff and consultants to ensure activities are implemented according to standard operating procedures (SOPs), ensuring project implementation remains technically sound and adheres to program standards agreed upon with the funder:

• Monitors and maintains protocols, instruments, data sets, manuals, and training materials for consistent revisions to webinar presentations, based on program guidelines as well as feedback from previous presenters, participants, OELP, and other stakeholders.

• Ensures project activities are on track with work plans and contractual requirements, with technical expertise informing project implementation. Communicates with consultants selected as participants to ensure that project milestones are completed on time and up to program standards.

• Provides technical support by contributing to the review of proposals for webinars and the selection of consultants.

• In collaboration with the webinar team and project leadership, writes technical reports to facilitate best practices, policies, and procedures, including guidelines and standards for webinar content development and open licensing.

• Conducts analysis of webinar performance and implementation processes to identify areas for improvement and proposeappropriate technical strategy and guidelines.

• Provides textual support to webinar audience via chat and comment boxes during live webinar implementation.

• Drafts accompanying social media content based on webinar content, sharing best practices related to each webinar theme.

• Assists with compiling and maintaining technical content to support webinars (e.g. vocabulary glossaries, moderation support guides, etc.).

• Provides technical support by moderating discussion boards in MOOCs, answering questions and guiding discussions, as needed.

• Delivers webinar-related presentations at professional meetings and conferences, as requested.

• Tracks webinar indicators and produces reports on appropriate timelines.

• Identifies and raises issues with consultants, webinar content, technical platforms, etc. to senior technical staff.

Business Development and Funder Support:

• Contributes to webinar portions of proposals and other project reports and documents, based on the guidance provided by project leadership.

• Collects webinar data for inclusion in proposals.

• Assists with webinar related research for proposals.

• Participates in funder meetings, as requested.

Operations Management (Finance, HR, etc.):

• Ensures webinar activities are on track with work plans, with technical expertise informing webinar implementation.

• Coordinates with the webinar team to make sure that survey data is shared appropriately and is incorporated into theme selections, content development and live event delivery.

• Supports consultant and webinar-related procurement activities with appropriate staff.

Program Reporting:

• Maintains webinar statistics database with session and series level data. Incorporates appropriate indicators into webinar and project reports.

• Prepares webinar result summaries for internal and funder use, as requested.

Quality Assurance:

• Develops a knowledge of webinar standards of quality and ensures that processes, procedures, and responsibilities for achieving quality products are formalized and maintained.
• Performs other duties, as assigned.

Qualifications and Skills:

• MA in Education, International Education, International Studies, Communications, Digital Media, TESOL, Economic Development, Technology, or related field required by the funder.

• Minimum 4 years of relevant experience supporting education related projectsand/or teacher training required.International EFL teacher trainer experience preferred.

• Prior work experience in a non-governmental organization (NGO), government agency, or private company required; experience with a USG international exchange such as Peace Corps, Fulbright English Teaching Assistant, or English Language Fellow, Virtual Educator, or Specialist preferred.

• Experience planning and executing online events including the use of online meeting tools such as Zoom and Facebook Live, required.

• Experience with intellectual property and licensing considerations in the educational context preferred; in particular, experience with open licensing using Creative Commons licenses.

• Strong computer efficiency skills including use of word processing software, Microsoft Excel, SharePoint, Box and Google (docs, sheets, forms, etc.) and capability to learn new technology products.

• Ability to prepare reports, process a large volume of data and provide information to management in a timely manner; must be diligent and accurate.

• Articulate, professional, and able to communicate in a clear, positive fashion with funder and staff; ability to read, write and speak fluent English.

• Sensitivity to cultural diversity and understanding of political, contextual, and ethical issues impacting English language education and training abroad required.

• Must be able to read, write, and speak fluent English.

• We respect candidates who can independently keep track of a variety of project activities with different timelines, problem solve and implement corrective action as needed, think strategically and creatively, and find innovative ways to respond to emerging organizational and project needs.

Travel Requirements:

This job posting summarizes the main duties of the job. It neither prescribes nor restricts the exact tasks that may be assigned to carry out these duties. This document should not be construed to represent a contract of employment. Management reserves the right to review and revise this document at any time.