Program Manager

Magic Bus India

Roles and Responsibilities

• Lead the delivery of the Magic Bus Livelihood programme at district level ensuring youth engaged with the employment exchange and are successfully placed in work or training.
• Manage a team of help desk executives, Youth engagement Officers, Employer and Skilling Agency Officer who will deliver high quality interventions from mobilization through to successful placement and transition support ensuring a sharp focus on outcomes.
• Manage partnerships at District level and contribute to strategic partnerships management at Regional and national levels.

Specific Responsibilities

• Manage Magic Bus resources (budgets & Office), staff and local partners to ensure the full offer of employment exchange programme is available to youth in the district.
• Lead a team of staff delivering employment exchange programme at district level and manage all aspects of their performance.
• Achieve targets at each stage of intervention including mobilisation, boarding of youth and employers, counselling and placement in work or training.
• Support staff to do effective mobilisation, counselling of youth, identification of their strengths & limitations, training and life skills needs and overall targets for the programme.
• Formulate personal development plans for each youth that sets out their training schedule and work or training targets.
• Provide high quality career counselling and impartial Information, Advice and Guidance that empowers youth to make positive choices about potential careers.
• Oversee district level community need assessments and mapping exercises of other stakeholders in the local areas (government / NGO/ private and corporate foundations).
• Support the Regional head of Livelihood Programme with key updates.
• Ensure district level staff record interventions and actives with youth effectively and data is reported and analysed to improve the quality of work on ground with youth.
• Identify and respond to risks that could lead to youth dropping out of the programme.
• Work with employers to ensure adequate placement opportunities exist at a local level for youth completing the programme.
• Maintain partnerships with skills training providers to help youth enrolled under employment exchange programme to take the benefit of trainings.
• Monitor the effectiveness and quality of partner interventions and their training delivery.
• Documenting the best practices, Narrative reports, Case studies, and provide any other relevant update pertaining to the project.
• Work with colleagues in the Livelihood Programme teams at regional level to continuously improve the quality of Magic Bus Livelihood (employment exchange and training) and ensure our work is always safe and enjoyable.

Reporting to: Regional Livelihood Head of the Region 

Staff Reporting: Mobilization Officer, Placement Officer

Desired Competencies

• Strong operational and team management skills that can be tailored to lead Magic Bus staff, training partners, employers and local colleges.
• Excellent organisational, planning and time management skills.
• Strong financial management skills including managing budgets and using staff and centre resources flexibly to meet need.
• Sharp focus on outcomes and how to shape interventions to achieve the maximum impact with youth on the programme.
• Build positive relationships with youth and motivate individuals to achieve defined targets of taking up work or further education.
• Able to undertake need assessments with youth that sensitively identify youth’s personal strengths and limitations.
• Can implement new processes and ways of working across an operational staff team.
• Can-do attitude and willingness to use own initiative to solve ground level problems
• Willingness to work evenings and weekends occasionally as required by the program.

Qualification and Experience (essential unless otherwise stated)

• Relevant degree or similar professional qualification from a reputed institution.
• Experience of working with and achieving positive outcomes for disadvantaged 17–25-year-olds or a portion of this age range.
• Minimum 5 years of experience with 2 years of managerial experience of frontline staff delivering interventions to youth. Exposure to Govt. departments and their way of functioning (desirable).
• Experience of handling budget and doing financial and resource planning at local level.
• Knowledge of youth needs with regard to progressions into work or training. Direct experience of career counselling and providing Information, Advice and Guidance to youth across a range of issues.
• Experience of need assessment and/or creating personal plans and targets with youth.
• Experience of either employability skills, job placement, livelihood programme or vocational training programmes either directly or indirectly.
• Experience of reviewing progress against individual’s programme targets.
• Experience of engaging with wider stakeholders in disadvantaged communities including parents, schools, colleges, panchayats.
• Experience of providing guidance and support to young people on a range of development issues including career or education choices.
• Experience of working with Partners and being accountable for youth placements.
• Experience of managing high volume placement programmes which include multi-level sourcing and placements.
• Experience of working with colleges and placement drives in colleges.