Organization Profile Room to Read seeks to transform the lives of millions of children in developing countries by focusing on literacy and gender equality in education. Working in collaboration with local communities, partner organizations, and governments, we develop literacy skills and a habit of reading among primary school children, and support girls to complete secondary school with the relevant life skills to succeed in school and beyond.

We are non-governmental, non-religious and work with many local NGOs and community-based organizations to implement our programs. We currently work in Bangladesh, Cambodia, India, Laos, Nepal, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Tanzania, and Vietnam – countries with a desperate lack of resources to educate their children-Since our inception, Room to Read’s worldwide team has impacted over 7.8 million children by constructing more than 1,600 schools, establishing over 15,000 libraries, publishing 874 new children’s book titles in 27 local languages, and. reaching over 20,000 girls through our Girls’ Education program.

With funding from USAID, and in partnership with Research Triangle Institute (RTI), Room to Read is working with the government to implement Reading and Writing material development for Tusome Pamoja Project. The project is contributing to the national effort to improve learning outcomes by focusing, investments in four regions of Tanzania Mainland (Ruvuma, Mtwara, Morogoro and Iringa) and all regions in Zanzibar, consisting of 34 districts; and reaching 1.4 million Tanzanian children in Standards (Stds) 1- 4. Room to Read is providing technical assistance to the project to develop instructional and learning materials for reading and writing for standards 1- 4 to implement the 3Rs strategy for improving reading, writing, and arithmetic learning in early grades. It develops, design and publishes Kiswahili teaching and learning materials for early grade reading and writing. The Tusome Pamoja continues the US Government’s (USG’s) support to the Government of Tanzania’s (GOT’s) efforts to implement this educational reform on a national scale. To ensure that project materials are of high quality and contextualized, we are looking for competent, self- driven, knowledgeable individuals to fill the Materials Development Specialist position, to drive the mission of Tusome Pamoja Project.

Graphic Designer Editor
Position Overview
The Graphic Design Editor is responsible for advising technical staff on book design and for the USAID-funded program, Tusome Pamoja. Tusome Pamoja is a five-year program designed to provide technical assistance and resources, to the Government of the United Republic of Tanzania (GOT) to strengthen the 3Rs (reading~ writing, and arithmetic) performance of Tanzanian learners in Standards 1–4 and to pilot pre-primary interventions. Key to the Program’s design is the GOT’s aim to increase the reading skills of Tanzanian primary school students through:

(i)            improving reading instruction in the primary grades;

(ii)          increasing parental and community support for student reading; and, finally,

(iii)         improving the policy environment for reading.

This is a part-time opportunity requiring 10 hours of support each week for 3 months with the possibility of extension. The Graphic Design Editor will report to the Material Design Specialist. The Graphic Design Editor has no direct reports.

Roles & Responsibilities
Design Planning and Execution
• Serves as the technical resource to Material Development Specialists and Graphic Designers on proper book design elements.
• Work with Room to Read Associate Director of Literacy, Quality Reading Materials, and Material Development Specialist to identify design requirements.
• In coordination with Graphic Designers, assist with the development of design plans for multiple products: Nonfiction picture books, Fiction picture books, Teacher professional development modules, other products as needed.
• Regularly observes, demonstrates and coaches the technical team on proper design elements as needed.
• Regularly provides an update to the Room to Read, Associate Director of Literacy, and Quality
• Reading Materials on the quality of product developments.
• Participates in regular review meetings and any other activities which may be required to be undertaken to fulfill the objectives of the organization.

Quality Assurance
• Review design work of Tusome Pamoja in different stages of the process and provide feedback for improvement.
• Provide quick/short term capacity development sessions to Designers to meet the expectation of each product design.
• Evaluate and review the final design before final’ submission.
Qualifications Required:
• University degree in Graphic Design
• 8-10 years of related work experience
• Proficient user of InDesign, Photoshop, and additional Adobe Suite applications
• Good command of English (both written and oral)
• Good interpersonal skills and a team player
• Ability to monitor progress of program implementation
• Prior success working closely and building relationships with diverse groups of people
• Ability to juggle multiple priorities simultaneously and take initiative
• Experience advising colleagues on proper design concepts,
• Experience developing design plans for children’s books
• Experience with reading, literacy or learning improvement programs