Sr. Project Associate- FLN Lab

Background

Leadership For Skilled Education Foundation (branded as Leadership for Equity, LFE) is a non-profit organisation based in Pune, Maharashtra, working to strengthen India’s public education system so that every child learns and thrives.

LFE partners with state and district governments to improve teaching practices and build sustained academic support structures within the public education system. Our work is anchored in the belief that public education systems are the gatekeepers of social equity, and strengthening them is essential to ensuring that every child has access to strong foundational and future-ready learning.

Approach

LFE’s systems-change approach focuses on improving classroom practice and enabling government ownership through three core levers:

• •Co-creating high-quality curricular resources and building teacher capacity
• •Developing academic leadership to coach and mentor teachers
• •Providing data-driven advisory support and policy implementation guidance

Our model empowers teachers as instructional leaders and embeds long-term support through government-run mentor cadres, continuous classroom observation cycles, and in-system academic structures. Technology plays a critical role, including an in-house Classroom Observation App for real-time monitoring and a WhatsApp-based teacher support chatbot for contextual resource delivery.

The approach is iterative and context-responsive, grounded in classroom realities and tailored to state and district needs. Implementation varies across geographies—whether working directly with teachers or through government-appointed mentors—ensuring relevance and feasibility within existing structures. A continuous feedback loop of training, observation, and coaching moves beyond one-time interventions toward sustained practice change. All programs are co-designed and co-implemented with government partners to ensure scale, sustainability, and systemic ownership, ultimately leading to improved student learning outcomes in foundational and future literacy.

About FLN Lab

The FLN Lab is an LFE proof-of-concept and Depth implementation initiative designed to demonstrate, test and refine what high-quality Foundational Literacy and Numeracy (FLN) teaching and learning can look like in a government-school classroom.

LFE will work with selected Zilla Parishad schools in and around Pune, where LFE-appointed teachers will work directly with students across primary grades.

The Lab has two core purposes:

• •Achieve strong student learning outcomes through high-quality FLN classroom practice.
• •Generate credible evidence and documentation of what effective FLN practice looks like and what it takes to create and sustain it in a government-school context.

The Lab will also serve as a demonstration site for relevant government, funding and sector stakeholders, helping them understand what high-quality FLN practice looks like in a real classroom and the support and effort required to build it.

Job Description and Responsibilities

The Senior Project Associate – FLN Lab will lead the implementation and continuous improvement of the FLN Lab, ensuring high-quality classroom practice, strong student learning outcomes and credible evidence of what works and what it takes to achieve it.

The role combines academic leadership, teacher coaching, student-learning tracking, project and team management, and evidence/documentation.

The person will spend significant time in schools and classrooms, working closely with LFE teachers and school stakeholders. The role requires a strong academic practitioner who can observe, diagnose, coach, demonstrate and improve classroom practice, while creating the conditions for teachers to work effectively.

The SPA will also contribute to selected academic, content and project responsibilities across LFE as organisational priorities evolve.

Key Responsibilities

1. FLN Lab Academic Leadership & Implementation — 25%

• •Lead planning and implementation of the FLN Lab across assigned schools and grades, ensuring alignment with curriculum, learning progression, pedagogy and student learning goals.
• •Monitor classroom implementation, identify gaps and continuously refine the approach based on evidence.
• •Ensure the Lab operates as a high-quality Depth implementation and authentic demonstration site.
• •Enable LFE teachers to succeed by securing required permissions, resources and school-level support, building strong relationships with Head Teachers and proactively resolving implementation barriers.
• •Create a safe and supportive professional environment while maintaining a high bar for academic quality.

2. Teacher Coaching & Classroom Practice — 25%

• •Act as the primary academic coach for LFE teachers through regular observation → feedback → practice → re-observation cycles.
• •Diagnose classroom-level gaps and provide specific, actionable coaching to improve pedagogy, lesson design, classroom management and student engagement.
• •Conduct classroom demonstrations and model effective FLN practices, including I Do – We Do – You Do, guided practice, questioning, checking for understanding and differentiated support.
• •Use classroom and student evidence to help teachers connect instructional choices with student learning and become increasingly reflective, independent practitioners.

3. Student Learning & Evidence — 20%

• •Track student learning against defined FLN outcomes using assessment, student work and classroom evidence.
• •Identify learning gaps and work with teachers to adapt instruction and provide targeted support.
• •Build evidence linking instructional practice → classroom experience → student learning outcomes.
• •Generate credible proof points on what works, what does not, and what conditions and support are required to achieve strong outcomes.
• •Use evidence to continuously improve the Lab and identify practices with potential for further testing through LFE's Depth, Sub-scale and Scale work.

4. Team, School/stakeholder & Project Management — 15%

• •Manage assigned team members, set clear expectations, provide regular feedback and build their academic and programme capabilities.
• •Manage project plans, trackers, schedules, resources and operational requirements, ensuring disciplined execution and timely follow-through.
• •Maintain effective relationships with school stakeholders and ensure smooth day-to-day implementation.
• •Identify and resolve implementation risks proactively.
• •Remain adaptable to changes in programme priorities and take on additional responsibilities as required.

5. Documentation, Knowledge Creation & Content Support — 15%

• •Systematically document classroom and programme learning, including teacher journeys, classroom transformation, student learning and implementation challenges.
• •Develop success stories, case studies, articles, practice notes, learning briefs and reports grounded in evidence.
• •Capture not only what worked, but what it took to make it work, and synthesise these learnings for LFE's internal programme learning and improvement.
• •Maintain a repository of relevant evidence, stories, practices and learning to support programme reviews and future strategic use.
• •Support selected academic and content-development projects, including curriculum, lesson plans, TLMs, assessment tools and other resources.

Requirements

Education & Experience

• •Graduate or Master's degree in Education or a related field; B.Ed./M.Ed./D.Ed./D.El.Ed. or equivalent preferred.
• •5–7 years of relevant experience in classroom teaching, academic programme implementation, teacher development or education programmes.
• •Strong classroom teaching experience, preferably with primary-grade students.
• •Demonstrated experience in FLN, teacher coaching, classroom observation or academic programme implementation.
• •Experience managing people, projects or workstreams.
• •Experience working with government schools is preferred.
• •Experience in content development, documentat