Field Manager, Program Operations

Founded in 2000 on the belief that World Change Starts with Educated Children®, Room to Read develops children’s foundational literacy skills, as well as life-skills that promote gender equality in 29 countries. As a leading implementer, we nurture these essential skills in children by strengthening education systems – all while honoring the dignity of every child.
Our Literacy Portfolio supports children in developing literacy skills and a love of reading by training and coaching educators, creating quality curriculum and children’s book content in local languages, and enriching learning spaces that enable children to become independent readers.
Our Gender Equality Portfolio supports all adolescents, particularly girls, to develop life skills that promote gender equality with curriculum that focuses on collaboration, resilience, leadership, decision-making and critical thinking.
Room to Read envisions a world free from illiteracy and gender inequality, where all children have room to read, learn and grow. Since 2009 in Bangladesh, Room to Read is implementing education support programs in historically low-income and remote communities in Natore, Cox’s Bazar, Dhaka, Moulvibazar, Narail, Jhalakathi, Jamalpur and Habiganj. Till 2026, we have supported the education of more than 2.79 million children in Primary and 3.1 million girls in Secondary schools in various capacities. We are proud to have worked with DPE, NCTB, DSHE and a2i on various scalable and systemic initiatives, the latest being a pilot with DPL in Moulvibazar, Narsingdi and Cox’s Bazar, and with NAPE in Mymensingh, including several phased interventions on national radio and TV complementing GoB quality education (SDG4) initiatives. For more: roomtoread.org
Position overview: The Field Manager (FM) provides overall leadership and management of the Room to Read Bangladesh field office and its program portfolio, ensuring effective, high-quality, cost-efficient and timely implementation of the annual plan and achievement of program targets.
The Field Manager is responsible for overall program management, people leadership, planning and budgeting, resource management, performance management, government and partner engagement, risk management, and field-level coordination. The position ensures that program teams have the appropriate staffing, resources, systems and support to deliver intended outcomes for children and to strengthen program quality, scale and sustainability.
The Field Manager provides overall management oversight to the Foundational Literacy and Numeracy (FLN) Officers, who provide technical leadership and supervision to Facilitators responsible for school-level implementation. The FM ensures effective coordination between the team and other Room to Read teams and departments, including RM&E, Finance, Administration, Operations and Country Office Technical Teams.
The Field Manager reports to the Program Operations Director and will have various positions reporting to him. The Field Manager directly manages the Senior/ Officers, Senior/Program officer-Girls’ education Program, Admin and Accounts Associate. With the Officers having dotted line reporting to the CO Literacy Technical team. This position is based in Dinajpur.

Duties and responsibilities:

A. Field Office and Program Leadership

• Provide overall leadership for the field office and its program portfolio, ensuring achievement of annual targets and intended outcomes for children in accordance with Room to Read’s strategy, policies, standards and guidelines.

• Lead and coordinate the implementation of the annual field-office plan, ensuring quality, timeliness, cost-effectiveness and effective use of resources across programs.

• Ensure effective coordination between program, technical and support functions to facilitate smooth field implementation and timely resolution of operational and programmatic issues.

• Promote a culture of accountability, collaboration, learning, problem-solving and continuous improvement across the field office.

• Ensure that field-office approaches and practices contribute to the quality, scale, sustainability and institutionalization of Room to Read programs.

B. Management of Program and Technical Team

• Provide overall management oversight to the Senior Officers/Officers and ensure that they have the resources, guidance and organizational support required to effectively lead implementation.

• Review progress with Officers against program targets, implementation plans, quality indicators, budgets and milestones, and provide direction on priorities and corrective actions.

• Review aggregated findings from implementation, fidelity, assessment, coaching and other program data with Officers and use evidence to inform management decisions, resource allocation and implementation priorities.

• Support Officers in addressing significant technical, implementation, staffing, government coordination and resource-related challenges that require field-management intervention.

• Facilitate effective collaboration between the team and Country Office Technical, RM&E, Finance, Administration and Operations teams.

C. Annual Planning, Budgeting and Resource Management

• Lead the development of the field office’s annual and longer-term plans and budgets in consultation with relevant program, technical and support teams.

• Ensure that program plans, staffing, procurement, materials, travel, training and other resources are appropriately aligned with program priorities, targets and available budgets.

• Prepare and review monthly and quarterly implementation and budget forecasts and take timely action to address variances, delays and resource gaps.

• Ensure effective and compliant management of field-office funds and resources in accordance with Room to Read financial, procurement and administrative policies and procedures.

• Manage field-office financial and operational resources, including reviewing and approving expenses and fund disbursements within delegated authority, and coordinating timely procurement, logistics, materials, travel and other operational support with Finance, Administration and Operations teams.

D. People Leadership and Performance Management

• Provide effective leadership and management to field-office staff, promoting accountability, teamwork, staff wellbeing, professional growth and a positive working environment.

• Assess organizational and staff capacity needs and coordinate with relevant technical and HR teams to address identified gaps through coaching, training, mentoring and other development opportunities.

• Conduct regular field-office meetings to review progress, address challenges, share learning and strengthen collaboration across teams.

• Ensure that staff understand the organizational strategy, program objectives, annual plans, targets, implementation priorities, policies and relevant procedures.

E. Program Monitoring, Accountability and Reporting

• Ensure effective monitoring of overall program implementation, quality, progress, risks and resource utilization across the field portfolio.

• Review regular program reports prepared by Officers and other program leads and ensure that reports accurately reflect progress, achievements, challenges, risks, lessons learned and recommended actions.

• Work with RM&E and program teams to ensure that data and evidence are used for management decisions, program improvement and accountability.

• Ensure timely submission of required monthly, quarterly, annual and other field-office reports to the Country Office.

• Monitor implementation against annual plans and budgets and ensure timely follow-up on underperformance, implementation gaps and agreed actions.

• Promote documentation and sharing of best practices, innovations, lessons learned and evidence of program impact across the organization.

F. Government, Partner and Stakeholder Engagement

• Lead coordination with relevant district and Upazila-level government authorities on program implementation, approvals, monitoring, review and collaboration, while Officers provide technical coordination on matters.

• Represent Room to Read in relevant government meetings, coordination forums, partner meetings and other external platforms as required.

• Build and maintain strategic relationships with government agencies, NGO partners, education stakeholders and local institutions to support program implementation, scale and sustainability.

• Support engagement with government stakeholders to strengthen government ownership, institutionalization and sustainability of Room to Read-supported approaches.

• Coordinate with relevant Country Office teams to support donor visits, partner visits, external events and other stakeholder engagements in the field.

G. Risk Management, Compliance and Organizational Standards

• Ensure that all field-office staff comply with Room to Read policies, procedures, safeguarding requirements, financial controls and operational standards.

• Identify and proactively manage programmatic, operational, financial, staffing, reputational and implementation risks.

• Promote professional conduct and protect the reputation, integrity and credibility of Room to Read in all external engagements.

H. Coordination, Learning and Organizational Contribution

• Facilitate regular cross-functional field-office meetings to review implementation progress, resolve operational bottlenecks and strengthen collaboration between program and support teams.

• Provide regular feedback to the Country Office on field-level implementation, emerging risks, partnership opportunities, resource needs and opportunities for program improvement and scale.

• Contribute field-level perspectives and evidence to program design, strategic planning, scale planning and organizational learning.

• Support the development and strengthening of new implementation approaches, partnerships and opportunities that can improve program effectiveness, efficiency and scale.

Other

• Perform other duties and responsibilities as assigned by the Program Operations Director or Country Director

• Participate in other activities required to fulfill the objectives of the organization.