Academic Lead

Role & responsibilities:

As the Academic Lead for Mission SOAR Nagaland, your core responsibility is to contribute pedagogical inputs to the development of the states instructional model, working in close collaboration with SCERT, the Department of School Education (DSE), and ecosystem design partners. You will ensure that all academic contributions are grounded in the cultural and educational context of Nagaland, reflect sound pedagogical principles, and meet quality standards. Acting as the primary liaison between government stakeholders and ecosystem partners, you will facilitate co-design processes, ensure timely delivery of academic outputs, and uphold consistency and relevance across materials and frameworks.

Organisational Unit Function

• Co-create the Nagaland Instructional Model by facilitating structured collaboration between SCERT, DSE, and ecosystem partners.
• Coordinate across ecosystem partners to consolidate frameworks, content, and assessments, ensuring consistency, relevance, and alignment to mission goals.
• Serve as the academic design liaison with government stakeholders, gathering feedback, securing approvals, and aligning design efforts with policy direction.
• Ensure quality control of all academic materials, including lesson plans, training handbooks, assessments, and digital content.
• Manage project timelines and design milestones, ensuring timely delivery and readiness for implementation and training.
• Facilitate co-design workshops with educators, administrators, and technical partners to capture field insights and institutional needs.
• Monitor design metrics and review cycles to support iterative improvement and accountability.
• Support documentation and dissemination of academic materials via platforms such as DIKSHA or other relevant channels.
• Contribute to governance reporting, including updates for Steering Committees, Working Groups, and strategic reviews.

Preferred candidate profile:

Essential

• Post-graduate degree in education, curriculum design, or relevant discipline
• At least 10 years of experience in academic or instructional design
• Deep understanding of pedagogy, curriculum development, and assessment design
• Strong project management skills with the ability to coordinate multi-stakeholder workflows
• Demonstrated ability to translate research, field inputs, and government priorities into actionable academic solutions
• Experience with digital tools and content platforms for education
• Proficiency in using AI tools for content development, analysis, and workflow enhancement.
• Excellent facilitation, documentation, and quality assurance capabilities

Desirable

• Experience working on education reform in public systems
• Familiarity with North East Indias socio-cultural and educational context
• Experience designing content for DIKSHA or other digital education platforms
• Understanding of NEP 2020 and its application to state-level curriculum reform