Southeast Asia Program Officer

Thabyay Education Network

Thabyay Education Network (www.thabyay.org) is a Thailand-registered non-profit foundation working to foster reconciliation and social justice, alleviate poverty and marginalization, and support sustainable development within communities and wider society in Myanmar through higher education. Thabyay enables socially engaged individuals from disadvantaged backgrounds throughout the country to access relevant, high quality education where they can develop the knowledge, skills, attitudes, qualifications and networks required to become architects of progressive change.
Closing date: 19 Nov 2010
Location: Thailand - Chiang Mai

Thabyay Education Network
Southeast Asia Program Officer
Starting Date: January 5, 2011
Salary: 25,000 to 35,000 Thai Baht/month DOE

About Thabyay Education Network:

Thabyay Education Network (www.thabyay.org) is a Thailand-registered non-profit foundation working to foster reconciliation and social justice, alleviate poverty and marginalization, and support sustainable development within communities and wider society in Myanmar through higher education. Thabyay enables socially engaged individuals from disadvantaged backgrounds throughout the country to access relevant, high quality education where they can develop the knowledge, skills, attitudes, qualifications and networks required to become architects of progressive change.

Key duties and responsibilities:

The SEA Program Officer will be an integral member of Thabyay’s scholarships department, managing and co-managing several scholarship funds and programming to support scholarship applicants and students. In particular, the SEA Program Officer will manage Thabyay’s master’s level scholarship programs enabling young civil society leaders from mainland Southeast Asia to study social sciences; coordinate undergraduate and master’s scholarships for Burmese students studying in Hong Kong, Philippines, Thailand and Malaysia, and assist Thabyay’s Executive Director with administration of scholarship and student support programs.

Duties will include:

-Liaising with university partners to continue existing scholarships and develop new opportunities
- Counseling scholarship applicants to prepare and apply for opportunities
- Coordinating scholarship application release, promotion, and intake
- Managing detailed scholarship budgets for each scholarship student
- Providing comprehensive support services to scholarship students
- Responsibility for transmitting payments to scholarship students
- Overseeing distribution of research funding for eligible scholarship students
- Delivering workshops and training sessions to potential scholarship candidates and community partners
- Leading pre-departure and in-country orientation for new students, both in their home countries and upon arrival to their host country
- Helping plan and facilitate an annual student conference for scholarship recipients
- Coordinating scholarship applications, promotion, outreach and selection process
- Responsibility for submitting administrative documents, reports and other records to donors in a timely fashion

Qualifications:

The ideal candidate will:

- Have excellent communication skills for liaising and negotiating with current and potential partners and students in a friendly, kind and patient manner
- Have experience in managing finances in an NGO setting
- Have experience working at the project management level in an NGO setting, preferably in Southeast Asia
- Be knowledgeable about and deeply interested in social, political, educational and environmental issues relevant to Southeast Asia, and Myanmar in particular
- Be willing to travel up to 30-40 percent of the time in the Southeast Asia region
- Be open to working with students and partners from diverse cultural backgrounds and have experience working in a cross-cultural setting
- Maintain a high level of responsibility
- Feel comfortable with a fast and busy work pace
- Hold an undergraduate or postgraduate degree in a relevant discipline
- Be pragmatic and results-oriented
- Know how to take initiative and be able to work both independently and in teams
- Have native-level English language proficiency

Thabyay understands that many potential applicants may have some, but not all, of the experience, qualifications and attributes listed above. Thabyay encourages such applicants to apply as candidates will be assessed on their potential as well as their experience.

How to apply
Citing the reference ‘SEAPO’, applicants should send their CV and a cover letter or email explaining their suitability and interest in the position by 19 November 2010 to jess@thabyay.org. Only shortlisted candidates will be notified of their progress. Shortlisted candidates will be required to provide two professional references.

Reference Code: RW_89ZC56-51