Head of Education

Worldwide Veterinary Service is searching for an experienced and ambitious manager to lead the growth of our global education programme

This is an ideal role for an experienced project manager who wants to make lasting improvements to the lives of children and animals around the world.

Reporting to the Director of Policy at global animal welfare charity, Worldwide Veterinary Service (WVS), you will help grow and develop education programmes that protect children from key zoonotic disease and improve the relationship between animals and people.

One child dies from rabies every 10 minutes. Most victims are under the age of 15. Rabies is 100% fatal, but entirely vaccine preventable. Children just need the right information to protect themselves. WVS established Mission Rabies, a campaign that aims to eliminate rabies for good, in 2013. We have worked hard to reach 9.6 million children worldwide, but around half of the world’s 2 billion children at this age still live in rabies endemic countries. You will manage national education managers based across Sub-Saharan Africa, Southeast Asia, and Latin America to spread our core messages to a wider audience. This is essential if we are to deliver our goal to halve the number of people dying from rabies in the next 5 years.

We need someone who is ambitious, driven and wants the opportunity to make a difference by significantly growing their own programme of work.

As an organisation we are embracing hybrid working, and remote working within the UK could be considered for this role. Applicants should be aware that there is an expectation that employees will attend meetings at our Dorset office and travel as needed for this role. For this role, there may be an average of about 1 - 2 internal meetings per month that require travel – either to one of our offices or to other locations within the UK. You should expect to travel to global project sites at least once per quarter.

About Us

At Worldwide Veterinary Service (WVS) we champion animal welfare around the world. We send vets where they are needed most, provide expert veterinary training in hard-to-reach places, and ship urgent aid supplies worldwide, every day of the year.

We deploy teams of vets and vet nurses, send equipment and supplies to help struggling organisations on the front line of animal welfare, and train vets at our international training centres in India, Thailand, Malawi and the Galápagos Islands.  We also work on strategic one health projects such as rabies elimination campaigns with Governments and NGOs all over the world.

Last year, WVS treated over 103,000 animals, trained over 2,800 vets, deployed teams of vets all over the world, and sent over 1,042 parcels of veterinary supplies to 231 charities in 65 countries. Over 1.2 m dogs were vaccinated against rabies last year as part of our Mission Rabies campaign.

Main Duties & Responsibilities

• Plan, oversee, and develop our education and behaviour change campaigns in Asia, Africa and Latin America
• Work with education leads in country to ensure that targets are being met and quality is being adhered to.
• Work effectively with local and international stakeholders and government partners to seek out new opportunities in target countries and represent WVS.
• Identify potential partner organisations, initiate and maintain communications
• Work closely with colleagues to provide technical advice and implementation assistance to Mission Rabies and WVS projects around the world.
• Ensure teams are reporting accurately and adhering to monitoring mechanisms.
• Write strong project reports and proposals.
• Act as Deputy Safeguarding Officer and ensure compliance with national and international obligations and regulations.
• Provide regular updates to the UK head office and the global teams.
• Undertake field visits in support of this work.
• Any other duties as required.

Essential Skills & Experience

• 10+ years in project or campaign management, preferably in an animal welfare, public health, humanitarian and/or international development capacity.
• Excellent communication skills.
• Experience in managing large and diverse teams in challenging environments.
• A strong team player.
• Excellent attention to detail and pride in delivering high-quality work.
• A passion for animal welfare.
• Proficient in Microsoft packages - Word, Excel, and PowerPoint.
• The ability and willingness to be flexible and work irregular hours, including evenings and weekends occasionally when the charity requires.
• Qualified to degree level or with a relevant recognised qualification.
• Proficiency in English (mother tongue or C2 level equivalent).
• A full drivers’ licence.

Desired Skills & Experience

• Experience in Education Development or improving school systems at scale
• Experience of delivering successful Public Health or Behaviour Change campaigns
• Degree in international relations, public health, conservation, animal welfare, animal health related sciences, such as veterinary medicine or veterinary nursing.
• Experience in the charity sector.
• Command of another language.