ICDS Implementation Lead in South 24 Parganas | Antahin Abha Foundation

Antahin Abha Foundation

Antahin Abha Foundation works on early childhood care and education for young children in West Bengal. Its NRich ECCE programme brings a structured curriculum, classroom activities and Teaching Learning Materials into government ICDS and Anganwadi centres, so that children get a strong start before they reach school. The programme combines printed materials with digital support that teachers can reach through WhatsApp and a chatbot, and it is carried into centres by a team of Master Trainers who train and support Anganwadi workers. The Foundation works alongside ICDS Supervisors and CDPOs rather than around them, so the programme becomes part of how the government system already runs. This role sits within Antahin Abha's ICDS implementation team, which takes the NRich ECCE programme from the curriculum team to roughly 170 centres on the ground.

Role

The ICDS Implementation Lead makes sure the NRich ECCE programme actually reaches children in Anganwadi classrooms. You will spend much of your time in the field across five Gram Panchayats, talking to Anganwadi workers, watching how activities are conducted, and checking that what is reported matches what is happening in the room. You will lead the Master Trainer team day to day, set their priorities, coach them, and keep the flow of information moving between the field and the Foundation's curriculum, training and technology teams. The role is a bridge: field problems should not sit as observations, they should become clear actions that someone follows through.

Responsibilities

• Build a strong working knowledge of the NRich ECCE curriculum, its learning outcomes, activities and Teaching Learning Materials.
• Learn how activities are meant to be conducted in ICDS and Anganwadi classrooms, including the digital materials teachers reach through WhatsApp and the chatbot.
• Conduct regular field visits across the 5 Gram Panchayats and speak directly with Anganwadi workers and teachers about how the programme is being used.
• Gather structured information on activity adoption, TLM usage, digital engagement, teacher participation and the problems teachers face.
• Validate that reported implementation data reflects real classroom practice, and identify centres that need extra support.
• Track adoption across roughly 170 centres: how many are active, how often activities happen, training completion, Master Trainer coverage and common teacher queries.
• Engage ICDS Supervisors and CDPOs on implementation progress and operational concerns.
• Lead the Master Trainer team day to day: set priorities, allocate centres and geographies, and run regular review meetings.
• Coach Master Trainers on content, facilitation and field problem solving, and organise refresher training where gaps appear.
• Review the observations and feedback Master Trainers collect, and keep training and field support consistent across the team.
• Bring field reality back to the curriculum team: what teachers find hard, where instructions are unclear, and which activities do not fit real classroom conditions.
• Support the testing of new or revised activities, and follow up on every escalated issue until it is resolved.

Requirements

• Willingness to be based in South 24 Parganas, West Bengal, and to travel regularly to Anganwadi centres across rural Gram Panchayats.
• Fluency in Bengali, with enough English to write reports and work with the Foundation's internal teams.
• Experience leading or supervising a field team such as trainers, facilitators or community workers.
• Comfort working with government systems and officials, including ICDS Supervisors and CDPOs.
• Experience with curriculum design, learning outcomes or activity-based pedagogy, which the programme values highly for this role.
• Ability to collect structured field data and keep clear, updated records that others can rely on.
• Judgment to tell reported numbers apart from what is actually happening in a classroom.
• Skill in coaching adults, so Anganwadi workers feel supported rather than inspected.
• Comfort with a smartphone, WhatsApp and simple digital tools, since teachers reach materials that way.
• Ability to summarise field findings clearly and flag what needs management attention.
• Follow-through: the habit of chasing an issue until it is closed or properly escalated.
• Interest in early childhood education and in how young children learn.
• A graduate degree in education, social work, social sciences or a related field.

Benefits

• Direct work inside the government ICDS system, at the scale of about 170 centres.
• Leadership of a Master Trainer team, with real say over how training and field support are run.
• A voice in how the NRich ECCE curriculum changes, based on what you see in classrooms.
• Close work with the Foundation's curriculum, training and technology teams.
• Visible impact on the early learning of children in five Gram Panchayats.

Apply

Check your fit for the role and receive the apply link in your mailbox

Follow our WhatsApp Channel to get notified about the latest jobs.