Civic Education and Governance Expert - Vacancy Alert!

Open Knowledge Foundation Nepal (OKF Nepal) is seeking an experienced Civic Education and Governance Expert to lead the development of a civic education module and toolkit for school students and out-of-school youth in Nepal.

You will set the strategic and conceptual direction for three learning pathways (Grades 7 to 8, Grades 9 to 12, and community youth, including those not in employment, education, or training) and make sure every module is accurate regarding Nepal's federal governance system. This is a short-term engagement for a senior professional who understands how Nepal's federal, provincial, and local governments work and can turn that understanding into learning that builds civic knowledge, confidence, and action.

📅 Application deadline: Oct 15, 2026

OKF Nepal is a non-profit civic tech organization comprised of openness enthusiasts. We believe that open data fosters participatory government and civil society, contributing to sustainable development. The organization is actively engaged in research, advocacy, training, and the development of open knowledge tools, working at the intersection of open data, digital rights, and algorithmic accountability.

Key Responsibilities

Governance Content and Accuracy

• Ensure all content on democratic foundations, federalism, and the Constitution of Nepal reflects the country's current federal structure and legal framework.
• Guide the treatment of subnational governance, including the roles of federal, provincial, and local governments, municipal planning and budgeting, and how citizens can engage with local institutions.
• Review content on rights, duties, public accountability, and constructive civic action for governance accuracy at both draft and final stages.
• Ensure each chapter starts from a concrete local governance example before introducing civic vocabulary, and that civic terms match established Nepali constitutional and administrative usage.

Conceptual Design and Leadership

• Lead a desk review of existing civic and democratic education curricula and youth engagement initiatives in Nepal, benchmarked against comparable international examples, and identify specific gaps.
• Design one shared conceptual framework for the three pathways, covering six themes: democratic foundations and federalism, subnational governance, rights and duties (including GESI), accountability, media and digital literacy, and social cohesion.
• Develop the theory of change linking civic knowledge, reflection, action, and participation, and lead the Inception Report.
• Guide the Curriculum and Learning Design Specialists, the Youth Engagement and Experiential Learning Specialist, and the Graphic Designer, and review their outputs.

Consultation, Piloting, and Validation

• Lead provincial consultation workshops in Koshi, Madhesh, Karnali, and Sudurpashchim with local governments, civil society, educators, and youth networks.
• Coordinate with education authorities and school administrations on piloting for the school-based pathways.
• Oversee piloting and Youth Listening Labs, and make sure feedback is collected by gender, caste/ethnicity, and marginalized-group status.

Quality, MEL, and Handover

• Oversee the Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning framework, which tracks civic knowledge, civic identity, civic efficacy, and observable civic action, disaggregated by gender, age, caste/ethnicity, and disability status.
• Sign off on each output before it goes to the client, and compile the final materials.
• Manage delivery risks such as field access, school calendars, and youth participation.
• Coordinate handover and rollout planning with project partners, local governments, and civil society.

General Responsibilities

• Act as the main liaison with the project coordination team and report regularly on progress.
• Keep the team on schedule and on budget, and keep records in shared project folders.
• Follow OKF Nepal policies, including those on safeguarding and the protection of children and participants' data.
• Carry out other tasks related to the assignment as reasonably requested.

Qualifications

Required

• Master's degree in public administration, political science, law, governance, public policy, education, or a related field.
• Strong, demonstrated understanding of Nepal's federal governance system, including the Constitution, the roles and powers of local, provincial, and federal governments, and local planning and budgeting.
• Demonstrated experience leading the design of civic education, citizenship, or governance-related curricula, training modules, or learning products.
• Experience working with local governments, civil society, or education authorities in Nepal.
• Excellent writing and review skills in both Nepali and English, with attention to accurate civic and legal terminology.
• Understanding of gender equality and social inclusion (GESI) and accessibility for persons with disabilities.
• Experience leading a small team and delivering to deadlines on donor-funded projects.

Nice to Have

• Experience with school-based civic education or Nepal's national school curriculum.
• Experience engaging youth, including out-of-school and marginalized youth.
• Familiarity with monitoring, evaluation, and learning (MEL) for behavioural and civic outcomes.
• Experience with provincial-level consultations and field piloting.
• Prior work with international development agencies.

Duration and Location

This is a short-term engagement, with the start date as soon as possible. The expert serves as Team Leader and works with the Curriculum and Learning Design Specialists, the Youth Engagement and Experiential Learning Specialist, and the Graphic Designer.

Remote work with flexible scheduling. Candidates must be based in Kathmandu, Nepal
(Travel to provincial consultation workshops and pilot sites will be required.)

Consultancy Fee

Negotiable, depending on qualifications and experience.

How to Apply

Interested candidates should send a CV, a cover letter, and one or two samples of civic education, governance, or curriculum work they have led (excerpts are fine) to info@oknp.org by October 15, 2026, with "Civic Education and Governance Expert Application" in the subject line. Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted for an interview.