Department: Technical Operations – Program Delivery
Reports To: Regional Program Delivery Officer
Location: As Assigned
Employment Type: Trainee – 6 Months (Approx. 2 School Terms)
About Food4Education
Hungry kids can’t learn or grow.
Food4Education is an award-winning, locally rooted, and African-led solution to end classroom hunger. Building on more than a decade of learning by doing, we’re powering a new school feeding industry and sharing our blueprint to scale sustainable, nutritious, and affordable school feeding programs across Africa.
Today, we serve 600,000 kids DAILY in Kenya. But every day, we deliver more than a meal – improving nutrition and education outcomes for children while also creating jobs and opportunities for whole communities.
We are an experienced and trusted non-profit partner that operates with the excellence of a global business, reinvesting the value we create into local economies.
To learn more, please visit www.food4education.org
Our Values
At Food for Education, our values are guiding principles that provide us with purpose and direction and set the tone for our interactions with all stakeholders:
Role Overview
The Program Delivery Associate Trainee is an entry-level development role designed to prepare individuals for full operational responsibility in implementing Tap2Eat program delivery across a cluster of schools.
During the six-month traineeship, the trainee will work closely with experienced Program Delivery Associates and Regional Program Delivery Officers to gain hands-on exposure to school operations, data management, customer engagement, and program monitoring.
The program is designed to build the trainee’s operational capability, professionalism, and leadership readiness, preparing them to transition into the Program Delivery Associate (PDA) role responsible for managing approximately 30 schools within a cluster.
Key Responsibilities
1. School Operations Support
Training Expectations – Learning While Executing
Expected Outcomes (Post-Traineeship Capability)
By the end of the training period, the trainee should be capable of independently performing the responsibilities of a Program Delivery Associate, including:
We are an equal-opportunity employer
We are committed to building an inclusive workplace where diverse perspectives are valued and people are supported to do their best work. We welcome applications from candidates of all backgrounds and lived experiences and make employment decisions based on merit, potential, and alignment with our values.
Career Growth and Development
We have a strong culture of constant learning and we invest in developing our people. You will have weekly check-ins with your manager, and regular feedback on your performance. We hold career reviews every six months and set aside time to discuss your aspirations and career goals. You will have the opportunity to shape a growing organization and build a rewarding, long-term career.
We aim to contact all our applicants, but due to the high volume of applications only short-listed candidates are contacted. If you do not hear from us within two weeks your application might not be successful on this occasion. This does not mean you will not be considered for future roles so please keep an eye on our job board and apply for positions that match your skills and experience.
Reports To: Regional Program Delivery Officer
Location: As Assigned
Employment Type: Trainee – 6 Months (Approx. 2 School Terms)
About Food4Education
Hungry kids can’t learn or grow.
Food4Education is an award-winning, locally rooted, and African-led solution to end classroom hunger. Building on more than a decade of learning by doing, we’re powering a new school feeding industry and sharing our blueprint to scale sustainable, nutritious, and affordable school feeding programs across Africa.
Today, we serve 600,000 kids DAILY in Kenya. But every day, we deliver more than a meal – improving nutrition and education outcomes for children while also creating jobs and opportunities for whole communities.
We are an experienced and trusted non-profit partner that operates with the excellence of a global business, reinvesting the value we create into local economies.
To learn more, please visit www.food4education.org
Our Values
At Food for Education, our values are guiding principles that provide us with purpose and direction and set the tone for our interactions with all stakeholders:
- Build with excellence and curiosity - We’re not afraid to try new things and iterate as much as we can to find the best and most efficient way to get results;
- Be the change you seek - We acknowledge that continuous improvement is a shared responsibility;
- We do what we say; and say what we do - We embrace an ownership mentality;
- Ask why; and commit - Share openly and question respectfully and commit fully. When we understand the why, we are able to work with a purpose.
Role Overview
The Program Delivery Associate Trainee is an entry-level development role designed to prepare individuals for full operational responsibility in implementing Tap2Eat program delivery across a cluster of schools.
During the six-month traineeship, the trainee will work closely with experienced Program Delivery Associates and Regional Program Delivery Officers to gain hands-on exposure to school operations, data management, customer engagement, and program monitoring.
The program is designed to build the trainee’s operational capability, professionalism, and leadership readiness, preparing them to transition into the Program Delivery Associate (PDA) role responsible for managing approximately 30 schools within a cluster.
Key Responsibilities
1. School Operations Support
- Assist with daily school operations including queue management, food receipt verification, tapping, and tag replacement.
- Accompany Program Delivery Associates during school visits to observe and learn operational workflows.
- Support monitoring of school-level hygiene practices, portion control, and service standards.
- Help ensure adherence to Tap2Eat Standard Operating Procedures during daily operations.
- Learn to track key operational metrics such as registrations, activations, utilization, and tapping performance.
- Assist in collecting, entering, and verifying school-level operational data.
- Support the identification and documentation of performance gaps in assigned schools.
- Participate in data reconciliation activities and follow-ups with underperforming schools.
- Support School Leads, Coordinators, Tappers, and Kitchen Officers in executing daily operational duties.
- Assist in communicating program updates and operational changes to school teams.
- Learn how to build professional relationships with school administrators, parents, and community stakeholders.
- Support the resolution of simple operational issues under supervision.
- Observe and practice handling parent or school concerns in a professional and empathetic manner.
- Coordinate with Customer Engagement teams to ensure consistent messaging and issue resolution.
- Assist in gathering feedback from parents, students, and school administrators to improve service delivery.
- Assist in monitoring availability of tags, devices, and personal protective equipment (PPE) across assigned schools.
- Support basic inventory tracking and reporting under the supervision of the Program Delivery Associate.
- Help document asset usage and report shortages or replacement needs.
- Support daily school reporting and operational documentation.
- Participate in compiling summaries and preparing reports for internal use.
- Maintain structured notes and logs during school visits to support learning and operational review.
Training Expectations – Learning While Executing
- The traineeship is designed as a hands-on operational training program, where learning takes place through real program execution.
- During the training period, trainees may be assigned a small group of schools within a cluster to support and gradually manage under the guidance of the Regional Program Delivery Officer and experienced Program Delivery Associates.
- This approach ensures trainees gain practical experience while contributing to daily program delivery.
- Supporting and eventually managing operations in a designated group of schools during training
- Conducting regular school visits to observe and improve operational performance
- Working directly with School Leads, Coordinators, and Tappers to ensure smooth daily operations
- Monitoring tapping, utilization, registrations, and activation trends in assigned schools
- Identifying operational gaps and proposing improvements with guidance from supervisors
- Participating actively in coaching, feedback sessions, and operational reviews
Expected Outcomes (Post-Traineeship Capability)
By the end of the training period, the trainee should be capable of independently performing the responsibilities of a Program Delivery Associate, including:
- Managing Tap2Eat operations across 30+ schools within a cluster
- Supervising School Leads, Coordinators, Tappers, and Kitchen Officers
- Monitoring and improving key program performance indicators such as utilization, activation, penetration, and tapping accuracy
- Ensuring adherence to hygiene, food safety, and operational compliance standards
- Resolving escalations from parents, school administrators, and school-level teams
- Maintaining accurate operational data including tag assignments, tapping records, attendance, and feeding reports
- Managing inventory of program assets including tags, devices, and operational supplies
- Coordinating with internal teams such as Customer Engagement, Tech, and Utilization to support program performance
- Conducting structured school visits and coaching frontline teams to improve service delivery
- Generating timely operational reports and flagging system or data issues to relevant teams
We are an equal-opportunity employer
We are committed to building an inclusive workplace where diverse perspectives are valued and people are supported to do their best work. We welcome applications from candidates of all backgrounds and lived experiences and make employment decisions based on merit, potential, and alignment with our values.
Career Growth and Development
We have a strong culture of constant learning and we invest in developing our people. You will have weekly check-ins with your manager, and regular feedback on your performance. We hold career reviews every six months and set aside time to discuss your aspirations and career goals. You will have the opportunity to shape a growing organization and build a rewarding, long-term career.
We aim to contact all our applicants, but due to the high volume of applications only short-listed candidates are contacted. If you do not hear from us within two weeks your application might not be successful on this occasion. This does not mean you will not be considered for future roles so please keep an eye on our job board and apply for positions that match your skills and experience.