Senior Associate - Research

Job Description

Background About Leadership For Equity (LFE) Leadership For Skilled Education Foundation (branded as Leadership For Equity, LFE) is a non-profit organisation (NGO). In our two-fold approach to change, we build the capacity of government system leaders and we influence system processes. In partnership with the local and state education bodies, we co-create programs that shift teaching-learning practices and improve student learning and well-being. This work coupled with our research and advisory support to influence policies, we hope to create effective government education systems. BELIEF: We believe Public Education Systems are the gatekeepers of social EQUITY, especially when Indias 120 million poorest of the poor children go to government-run schools. A multi-layered, complex, and systemic problem of educational inequity will require a solution rooted in the SYSTEMS CHANGE approach. We believe that a COLLECTIVE effort by forging partnerships with governments, like-minded philanthropists, corporates, donors, nonprofits and grassroots organisations will help bring scalable and sustainable social change. VISION: We envision Public Education Systems That Refuse To Let Children Down APPROACH: We focus on building system leaders by strengthening middle Management. This includes enabling Academic & Administrative Officers (Extension Officers, BEOs, DIETs, SCERT) to effectively lead quality improvement programs and run their departments. As well as, Equipping Teachers Mentors (URCs, CRG, BRG, CRCs) to improve the classroom practices of teachers in foundational learning and technology. In the last 5 years, we built the capacity of 2000+ system leaders, and 40,200+ teachers to impact 8.2 million students. We have co-created and implemented 7 different programs and have multi-year MoUs with 9 govt. bodies including District Zilla Parishads, DIETs, SCERTs, SSA, Department of School Education & Sports, Govt.of Maharashtra, Haryana & Tripura, and currently expanding to Andhra Pradesh. About the Role LFE envisions becoming a thought leader in producing rigorous research and quality policy recommendations across sectors with the key connecting factor being social/educational equity and engaging with various sectors of the government / public systems. The Monitoring, Evaluation, Research and Technology team at LFE, aims to take up multiple research projects to incorporate deep learnings from the grassroots, multiple stakeholder experiences and perspectives into public policy recommendations and reports. We are looking for an excellent researcher with deep values aligned with social equity and some experience working in education and/or working in Maharashtra. It would be invaluable to have someone who has an excellent understanding of the government system as well as programmatic knowledge, hence the internal opening. Job Description & Responsibilities The Senior Research Associate will work with the Monitoring, Evaluation, Research and Technology team to fulfill project goals, by primarily completing end-to-end research projects as allocated. Additionally, we hope for the Associate to push the organization s thinking and approach toward research and build the team s internal capacity as well. Program Support and Knowledge Management(15%) Support internal teams with research support, such as developing frameworks and tools (surveys, interviews) for government stakeholders Thorough understanding of systems change and its implementation within education, particularly in the context of government implementation Help in knowledge management of the organization, including but not limited to organising Google Drive within the vertical and helping collate common documents across verticals Fieldwork(10%) Visit urban and rural areas in Maharashtra to engage with diverse stakeholders, conduct landscape analyses, etc. Conduct data collection activities in the form of in-depth interviews, focus group discussions, surveys, etc. Maintain detailed field notes/journal/photos Stakeholder Coordination(30%) Plan and conduct meetings with external stakeholders including sector experts, organizational partners, participants, government officers, key respondents, etc. Set clear agenda for the meetings, maintain and share detailed minutes, and follow up with the respective people to ensure completion of action items Coordinate with any additional part-time field workers, or interns for data collection who are allocated to the project Develop and maintain relations with internal stakeholders including Program Heads Research Design & Report Writing(35%) Design and write research and grant proposals/abstracts Conduct in-depth literature reviews considering primary and secondary research Design and implement long-term and monthly plans to carry out various phases of research projects Transcribe/ clean and analyze data collected through various methods Help in the creation of the final research report. Organization Development and Mentorship(10%) Participate in all the organizational team spaces and structures Mentor junior team members. Requirement: Education & Experience Master s degree with a specialisation in social science/policy research Background in Education / Social Sciences / Social Work / Public Policy preferred 3+ Years of experience in executing projects. Knowledge, Skills & Capabilities Strong skills in executing qualitative research methods Strong skills in using quantitative and qualitative data analysis tools - R, SPSS, Atlas Ti, etc. Excellent written and oral communication skills. Knowledge of Marathi would be preferred Belief in the potential of the public sector and that government systems can and will change toward overcoming systemic inequities and ensuring improved outcomes for all citizens A basic understanding of social equity, development discourse and education policy in India Being able to take initiative and work in an autonomous, semi-structured environment Adaptability to changing responsibilities and resourcefulness to respond to them High openness to learning Ability to build and sustain relationships with multiple stakeholders & partners across public and private spaces Strong ability to create outstanding presentations, work with Microsoft Excel, Google Suite, and varied data sets Patience and resilience to stick it out in the face of setbacks and uncertainties. Demonstrated resilience and ability to persevere through setbacks and uncertainties. Location: Location : Pune, Maharashtra. The job might involve travel to rural, tribal & urban pockets across India. Compensation : Apart from being a part of a young and dynamic learning team, the individual will receive a healthy compensation at par with the sector benchmark for this position, commensurate with the individual s prior experience and qualifications. The expected salary will be in the range of 6 to 9 lakhs CTC , negotiable based on experience and qualifications. Leadership For Equity is an Equal Opportunity Employer and Prohibits Discrimination and Harassment of Any Kind. We do not discriminate on the basis of caste, race, religion, color, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, or any other non-merit factor.