Project Manager - RMEAL

About Central Square Foundation (CSF)

Founded in 2012, Central Square Foundation is a non-profit philanthropic foundation working with the vision of ensuring quality school education for all children in India. CSF has a mission focused on ensuring high-quality foundational learning for all children in India. To achieve this, we partner with individuals and social impact organizations to bring innovative solutions in education to build the capacity of the government to drive systemic impact. To learn more about us and our work, visit www.centralsquarefoundation.org.

About the Research, Monitoring, Evaluation, Assessment and Learning (RMEAL) team

CSF's endeavour is to transform the school education system in India and advance children's learning outcomes, especially for those from vulnerable socio-economic backgrounds. The RMEL practice undertakes a range of research and M&E activities to understand the 'what works' and 'why it works' elements of driving systems improvement and impact. Intending to generate evidence to strengthen education programs and policy, the team provides technical support to other verticals within CSF as well as oversight on third-party research studies.

CSF's Research and M&E team is deeply engaged, advised, and mentored by renowned experts like Luis Crouch (Chief Technical Officer, RTI International), Ben Piper (Sr. Director, RTI International), Karthik Muralidharan (Chair, JPAL S.Asia), Asiya Kazmi (Global Education Policy Lead, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation). The Project Manager will join a high-caliber leadership team with collective experience working in both corporate and development sector organizations like BCG, IFMR, J-PAL, IGC, NITI Aayog, and National Skill Development Corporation.

Position Summary

The Project Manager, RMEAL will serve as a critical enabler for all the team functions, and support the peers and senior members in operationalizing the team strategy. The person's time will be primarily working on Foundational Literacy and Numeracy (FLN) portfolio of the RMEAL vertical, but will also be divided across other portfolios including EdTech, High Potential and School Governance. The key responsibilities are as follows:

Roles & Responsibilities

Research, Monitoring & Evaluation:

Help design and lead qualitative and mixed-methods research studies to generate insights on program implementation, stakeholder behaviour, and system-level change in education programs. Support in identifying and developing appropriate qualitative research designs such as interviews, focus group discussions (FGDs), classroom observations, ethnographic studies, and action research aligned with research objectives.

Conceptualize and design monitoring and learning frameworks, including qualitative data collection tools, protocols, and processes that can be adopted by CSF verticals, partner organisations, and government bodies.

Contribute to the execution of qualitative and mixed-methods evaluations to understand program effectiveness, implementation fidelity, and pathways to change. This includes developing Theories of Change, designing qualitative tools, managing field research, and synthesizing insights.

Lead primary qualitative data collection efforts, including training field teams, conducting interviews and stakeholder consultations, and ensuring quality and rigor in field-based research.

Undertake qualitative data analysis and synthesis, including thematic coding, narrative analysis, triangulation of findings across sources, and translating insights into clear programmatic recommendations.

Support integration of qualitative insights with quantitative findings to develop comprehensive evaluation reports and evidence-based recommendations for policy and program improvement. Contribute to research dissemination, including report writing, policy briefs, presentations, and knowledge products that communicate insights to internal teams, partners, and government stakeholders.

Skills and Qualifications

Minimum requirement of a Masters degree in economics, public policy, education, sociology, psychology, or a related field. A Master's degree with coursework in research methods, development studies, or education will be preferable.

2-4 years of relevant professional experience in research, monitoring and evaluation, or policy research at an impact consulting firm, think tank, research organisation, or implementing agency. Demonstrated experience in qualitative research methodologies, including development of research tools (e.g., discussion guides), management of primary data collection (IDIs, FGDs, observations), and rigorous qualitative analysis (coding, thematic synthesis). Experience in education sector research, especially in India, and familiarity with school systems, EdTech interventions, or FLN programs.

Familiarity with mixed-methods research approaches, including basics of quantitative methods and integrating qualitative insights with quantitative evidence for program evaluation will be an added advantage. If prior work experience does not exist in this field, a strong desire to learn and demonstrated evidence of self-learning will be required.

Strong project management and stakeholder engagement skills, including the ability to coordinate research activities with multiple partners and government stakeholders. Working knowledge of quantitative data analysis tools such as STATA, R, python will be an added advantage.

Strong skills in synthesizing complex qualitative insights into clear, actionable recommendations for program design and policy is advantageous.

Desired Qualities

Strong action bias and problem-solving orientation, with the ability to translate research insights into actionable program improvements.

Excellent communication and storytelling ability, including synthesizing qualitative insights for diverse audiences.

Passion for improving foundational learning outcomes at scale and commitment to strengthening India's public education system.

Comfort working in dynamic program environments, including field travel and close engagement with government and implementation partners.

Prior exposure to FLN, Early Childhood Education, High Potential, EdTech implementation, or school-system reforms.

Compensation

Remuneration will be competitive with Indian philanthropy pay scales and will depend up on the candidate's experience levels.