Central Square Foundation - Programme Associate - Government Consulting - Data Initiatives

Job Description:

One of India's biggest challenges is providing quality education to its 260 million children. The scale and complexity of education in India demands that the brightest of the talent to engage in finding solutions.

Central Square Foundation (CSF) is a non-profit and policy think tank focused on improving learning outcomes for children from low-income communities. Our mission is to ensure quality school education for all children in India. CSF partners with government both at National and State level to achieve transformational standards of excellence in school education. We support exceptional social entrepreneurs with powerful ideas, provide a platform for the sharing of innovation, support key Government partners in strategic initiatives and support research and advocacy efforts that can influence public policy.

CSF's team members combine a deep commitment to education with operational excellence. We are a young organisation with a dynamic entrepreneurial environment dedicated to achieving landmark reform in the Indian education system.

Position Summary:

The Data Initiatives team at CSF is dedicated to creating a culture of data-driven decision making in the education sector in India. In our pursuit, we have identified Government as an integral partner to further our vision, and have invested in collaborations to create opportunities, align on common agendas and advocate for systemic change. CSF, in collaboration with its key Government partners such as MHRD, NCERT, NCTE and NITI Aayog, has implemented several Data Initiatives to improve teacher education system and student learning outcomes. Our key initiatives include, MHRD's Prashikshak portal to strengthen the Teacher Education Institutes (TEIs), development of a comprehensive data system for Census based National Achievement Survey with NCERT and MHRD, a state-wise Demand/Supply study on teachers with NCTE and MHRD, a study to derive recommendations to strengthen TEI accreditation system and development of a data portal for MHRD that would aggregate all the current databases on Education.

The Programme Associate will support the Data Initiatives team in research and analysis required for key projects. The role will include meeting Government partners to understand the current state, gathering requirements for the desired future state, performing data analysis, and formulating recommendations on how to best collect, manage, and use the education data.

The role will also involve design and development of the data systems targeted at key stakeholders in the education system including students, teachers, parents; and supporting the IT partner or National Informatics Centre (NIC) to ensure development of data systems within the agreed timeline.

Key responsibilities include, but are not limited to:

Analyse existing datasets and formulate recommendations for our key Government partners

Conduct research and write reports, prepare presentations on current projects

Conduct research on team's internal pilot projects or potential future projects

Work back closely with the IT partner across levels (Engagement Manager, HTML programmer, Designer, Tester, Coder, etc.) to ensure development is in line with the design brief

Meet key Government stakeholders and present findings and key deliverables

Work closely with key Government partners to understand their requirements

Work back closely with the IT partner across levels (Engagement manager, HTML programmer, Designer, Tester, Coder, etc.) to ensure development is in line with the design brief and agreed timeline

Required Qualifications, Skills and Abilities:

Bachelor's or equivalent degree required

1-2 years of work experience with track record of high achievement, preferably in a Consulting firm or Data Analytics firm

Detail Oriented

Strong research and analysis skills

Prior experience with data analysis is preferred

Strong in Microsoft Office - Excel, PowerPoint and Word; experience in statistical software preferred

Strong communication skills and an ability to write professional proposals and presentations

Demonstrated interest in social enterprise sector

High level of spoken and written fluency in English and Hindi

Desired Qualities:

A belief that all children, regardless of their family's social-economic background can achieve at the highest level

Persistence, determination, and strong work ethic

High level of integrity

Self-driven and ability to work independently

Excellent organisational and time management skills

Strong problem-solving ability

Thrive in a fast-paced, entrepreneurial environment

Demonstrate initiative and motivate others

Compensation:

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

Apply

Interested candidates should submit a resume via email with subject line - Application for Programme Associate, Government Consulting (Data Initiatives)