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 across team functions and support peers and senior members in operationalizing the team’s strategy. The role will primarily focus on the Foundational Literacy and Numeracy (FLN) portfolio, with regular contributions to the Ed-tech, Early Childhood, and School Governance portfolios. The candidate will work with experimental, quasi-experimental, and non-experimental research designs to support evidence generation and its use in improving program implementation. This work will also contribute to broader knowledge building within the education ecosystem.

Professional Development & Growth:

At CSF, we value continuous learning and professional growth. The Project Manager will receive mentorship from senior leaders and access to high-impact projects across verticals. The role offers opportunities to deepen technical expertise in evaluation design, data analytics, and education systems. High performance in this role can lead to progression into senior positions within CSF or the wider development and policy ecosystem. The skills built in the role will be directly relevant for careers in the development sector, industry, and academia.

Roles & Responsibilities

Research, Monitoring & Evaluation:

• Identify, advise on and draft appropriate research designs - with support of Project Lead or Senior Project Manager - spanning quantitative and qualitative research, and taking into account the research objectives and operational feasibility.

• Support conceptualization and design of monitoring frameworks (including tools and processes) that can be adopted by CSF verticals, partner organisations, and government bodies.

• Contributing to the execution of rigorous quantitative and qualitative evaluations to understand the impact of our programs on improving student learning and other pathways to change.

• Working on evaluation activities including devising Theories of Change, undertaking tool development, training for and management of data collection, and mixed-methods data analysis

• Undertake Data Analysis and Assimilation: Quantitative and qualitative data analysis, secondary research, synthesis of findings and insights, and report writing

Essential Skills and Qualifications

• A Bachelor’s degree in a relevant field such as economics, public policy, education, or a related discipline is required. A Master’s degree with coursework in research methods is preferred. However, we strongly encourage candidates without formal academic qualifications but with demonstrated understanding and experience in research methods to apply.

• 3 - 5 years of relevant professional experience in monitoring and evaluation (M&E), public policy or research, at a development consulting/impact evaluation firm, think tank, or implementing agency. Experience with ed-policy and education-related research, particularly in India, is an advantage.

• Strong skills in quantitative research and data analysis, with working knowledge of social science statistics or econometrics. Experience with qualitative methodologies (e.g., thematic coding), educational assessments (e.g., psychometrics, Item Response Theory) and/or large scale assessments is desirable.

   independently conduct data cleaning, analysis, and basic statistical modeling. Familiarity with Microsoft Excel for data manipulation and PowerPoint for research communication is expected. Experience with data collection platforms (e.g., SurveyCTO, Tangerine) and qualitative analysis tools (e.g., NVivo, Dedoose) is an added advantage.

• Ability to interpret complex research findings and data to draw actionable insights.

• Strong project delivery and interpersonal skills, including the ability to manage multiple projects and influence internal and external stakeholders, with support from senior team members.

Desired:

• Strong demonstrated desire to upskill in quantitative and qualitative research methods.

• Strong action-bias, influencing & and communication skills - the ability to synthesize technical insights into actionable steps.

• Passion for making a scaled impact in education and belief in the possibility of foundational learning for all children

• Willingness to adapt to the dynamic nature of work and travel to project locations (2-3 days a month on average).

• Prior understanding of and experience in FLN and related projects, especially in India, will be an advantage.

Compensation

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