Research Associate, Research Unit, – Pratham Education Foundation –  ASER Centre

ASER Centre is the autonomous research wing of Pratham Education Foundation. The organization was founded with the aim of generating evidence at scale; strengthening the link between evidence and action; and strengthening the capacities of individuals and institutions to design, conduct, and understand measurement. ASER Centre designs and implements the Annual Status of Education Report (ASER) surveys, the largest citizen-led household survey of children’s foundational reading and arithmetic abilities in India. The Centre has conducted numerous other research and evaluation studies, both independently as well as in collaboration with various national and international partners to explore issues in early childhood education and health, primary and secondary school education, and vocational education among others

Pratham is an innovative learning organization created to improve the quality of education in India. As one of the largest non-governmental organizations in the country, Pratham focuses on high-quality, low-cost, and replicable interventions to address gaps in the education system. Established in 1995 to provide education to children in the slums of Mumbai, Pratham has grown both in scope and geographical coverage.

Description of Position
The Research and Statistics Unit of ASER Centre is seeking applications from qualified and passionate applicants for the role of Research Associate (RA). The RA will be responsible for all aspects related to data collection, management and analysis; along with logistics and operations of ongoing research projects.

The role includes project management duties including but not limited to instrument design for large-scale research, developing and testing data collection processes and protocols, interacting with different government and non-government partners, training enumerators, and coordinating with ASER state and central team members for research purposes.

The ideal candidate will have interest and skills in conducting research and statistical analysis (descriptive and inferential), can fit into a dynamic and diverse organizational environment, can adapt to iterative and evolving project requirements, have a self-starting attitude, and the ability to plan, prioritise and execute tasks with minimal supervision.

The research project which will be the focus of the selected candidate’s work is a multi-year, mixed methods research project on Life Skills. ASER Centre is part of a network of over 18 organizations working on life skills education in India. In its third year, the research involves a combination of quantitative and qualitative methods to investigate how different stakeholders across the country understand life skills.

Additional tasks will relate to other research projects as needed

This is a central team position, based in New Delhi. However, frequent travel will be a critical requirement of the project as well as other work at ASER Centre.

Division/Department : Research and Statistics
Reports to : Senior Research Associate
Work Schedule : Full Time
Location : New Delhi
Start Date : Immediate
Remuneration : CTC 4.68 L per annum; negotiable as per experience and qualification.

Broad responsibilities of the RA will include:

• Designing, overseeing, and participating in pilots, field monitoring and enumerator training as and when required. Supporting implementation with internal and external teams.
• Planning, supervising and conducting data cleaning and analysis of large-scale quantitative data with the team. The candidate should be well-versed with descriptive and inferential statistical analysismethods. Understanding of qualitative data analysis, in addition, will be an advantage.
• Drafting and contributing to reports, policy briefs, papers, articles and presentations, including creating appropriate visualizations for data presentation.
• Developing and testing survey instruments and research training protocols.
• Developing project timelines, budgets and operational plans.
• Extensive travel to rural locations in support of these activities.

Key requirements:

• Graduation or Post Graduation in Social Sciences, Economics, Statistics or any other discipline with training in quantitative research and research methods.
• Strong proficiency and experience in managing and conducting quantitative analysis.
• Preferred software is STATA.
• Work experience of at least 1 year would be preferred.
• Proficiency in M.S. Office (Excel, PowerPoint and Word).
• Proven ability to work in large teams and manage multiple tasks efficiently.
• Strong communication skills in English and Hindi (written and oral) will be critical.
• Proficiency in any other Indian language will be an advantage.
• Willingness to travel, commute and work in rural India with basic facilities.
• Experience in mixed-method research is preferred but not mandatory.

Application process
Shortlisted candidates will be invited for interviews including a short quantitative-analysis skill test that can be completed remotely. To apply, please write the job title, “Research Associate_Research Unit” in the subject line and email the following documents to recruitmentsasercentre@gmail.com

• Updated CV (File name: FullName_CV)
• Cover Letter (500 words): Describe your motivation to apply to ASER Centre, why you are a good fit for this role, and provide relevant experience and examples that align with the stated requirements. (File name: FullName_Statement)

In case of any questions, please reach out: Karishma Vats: karishma@asercentre.org or Devleena
Chatterji devleena@asercentre.org

Due to the volume of applications, only shortlisted candidates will be contacted