Senior Associate, Research and Data – ESAR

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Position: Senior Associate, Research and Data - ESAR

Reports to: Senior Education Research Advisor

Dotted Line Manager: Director of Research, Learning & Evaluation

Languages: Fluency in English required; knowledge of local languages in Zambia, Malawi, and/or Kenya is an advantage

Location: Zambia, Kenya, South Africa or any other Sub-Saharan African country 

Deadline: On a rolling basis 

About TaRL Africa 

TaRL Africa initiative is hosted by Empower Learning Africa, a not-for-profit organisation registered and headquartered in Nairobi, Kenya, with teams in Côte d’Ivoire, Nigeria, Malawi, Ethiopia and Zambia. TaRL Africa began as a joint venture by Pratham and J-PAL in 2019, with the goal of supporting governments and organisations across Africa to accelerate children’s foundational skill acquisition using the evidence-based “Teaching at the Right Level” (TaRL) approach. TaRL Africa's vision is for every child across Africa to have foundational skills so that they can have a better future. Our mission is to ensure public education systems effectively equip children with these foundational skills. 

We support governments and organisations in over 19 countries in Sub-Saharan Africa to design, deliver and scale impactful TaRL programmes while learning and sharing how the approach can be improved for different contexts. Together with partners, TaRL Africa has reached over 7 million children with TaRL programming. 

Research, Learning & Evaluation at TaRL Africa

Continually learning and adapting to amplify the impact of our work is a core value of TaRL Africa. As the approach has moved to scale in Africa, iterative adaptation to the local contexts and testing marginal innovations for efficiency and cost-effectiveness is critical to TaRL’s long-term success.

The Research, Learning & Evaluation (RLE) team: 

• Leads high-quality research and evaluations both internally and with external partners
• Supports TaRL Africa’s Program Design and Pedagogy team to effectively test new innovations through learning labs and other R&D efforts;
• Drives learning and impact through provision of cutting-edge measurement, analytics, and support for TaRL Africa data systems and knowledge management; 
• Generates and facilitates quality evidence uptake and learning within TaRL Africa as well as externally in the global education ecosystem to positively impact foundational literacy and numeracy outcomes in sub-Saharan Africa. 

Role Overview

The Senior Associate, RLE  focuses on Eastern and Southern Africa, contributing to study design, data monitoring, and evidence generation to guide program improvements and policy. The ideal candidate brings strong quantitative research skills, experience in large-scale field studies, and a passion for education in African contexts.

Because of the nature of these specific research activities, we are seeking an individual with prior research associate experience for at least one large-scale research project such a randomized controlled evaluation or implementation research project.

Key Responsibilities

1. Rigorous Research Design and Implementation (50%)

• Contribute to the design and implementation of research studies, including:
  • Early grades pilot learning and support for a full-scale TaRL randomized evaluation conducted by partners in Malawi.
  • Coordinating / leading  new research and learning activities in Zambia for the Copperbelt region to build evidence on key long-term vision changes the government has proposed for the Catch Up program moving forward.
  • Monitoring research and learning activities for innovation Learning Labs as well as contributing to development and execution of new learning initiatives in Kenya. 
• Lead the process of applying for local and international institutional review boards.
• Set up a field plan and data flow plan.
• Develop and pilot research instruments, including assessments and surveys.
• Program digital version of questionnaires using software such as SurveyCTO or KoboCollect.
• Oversee data collection activities, ensuring adherence to research protocols and data quality standards, including:
• Writing clear, concise Stata .do files or R scripts for high frequency checks, data cleaning and analysis.
• Performing high-frequency checks and data cleaning processes to ensure data quality.
• Monitoring research study implementation and providing periodic reports to the Principal Investigator and researchers.
• Identifying possible threats to the validity of the study and communicating that to the larger research team.
• Systematically recording project decisions and study deviations through the study lifecycle.
• Support analysis report writing, presentation of results.
• Document research results and prepare handover documents that can be used by TaRL Africa staff and/or new researchers in the future.
• Manage relationships with local partner organizations and survey firms involved in research projects.

 2. Data Management, Analysis, and Knowledge Management (25%)

• Clean, manage, and analyze quantitative data using Stata or R, and qualitative data using Nvivo or other.
• Ensure efficiency and cost-effectiveness best practices are undertaken by maintaining quality MOUs, protocols and checklists for assigned research projects.
• Ensure ethical and security best practices are adhered to for data access, storage, and management for all research and learning projects assigned.
• Contribute to and improve strong knowledge management practices for research data including storage, codebook maintenance, and consistent use of knowledge and project management tools like Dropbox and Asana.
• Contribute to the interpretation of research findings and the preparation of academic and policy-oriented publications.

3. Evidence-Based Learning and Dissemination (10%)

• Work closely with the program and innovation teams to ensure that research findings are used to inform program design and implementation, including new pedagogy design.
• Prepare high-quality reports, presentations, and other materials to disseminate research findings to a variety of audiences, including government partners, donors, and the academic community.
• Contribute to building a culture of evidence-based decision-making within TaRL Africa and among our partners.

4. Team Collaboration and Technical Support (10%)

• Collaborate with other members of the TaRL Africa research team and program staff in Kenya, Malawi, and Zambia and across the continent.
• Join and contribute to learning team meetings and brainstorming on other TaRL Africa research projects.
• Provide technical support and mentorship to enumerators.
• Contribute to the development of research proposals and grant applications.

5. Other special projects and activities as needed (5%)

Required Minimum Qualifications

Education:

A Master’s degree in Economics, Statistics, Public Policy, Education, or a related field with a strong quantitative focus. Experience in education research and qualitative, behavioral design, and/or R&D human-centered design is strongly preferred. 

Experience:

• Experience working in Eastern or Southern Africa context.
• A minimum of 3 years of relevant work experience in a research-focused role, preferably in the education research sector.
• Experience coordinating an independent research project from start to end.
• Demonstrated experience in designing and implementing quantitative research, including a randomized evaluation or mixed methods study. 
• Experience with survey design, data collection, and data management. 
• Experience with data cleaning and data analysis.
  
  

Skills: 

• Proficiency in Stata or R for data analysis is required; familiarity with a qualitative tool such as Nvivo is advantageous.
• Technical knowledge of quasi-experimental, qualitative and mixed methods.
• Experience in digital survey programming with SurveryCTO, KoboCollect, or similar tool preferred.
• Excellent analytical, problem-solving, and communication skills.
• Strong writing and data visualization skills, with the ability to communicate complex research findings to non-technical audiences.
• Proven ability to work independently and as part of a team.
• Proven ability to handle multiple diverse assignments at one time, successfully completing assigned tasks and meeting deadlines while conducting high-quality work.
• Excellent project management skills to navigate multiple projects simultaneously with self-accountability. 
• Fluency in English is required. Knowledge of local languages in either Zambia, Malawi, and/or Kenya is a strong advantage.

Attributes:

• A passion for improving education and a commitment to evidence-based practice.
• A proactive and results-oriented approach to work.
• Willingness to travel frequently to program sites in Kenya, Malawi and Zambia, (estimated up to 30%). 

TaRL Africa Values 

1. We put children’s learning first.
2. We are always learning, improving, and innovating. 
3. We are locally rooted for high-quality delivery and sustainable impact. 
4. We are kind, respectful, and collaborative.
5. We are proactive, committed to integrity and doing our best each day.

Location

Ideal preference is Zambia, Kenya, or South Africa. Travel will be required across sub-Saharan Africa.

This job description covers the main tasks and conveys the spirit of the sort of tasks that are anticipated proactively from staff. Other tasks may be assigned as necessary according to organizational needs.

 TaRL Africa Values

1. We place children's learning first.
2. We are always learning, improving, and innovating.
3. We are locally rooted for high-quality delivery and sustainable impact.
4. We are kind, respectful and collaborative.
5. We are proactive, committed to integrity and doing our best each day.

This job description covers the main tasks and conveys the spirit of the sort of tasks that are anticipated proactively from staff. Other tasks may be assigned as necessary according to organizational needs.

TaRL Africa provides a nationally peer-benchmarked compensation package aligned with organizational salary scales, taking into account both qualifications and professional experience.

TaRL Africa is an equal-opportunity employer committed to having a diverse workforce.