Job Opportunity for Head of Research at Leadership For Equity (LFE) in Pune, Maharashtra.

## Job Title: Head – Research

 

**About Leadership For Equity (LFE)**

 

Leadership For Skilled Education Foundation (branded as Leadership For Equity, LFE), is a non-profit (NGO) based out of Pune, Maharashtra. We envision Public Education Systems That Refuse To Let Children Down.

 

Our two-fold approach to change involves building the capacity of government system leaders and influencing system processes. In partnership with local and state education bodies, we co-create programs that shift teaching-learning practices and improve student learning and well-being.  This work, coupled with our research and advisory support to influence policies, aims to create an effective government education system.

 

Over the last 5 years, LFE has built the capacity of 2100+ system leaders and 40,200+ teachers to impact 8 million students across Maharashtra. LFE has recently expanded its operations and started working in another 3 states of India including Haryana, Tripura, and Andhra Pradesh.

 

We believe Public Education Systems are the gatekeepers of social EQUITY, especially when India’s 120 million poorest-of-the-poor children continue to go to government-run schools. We advocate for a SYSTEMS CHANGE approach to address the complex and systemic problem of educational inequity. We believe a COLLECTIVE effort by forging partnerships with governments, like-minded philanthropists, corporates, donors, nonprofits, and grassroots organisations will help bring scalable and sustainable social change.

 

**About the Research Vertical**

 

LFE’s work revolves around its belief in the public education system’s ability to provide quality education to all children. We do this through our capacity building initiative and field action projects. To be more holistic, we aim to influence the public discourse on the value of the education system and its relation to an equitable society, by creating knowledge products in the form of reports, news articles, blogs, and podcasts. 

 

**Objective:** To develop and disseminate high impact, research-based insights focused on systems thinking approach and innovations in the domain of ‘educational governance’, ‘middle management capacity’, ‘teacher capacity’ in service of empowering public education systems. Through our research, we aim to shape the discourse on the role of government bodies in providing education, offer a transparent lens to look at its challenges and successes, and consolidate our learnings from practice in systems change to enhance the current understanding of public education systems.

 

**Job description and responsibilities:**

 

The Head – Research will lead the research vertical to fulfill project goals by primarily completing end-to-end research projects as allocated.  This role will also drive the organization’s thinking and approach towards research and build the team’s internal capacity.

 

**Responsibilities:**

 

* **Project Management (30%):**

    * Design and implement processes for the research team to function effectively by selecting appropriate research themes and dissemination pathways.

    * Design and implement annual and monthly plans to carry out various phases of research projects.

    * Engage with diverse stakeholders in urban and rural areas through in-depth interviews, FGDs, surveys, etc., to collect data.

    * Design research studies, including writing grant proposals, developing data collection methods and analysis, and final reports.

    * Create content for dissemination via social media and other online platforms.

    * Support documentation related needs for program evaluation or validation within the organization.

    * Coordinate with other teams and operations counterparts to ensure smooth implementation.

    * Create dissemination plans for each research project to ensure reports are widely consumable.

 

* **Team Management (30%):**

    * Coordinate with partner organizations and field enumerators to enable data collection.

    * Design and lead team structures to foster a culture of collaboration, belief in public systems, strong accountability, and timely project delivery.

    * Develop and mentor the team to imbue excellent research skills and mindsets.

    * Assist the organization in recruitment and selection of the right team members.

 

* **Stakeholder Management (20%):**

    * Work with the senior leadership team to identify and secure necessary funding sources for the research vertical.

    * Engage existing funders with the organization’s work to ensure continued partnerships.

    * Submit timely donor reports to keep funders informed and updated at regular intervals.

 

* **Research Design & Report Writing (20%):**

    * Design and write research and grant proposals.

    * Conduct in-depth literature reviews considering primary and secondary research.

    * Transcribe, clean, and analyze data collected through various methods.

    * Write up final research reports or media articles as per work allocation plans.

 

**Requirements**

 

* **Education & Experience:**

    * Degree with a specialization in social science/policy research. MPhil/PhD preferred, Masters’ degree mandatory.

    * Background in Education/Social Sciences/Education/Public Policy preferred.

    * Minimum 3-4 years of experience executing research projects.

    * Published at least 3 research articles/papers/blogs, etc.

    * Prior experience in managing small teams highly preferred.

    * Interest or prior experience in research projects on public schools, capacity building, and policy implementation would be an added advantage. 

    * **Important:** Given the nature of the project, please apply only if you qualify based on the above requirements.

 

* **Knowledge, Skills & Capabilities:**

    * Strong skills in executing quantitative and qualitative research methods.

    * Strong skills in using quantitative and qualitative data analysis tools – R, SPSS, Atlas Ti, etc. 

    * Excellent written and oral communication skills. Knowledge of Marathi would be preferred.

    * Belief in the potential of the public sector and that government systems can and will change towards overcoming systemic inequities and ensuring improved outcomes for all citizens.

    * A basic understanding of social equity, development discourse, and education policy in India.

    * Ability to take initiative and work in an autonomous, semi-structured environment.

    * Adaptability to changing responsibilities and resourcefulness to respond to them.

    * High openness to learning.

    * Ability to build and sustain relationships with multiple stakeholders and partners across public and private spaces.

    * Strong ability to create outstanding presentations, work with Microsoft Excel, Google Suite, and varied data sets.

    * Patience and resilience to persevere in the face of setbacks and uncertainties.

 

**Location and Compensation**

 

* **Location:** Pune, Maharashtra. Frequent travel to rural areas across states where LFE is working.

* **Compensation:**  Apart from being a part of a young and dynamic learning team, the individual will receive a competitive compensation package at par with the non-profit sector benchmark for this position, commensurate with the individual’s prior experience and qualifications. The current compensation band offered, based on fit and experience, is 15,00,000 – 16,00,000 lakh INR per annum CTC. 

 

**Leadership For Equity is an Equal Opportunity Employer and Prohibits Discrimination and Harassment of Any Kind. We do not discriminate on the basis of caste, race, religion, color, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, or any other non-merit factor.**