Position title: Head of Research, Evidence & Data
Reports to: Director of Measurement, Learning & Evaluation
Location: Nairobi Kenya preferred but other TaRL offices can be considered
Deadline: 17th February 2025
About the organisation
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, and Zambia and locally registered offices in Nigeria and Côte d’Ivoire. 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 learning 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 education systems effectively equip children with these foundational skills.
We support governments and organisations in over 15 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 five million children with TaRL programming.
Summary of the Role
We are seeking a versatile, technically experienced, and implementation-focused Head of Research, Evidence & Data to drive our global rigorous learning activities in support of TaRL Africa’s ambitious 2025 learning agenda and strategic plan.
Since the inception of TaRL Africa, research and evidence has been at the heart of our organization. The TaRL approach has a well-established evidence base – over 6 RCTs demonstrate that the TaRL program improves student learning outcomes when implemented well. Building on this foundation, TaRL Africa has continued to generate new research activities to continuously learn and improve the TaRL model as it scales in sub-Saharan Africa. We are currently undertaking research funded by five donors encompassing 10 active studies.
The TaRL Africa Head of Research, Evidence & Data will support current research and design and lead a portfolio of future rigorous studies within the Measurement, Learning and Evaluation central team, including impact evaluations, implementation science mixed-method studies, program evaluations, and A/B testing.
To be successful, the Head of Research, Evidence & Data will need to work closely with the central MLE team and country program staff team to understand the program details. In this role the Head of Research, Evidence & Data will directly supervise TaRL Africa central team research and learning staff, while also providing technical guidance to a variety of other MLE and program staff to ensure high-quality research practices are undertaken across TaRL Africa that enable evidence-based learning. This position supervises a Sr Research Coordinator and, as needed, MLE/Research Associates.
This role is akin to an internal principal investigator. It will require frequent engagement with program implementation teams to first understand the program details and then design and enable grounded, practical research and results that support TaRL program improvement that boosts impact. A creative, flexible, high-energy researcher with strong applied skills in quantitative and mixed-method research and who seeks real-life application of their technical expertise outside academia in challenging sub-Saharan African conditions will thrive in this role.
If you are uncertain you fit all the criteria below, please apply anyway – we are out-of-the-box thinkers and encourage all types of applicants.
Duties and Responsibilities
Oversee design and implementation of new and existing research studies from conceptualisation to results write-up in order to rigorously understand, strengthen, and test the impact of TaRL (40%)
- Design new studies using cutting-edge, cost-effective, rigorous approaches to education research and impact evaluations such as implementation science methods and A/B testing
- Conduct power calculations, design sampling frames and learning questions, lead IRB submission, oversee research data quality, generate analysis, and document results including translation of research for wide use and dissemination.
- Scope research opportunities with partners / external researchers and liaise with the external researchers to co-design new studies.
- Manage TaRL Africa technical research team (associates, coordinators)
- Ensure adequate coordination and oversight is taken for research conducted by others such as Research Fellows and learning partners
- Guide TaRL Africa country teams in crafting learning plans, including plans for testing innovations at scale and evaluating program impact
- Work with the Director of MLE to translate the TaRL Africa learning agenda into studies in focus countries
- When necessary, seek support or generate collaborative research teams with relevant external researchers, including helping to draft research proposals and manage commissioned research
Collate and communicate research results for program and policy impact both internally and externally (20%)
- Write up research results for studies conducted internally
- Inform and advance programmatic improvements to boost impact through evidence
- Write policy summaries for the TaRL website of research results
- Creatively communicate research lessons and results with the TaRL Africa program teams, the wider sub- Saharan Africa TaRL community, and more global education stakeholders broadly (e.g.,. through podcasts, newsletters, research results and policy briefs.)
- Present the TaRL learning results at conferences and events
- Support communication with partner organizations about the goals of the learning agenda, consulting on their learning plans and helping to communicate results across the continent to generate cross-learning
Ensure TaRL Africa research and data systems are robust and implemented (20%)
- TaRL Africa policies related to: research compliance, data security, research / data partnerships, and publication
- Ensure TaRL Africa systems support research and data policies and best practices, including IRB compliance, data storage, management of partner agreements (e.g., data sharing, research partnerships, etc)
- Provide training and capacity building for TaRL Africa staff related to data / research ethics and best practices
- Conduct quality assurance and continuous quality improvement exercises
Implement and innovate TaRL Africa’s research strategy and methodologies to expand our scope and impact through evidence-based learning (10%)
- Identify and advise MLE Director on cutting-edge research and new opportunities for TaRL Africa to contribute to the global body of education knowledge
- Participate in supporting research and learning activities that focus on scaling and cross-country TaRL implementation as we grow.
– This includes active interfacing with programs within TaRL to remain abreast of program implementation learning needs and opportunities;
– and supporting knowledge management and transfer across TaRL Africa
- Implement capacity building, training, mentoring, and other support for research design and data analysis activities
- Support communication with partner organizations about the goals of the TaRL Africa learning agenda, consulting on their learning plans and helping to communicate results across the continent
Oversee research program management activities (10%)
- Significantly contribute to new research grant writing including engagement with potential research donors
- Lead compliance and quality of grant-funded research grants including: tracking status and meeting deliverables, ensuring timely submission of donor reports, cultivating positive relationships and engagement with donors and researchers
- Significantly contribute to budget creation, tracking and analysis for research and learning program work
- Oversee procurement processes for research and learning external contracts including quality and cost- effectiveness
Any other tasks assigned by the MLE Director
Requirements
● Master’s degree with a focus on public policy, economics, statistics, education or related field. Must have graduate courses in applied economics, statistics, and policy writing and/or closely related coursework.
● At least 7-10 years of relevant work experience, with at least two years in Africa.
● Demonstrated ability to brainstorm and conduct policy-relevant implementation research studies using rigorous methods such as A/B testing, and experimental/quasi-experimental designs
● Exceptional data analysis skills including experience working in Stata and/or R
● Prior experience as a principal investigator with peer-reviewed publications, with a preference of experience as lead author
● Strong project management skills with demonstrated ability to work on multiple projects at once and deliver to tight deadlines
● Strong interpersonal skills with cross-cultural teams
● Excellent communication skills in English, including writing, conversing, and presenting for both technical and non-technical audiences
● Desire to help improve learning outcomes for students at scale
● Willingness to travel frequently and flexibly
Advantageous
● PhD in relevant degree program such as education economics is highly preferred
● French language ability is an asset
● African nationality
● Significant experience in data visualization techniques
● Experience with data management and analysis using PowerBI or a similar program
● Experience with foundational literacy and numeracy pedagogy and evidence, learning science, and/or educational measurement and assessments
TaRL Africa Values
- We put children’s learning first.
- We are always learning, improving, and innovating.
- We are locally rooted for high-quality delivery and sustainable impact.
- We are kind, respectful and collaborative.
- We are proactive, committed to integrity and doing our best each day.
TaRL Africa provides a nationally peer-benchmarked compensation package aligned with organisational salary scales, taking into account both qualifications and professional experience.
TaRL Africa is an equal-opportunity employer committed to having a diverse workforce.
