Grade 8: £41,526–£49,553 with a discretionary range of £54,131 p.a.
Are you motivated by the opportunity to work with a dynamic research team who are trying to improve the quality of education for children around the world? Are you up for a challenging role that provides the opportunity to facilitate important research collaboration, and help develop an impactful research agenda? If so, we’d love to hear from you.
We anticipate that this researcher will focus on the direct role of community members (parents and students) in shaping the education system through both 'voice' and 'choice'. This includes the role of community-based accountability (eg school-based management committees, information campaigns and other vehicles) as well as the role of the low-cost private sector in education systems. Candidates should also be willing to contribute to work on any of the topics in the Research on Improving Systems of Education Programme (RISE) agenda. While this is the focus of the role, candidates should be willing to contribute to work on any of the topics in the RISE agenda, as priorities and needs may shift over the course of the project.
The successful candidate will need a master’s degree in economics, public policy, international development or another relevant field, as well as having significant work experience in international development, economics, political science, public policy, education or a related field. You will have training in micro-economic theory, game theory and econometrics, or other relevant technical training and skills, together with experience with international development and/or international education research. It is also key to have familiarity with the literature in the field – familiarity or experience with specific topics related to management and teachers is a plus.
The main duties are to develop research questions and conduct individual research related to RISE work on client power, voice/choice, and private schools, including advanced analysis of quantitative data – and some qualitative data – from multiple sources.
You will need to take responsibility for management of the RISE thematic areas of client power, voice, and private sector, and lead synthesis of RISE research findings on this topic. This will involve preparing working theories and analysing quantitative data and some qualitative research findings from a variety of sources, reviewing and refining theories as appropriate, and adapting existing and developing new research methodologies and materials.
You will also contribute to wider project planning, including identifying gaps in the RISE research agenda, proposing research projects that could fill these gaps and executing these plans. This may involve raising research funds through grant applications and managing independent areas of the larger research budget.
You should have outstanding communication, organisational and interpersonal skills and professionalism with the ability to engage with senior colleagues and stakeholders.
This post is fixed-term to 30 September 2022 due to external funding.
For further details, please consult the full job description.
The closing date for applications is 12.00 noon on Wednesday 6 November 2019.