Project Manager

About Central Square Foundation (CSF)

Founded in 2012, Central Square Foundation is a non-profit philanthropic foundation working with the vision of ensuring quality school education for all children in India. CSF has a mission focused on ensuring high-quality foundational learning for all children in India. To achieve this, we partner with individuals and social impact organizations to bring innovative solutions in education to build the capacity of the government to drive systemic impact. To learn more about us and our work, visit

About the Research, Monitoring, Evaluation, Assessment and Learning (RMEAL) team

CSF's endeavour is to transform the school education system in India and advance children's learning outcomes, especially for those from vulnerable socio-economic backgrounds. The RMEAL practice undertakes a range of research, assessment and M&E activities to understand the 'what works' and 'why it works' elements of driving systems improvement and impact. Intending to generate evidence to strengthen education programs and policy, the team provides technical support to other verticals within CSF as well as oversight on third-party research studies.

CSF's Research, Assessment and M&E team is deeply engaged, advised, and mentored by renowned experts like Luis Crouch (Chief Technical Officer, RTI International), Ben Piper (Sr. Director, RTI International), Karthik Muralidharan (Chair, JPAL S.Asia). The Project Manager will join a high-caliber leadership team with collective experience working in both corporate and development sector organizations like BCG, IFMR, J-PAL, IGC, NITI Aayog, and National Skill Development Corporation.

Position Summary

The Project Manager, RMEAL will serve as a critical enabler for all the team functions, and support the peers and senior members in operationalizing the team strategy. The person's time will be primarily split between Foundational Literacy and Numeracy (FLN) and EdTech portfolio of the RMEAL vertical.The key responsibilities are as follows:

Roles & Responsibilities

Core Responsibilities (70%) - Assessments:

• Support the state team in setting up assessment architecture for FLN at system level for spot-tests and achievement surveys
• Ensure quality and rigor of assessments (items, instruments and methodology), ensuring quality standards. Conduct assessment quality checks through rigorous item review and finalization.
• Provide support for developing training materials for dissemination workshops (post assessment) to be organized at the State/UT/district levels.
• Develop key knowledge products such as position papers, approach and concept notes and other relevant documentation related to assessments.
• Contributing to the execution of rigorous quantitative and qualitative evaluations to understand the impact of our programs on improving student learning and other pathways to change. Working on evaluation activities including devising Theories of Change, undertaking tool development, training for and management of data collection, and mixed-methods data analysis
• Undertake Data Analysis and Dissemination: Quantitative and qualitative data analysis, secondary research, synthesis of findings and insights, and report writing

Secondary Responsibility (30%) - Evaluations :

• Identifying and devising appropriate research designs - spanning quantitative, qualitative, process, and action research - taking into account the research objectives, as well as how to operationalize the research
• Conceptualize and design monitoring frameworks (including tools and processes) that can be adopted by CSF verticals, partner organisations, and government bodies

Skills and Qualifications

• Bachelor's in economics, public policy, education, or related field (Master's preferred) with coursework in assessment design and research methods.
• 35 years of relevant work in assessment design, implementation, M&E, or education policy researchideally in consulting, think-tanks, or implementing agencies; Indian education policy exposure is a plus.
• Strong grounding in educational theory and assessment design (psychometrics/Item Response Theory), along with practical experience in implementation. Hands-on experience in Stata/R, SurveyCTO/Tangerine, and qualitative tools (NVivo/Dedoose); proficient in Excel and PowerPoint.
• Ability to interpret assessment data, draw actionable insights, and clearly communicate findings to non-technical audiences.
• Good capability to manage multiple projects, work with diverse stakeholders, and influence decisions with maturity and minimal supervision.

Desired Qualities

• Strong action-bias, influencing & and communication skills - the ability to synthesize technical insights into actionable steps
• Passion for making a scaled impact in education and belief in the possibility of foundational learning for all children
• Willingness to adapt to the dynamic nature of work and travel to project locations
• Prior understanding of and experience in FLN and Edtech related projects, especially in India, will be an advantage.