Research Manager Education

UNICEF Innocenti undertakes and commissions research on emerging or current issues of relevance for children and child rights. The office links research and global trends analyses to influence policies, programming, and advocacy, as well as innovations, and to drive future strategies and vision of the organization and the child rights agenda more broadly amongst governments, private sector, and other institutions.

UNICEF Innocenti uses foresight to set the agenda for children uncovering emerging trends and deepening understanding of key issues facing girls and boys and serving as a go-to office for advising UNICEF and a diversity of actors, including governments, the United Nations, private sector, civil society and children and young people themselves in the face of the continually changing global economy, political and security environment.

UNICEF Innocenti also strives to lead global discourse by creating an enabling environment and platform for children and young people along with global influencers and decision-makers to transform their contributions into future strategies, policies and actions of UNICEF and the world. Thereby positioning children and UNICEF at the centre of the global conversation through prominent external engagement, communication, and influence.

UNICEF Innocenti has a dedicated education unit focused on producing high-quality research and evidence to inform and improve education programmes and systems. Since 2018, the team has been leading and supporting education research in over 40 countries around the world. The education unit has a strong focus on generating research to inform improvements in foundational learning. Research undertaken by the education unit at UNICEF Innocenti follows a co-creation approach working closely with Ministries of Education, and local partners, as well as UNICEF programmatic colleagues from country offices, regional offices, other headquarter units, and a host of external education and research partners. The education unit in UNICEF Innocenti is comprised of two major workstreams:

The systems strengthening workstream co-creates research with Ministries of Education to understand how different policies and practices can improve education systems to be more equitable, inclusive and learning focused. It focuses on identifying key levers to improve education systems from the national, middle-tier and local levels, including gathering evidence on local solutions from schools and teachers themselves. This workstream includes research projects including the Data Must Speak (DMS) projects, Teachers for All (T4A), and Women in Learning Leadership (WiLL) projects.

The programme strengthening workstream embeds research into programmes, innovations, and initiatives, to understand what works, and how they work to inform improvements in programme delivery and design in real time. Research is undertaken across a number of different types of programmes focused on improving foundational skills including, accelerated and differentiated learning programmes, digital learning, early childhood education, and inclusive education for children with disabilities programmes.

Under the guidance and general supervision of the Chief of Education (Level 5), the Research Manager – Education will lead the Systems Strengthening research workstream. The research manager will provide technical leadership for the research of the workstream and strategic guidance, manage day to day operations of the research team and manage partnerships related to the research portfolio, including but not limited to the What Works Hub for Global Education (WWHGE) strategic partnership, and Building Evidence in Education (BE2) initiative.

To qualify as an advocate for every child you will have:

Minimum requirements:

Education:

• An advanced university degree in one of the following fields is required: education, economics, psychology, sociology or another relevant technical field.

Work Experience:

• A minimum of eight years of professional experience in education research, social science research, education programming or related fields.

Skills:

• Strong experience in statistical analysis utilizing large data sets, is required. Demonstrated people management skills and the ability to forge and manage partnerships. Proven experience drafting quality research outputs for different stakeholders and audiences is required. Experience working in a development setting, managing programmes and / or research is required. Knowledge of econometric models and identification strategies to test impact of programmes required. Excellent written and oral communication skills.

Language Requirements:

• Fluency in English is required. Knowledge of another official UN language (Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian or Spanish) or a local language is an asset.

Source: https://jobs.unicef.org/cw/en-us/job/573587