Education Research Consultant – Systems Strengthening (GORaF)

Organization: UNICEF Innocenti – Global Office of Research and Foresight
Position: Consultancy – Education Research (Systems Strengthening)
Contract Type: Consultant (Remote)
Duration: Approx. 180 working days
Location: Remote (duty station Florence, Italy)
Application Deadline: 15 July 2025
Job Reference: 581995
Categories: Education, Innovation, Research, Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation

About the Role

UNICEF Innocenti seeks a research consultant to support the Systems Strengthening workstream, particularly in the co-creation of research with Ministries of Education in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia. This includes the Data Must Speak (DMS), Teachers for All (T4A), and Women in Learning Leadership (WiLL) initiatives. The focus is on designing research, analyzing data, supporting stakeholder engagement, and contributing to global education evidence.

Key Responsibilities & Estimated Time Allocation

1. New Research on Teachers (30 days):

   • Conduct a scoping review to identify evidence gaps and priorities

   • Map current initiatives, stakeholders, and fundraising opportunities

2. T4A Research Reports (20 days):

   • Finalize country-level research outputs with conceptual and data support

3. Working Paper – Middle-tier Actors (30 days):

   • Draft a paper exploring roles of district/local-level education administrators

4. Methodology Brief – Scaling Sciences (20 days):

   • Develop a brief based on DMS Positive Deviance research

5. Methodological Toolkit (20 days):

   • Build a toolkit to support replication of Positive Deviance methodologies

6. Research Support – WiLL in Country B (40 days):

   • Assist with research strategy, reporting, and engagement with national actors

7. Strategic Outreach & Partnerships (20 days):

   • Collaborate with the What Works Hub for Global Education (WWHGE) and others

   • Identify joint opportunities and engagement activities

Qualifications

Required:

• Master’s or higher in Economics, Education, Statistics, Social Policy, Political Science, or related fields

• Minimum 5 years of professional research experience (developing countries context preferred)

• Proficiency in STATA, R, and Power BI

• Strong quantitative analysis, report writing, and synthesis of complex data

• Experience with donor engagement, research proposals, and strategic outreach

• Excellent written and oral skills in English and French

• Strong interpersonal and teamwork skills

Desirable:

• Experience with large datasets and mixed methods research

• Familiarity with NVivo or similar qualitative tools

• Previous collaboration with UNICEF or other UN bodies

• Experience in synthesizing education research for practical use