Coordinator, Research Learning

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About TaRL Africa

Position:  Coordinator, Research Learning & Evaluation - Côte D'Ivoire

Reports to: Senior Manager, Research Learning & Evaluation 

Location: Abidjan, Côte D'Ivoire

Deadline: 12th December 2025

About the Organization

TaRL Africa is an initiative 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 16 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. 

Research, Learning & Evaluation at TaRL Africa

Collecting, sharing and acting on meaningful evidence is at the heart of the TaRL approach.  A series of randomized evaluations by J-PAL-affiliated and education researchers over the past fifteen years have shown that TaRL consistently improves learning outcomes when implemented well and has led to some of the largest learning gains among rigorously evaluated education programs. 

Continually learning and adapting to amplify the impact of our work is a core value of TaRL Africa. As the approach has moved to scale in Africa, iterative adaptation to the local contexts and testing marginal innovations for efficiency and cost-effectiveness is critical to TaRL's long-term success. We are also investing in the design and testing of new offerings like TaRL in early grades, in line with our 2030 strategic plan. 

The Research, Learning & Evaluation team: 

• leads high-quality research and evaluations both internally and with external partners
• supports TaRL Africa's Program Design and Pedagogy team to effectively test new innovations through learning labs and other R&D efforts;
• drives learning and impact through provision of cutting-edge measurement, analytics, and support for TaRL Africa data systems and knowledge management; 
• generates and facilitates quality evidence uptake and learning within TaRL Africa as well as externally in the global education ecosystem to positively impact foundational literacy and numeracy outcomes in sub-Saharan Africa. 

Role Overview

In Côte d'Ivoire (CIV), TaRL Africa supports the Ministry of Education (MENA) to implement the TaRL approach, which is known as the remediation component of the PNAPAS (Programme National d'Amélioration aux Premiers Apprentissages Scolaires), to improve foundational learning outcomes. The Coordinator, Research, Learning & Evaluation (RLE)  will support TaRL Africa's Central team as part of the Research, Learning & Evaluation department to support program research and evidence generation in sub-Saharan Africa, with a heavy focus on directly implementing learning activities in CIV for the first 1-2 years. 

The Coordinator, RLE,  will play a critical role in TaRL Africa's research and learning activities in CIV. This individual will contribute to the design, implementation, and management of research studies, monitor program data, and generate evidence to inform program improvements and policy discussions. The ideal candidate will have a strong background in quantitative research methods, a passion for education, and experience working in the Ivorian context. Because of the nature of these specific research activities, we are seeking an individual with prior research associate experience for at least one randomized controlled evaluation.

Specifically, the Coordinator, RLE will support key implementation research focused on program improvement to sustain remedial education impact at scale, including a
GPE-KIX project on optimizing teacher professional development, a
SALEX-funded project on teacher mentoring. The  Coordinator, RLE will additionally support design, procurement and implementation of new research and learning work, including the upcoming research component of FID funding of the PNAPAS implementation. The  Coordinator, RLE not only plays a key technical role in ensuring highest-quality research is implemented, but also ensures an impactful learning agenda is maintained internally at TaRL Africa CIV, while serving as a key point of contact externally with Ministry of Education partners, EdLab, and broader global education community in CIV to support a broader research agenda. 

Key Responsibilities

1. Coordinate, communicate and promote TaRL Africa CIV's research & learning plans and priorities internally and externally  (15%)

• Maintain the TaRL Africa Côte d'Ivoire learning agenda and support identification of future learning questions and plans.
• Document progress of all CIV research, learning & innovation activities for global tracking and related OKRs at least quarterly.
• Support Research Manager to oversee progress of CIV research activities.  
• Represent TaRL Africa CIV's research to external entities, including participation in government and local research-focused communities of practice and events. 

2. Rigorous Research Design and Implementation (40%)

• Contribute to the design and implementation of research studies, including:
  • Leading at least one large-scale learning exercise from start to end, to evaluate adaptations to the TaRL implementation in CIV.
  • Leading Cote d'Ivoire-based activities for at least two multi-country TaRL implementation research / innovation projects.
  • Supporting impact evaluation on TaRL in other French countries in the region. 
• Lead the process of applying for local and international institutional review boards.
• Set up a field plan and data flow plan.
• Develop and pilot research instruments, including assessments and surveys.
• Program digital version of questionnaires using software such as SurveyCTO or KoboCollect.
• Oversee data collection activities, ensuring adherence to research protocols and data quality standards, including:
  • Writing clear, concise Stata .do files or R scripts for high frequency checks, data cleaning and analysis.
  • Performing high-frequency checks and data cleaning processes to ensure data quality.
  • Monitoring research study implementation and providing periodic reports to the Principal Investigator and researchers.
  • Identifying possible threats to the validity of the study and communicating that to the larger research team.
  • Systematically recording project decisions and study deviations through the study lifecycle.
• Support analysis report writing, presentation of results.
• Document research results and prepare handover documents that can be used by TaRL Africa staff and/or new researchers in the future.
• Manage relationships with partner organizations and survey firms involved in research projects.

3. Data Management, Analysis, and Knowledge Management (20%)

• Clean, manage, and analyze quantitative data using Stata or R, and qualitative data using Nvivo or other.
• Ensure efficiency and cost-effectiveness best practices are undertaken by maintaining quality MOUs, protocols and checklists for assigned research projects.
• Ensure ethical and security best practices are adhered to for data access, storage, and management for all research and learning projects assigned.
• Contribute to and improve strong knowledge management practices for research data including storage, codebook maintenance, and consistent use of knowledge and project management tools like Dropbox and Asana.
• Contribute to the interpretation of research findings and the preparation of academic and policy-oriented publications.

4. Evidence-Based Learning and Dissemination (10%)

• Work closely with the program team to ensure that research findings are used to inform program design and implementation.
• Prepare high-quality reports, presentations, and other materials to disseminate research findings to a variety of audiences, including government partners, donors, and the academic community.
• Contribute to building a culture of evidence-based decision-making within TaRL Africa and among our partners.

5. Team Collaboration and Technical Support (10%)

• Collaborate with other members of the TaRL Africa research team and program staff in CIV and across the continent.
• Join and contribute to learning team meetings and brainstorming on other TaRL Africa research projects.
• Provide technical support and mentorship to TaRL Africa research staff and enumerators.
• Contribute to the development of research proposals and grant applications.

6. Other special projects and activities as needed (5%)

Required Minimum Qualifications

Education: A Master's degree in Economics, Public Policy, Education, or a related field with a strong quantitative focus. 

Experience:

• Experience working in Cote d'Ivoire, with a strong preference for professional experience in the education sector.
• A minimum of 5 years of relevant work experience in a research-focused role, preferably in the education research sector.
• Experience coordinating an independent research project from start to end.
• Demonstrated experience in designing and implementing quantitative research, including RCTs.
• Experience with survey design, data collection, and data management.
• Experience with data cleaning and data analysis. 

Skills: 

• Proficiency in Stata or R for data analysis is required; familiarity with a qualitative tool such as Nvivo is advantageous.
• Experience in digital survey programming with SurveryCTO, KoboCollect, or similar tool preferred.
• Excellent analytical, problem-solving, and communication skills.
• Strong writing and data visualization skills, with the ability to communicate complex research findings to non-technical audiences.
• Proven ability to work independently and as part of a team.
• Proven ability to handle multiple diverse assignments at one time, successfully completing assigned tasks and meeting deadlines while conducting high-quality work
• Experience working in Côte d'Ivoire and a deep understanding of the local context would be a strong advantage.
• Fluency in French and good knowledge of English are required. 

Attributes:

• A passion for improving education and a commitment to evidence-based practice.
• A proactive and results-oriented approach to work.
• Willingness to travel frequently to program sites in Cote d'Ivoire (estimated up to 30%).

Location

The role will be based in Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire, with frequent travel within Côte d'Ivoire and periodic travel across sub-Saharan Africa (mainly Kenya, Zambia, or Nigeria).

This job description covers the main tasks and conveys the spirit of the sort of tasks that are anticipated proactively from staff. Other tasks may be assigned as necessary according to organizational needs.

WHY JOIN US?

At TaRL Africa, we are committed to ensuring that every child learns the basics and has a chance to succeed. This role offers a unique opportunity to work at the intersection of government reform, pedagogy, and community-level impact. You will be part of a passionate, mission-driven team working across Africa to transform education.

TaRL Africa Values 

1. We put children's learning first.
2. We are always learning, improving, and innovating. 
3. We are locally rooted for high-quality delivery and sustainable impact. 
4. We are kind, respectful, and collaborative.
5. 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.