Research Associate
HybridFull-timeMid · 4-5 yearsH1B likely
About this role
About iDreamCareer
iDreamCareer is India's leading career guidance company, working with private schools, state governments, and CSR and social impact partners to build structured, NEP-aligned career guidance for students. We are the technical partner to CBSE for career guidance, and our programs run across more than 14 state governments through partnerships with CSR bodies and international organizations, alongside our private school offering. Since 2012, we have supported over a million students with career counselling, psychometric assessment, and guidance toward informed education and career choices. As career pathways increasingly intersect with skilling and vocational education, our research and design work continues to evolve to reflect this broader landscape.
About the role
You will work with a passionate team on projects with real impact, and your own work will directly shape how young people across India find and follow a meaningful career path. The role combines desk research, evidence synthesis, and applied research methods across curriculum, career guidance, and related education research initiatives, working closely with the Senior Research Specialist.
Key responsibilities
- Conduct structured literature and policy reviews across national and global education frameworks, applying rigorous documentation standards and maintaining traceable evidence trails to support the credibility and reproducibility of research findings.
- Lead data collection and analysis across ongoing projects, ensuring methodological soundness and accuracy from raw data through to final reporting.
- Support competency mapping, domain taxonomy development, and evidence synthesis for curriculum design projects, helping translate large volumes of source material into structured, decision-ready frameworks.
- Apply a combination of quantitative and qualitative research methods to assess learning outcomes, skill gaps, and programme effectiveness, generating insights that directly inform design and delivery decisions.
- Support the design of classroom-based, curriculum-aligned assessment tools, ensuring they are practical for teachers to administer and meaningful for tracking learner progress.
- Translate research findings into clear, actionable inputs for curriculum, design, and delivery teams, bridging the gap between research and on-the-ground implementation.
- Contribute to other research initiatives within the organization, bringing methodological rigour and research capacity to projects beyond the immediate scope of this role.
- Contribute to academic writing and advocacy efforts, including reports, papers, and other outputs that position the organization's work within the wider education research and policy landscape.
Required qualifications
- A Master's degree in Psychology, Education, or a related field, with 4 to 5 years of relevant experience in education research or curriculum development. Candidates currently pursuing or having recently completed a PhD in Education, Psychology, or a related social science field are also encouraged to apply.
- Strong working knowledge of NEP 2020 and NCF-SE 2023, enabling the candidate to situate research and design work within the current Indian policy landscape from day one.
- A solid grounding in curriculum design and pedagogy, particularly competency-based and experiential learning approaches, reflecting the pedagogical philosophy the design work is built around.
- Demonstrated proficiency in both quantitative and qualitative research methods, with the ability to move fluidly between the two depending on what a given research question requires.
- Strong analytical and written communication skills, with the ability to work independently across large, evolving datasets and translate complex findings into clear, usable outputs.
Preferred
- Experience with policy analysis, national or global skills frameworks, or vocational education systems.
- Familiarity with the Indian school education policy landscape, including state-level systems and how they differ from national frameworks in practice.
- Exposure to classroom-based or formative assessment design.
Engagement details
- Start date: September 1, 2026
- Duration: 12 months, consulting basis, with possible extension for a further 12 months based on project need and performance
- Work mode: Hybrid, 2 days a week from office (Vasant Kunj, Delhi)
- Compensation: As per market standards