Data Lead, School Education Department, Tamil Nadu

About The Education Alliance

The Education Alliance (TEA) is a non-profit organization that warmly welcomes all those who share our passion for providing high-quality education to every child in India. Headquartered in Delhi, we are committed to promoting system reform projects that help to ensure that all children in India have equitable access to quality education.

We support state education departments by deploying highly qualified teams that work with state and non-state actors to co-create solutions to improve the quality of education in government schools. We currently operate in five states (Delhi, Tamil Nadu, Madhya Pradesh, Tripura, and Punjab) and are proud to have a dedicated team of 50+ young professionals.

Why TEA?

Joining TEA provides you with a rare opportunity to drive meaningful and lasting change within the education system, working alongside top politicians (ministers) and bureaucrats (IAS officers) who are leading education reform in the country. As a member of our team, you’ll have the chance to help deliver statewide education projects that make a real difference in the lives of children and their families.

At TEA, we believe in creating a positive work environment that fosters growth and development, and we’re proud to be certified as a ‘Great Place To Work®’. We offer some of the most progressive work policies in the not-for-profit sector, with a strong focus on employee development and well-being, ensuring that young professionals have every opportunity to build a fulfilling and successful career with us.

Who are we looking for?

We’re looking for passionate, driven, and highly qualified young professionals who are eager to build a career in public policy and public administration, with a focus on education. If you have excellent project management and problem-solving skills, we’d love to hear from you. Our rigorous recruitment process ensures that we find the right candidates for the role and the culture of our organization.

Joining TEA is an exciting opportunity to make a meaningful and long-lasting impact in education. 

About the Role:

Position Summary:

This leadership role entails the construction and oversight of data dashboards, the development and enhancement of data models, data ingestion cleanup, and the enrichment of data to strengthen data-driven governance for the Tamilnadu School Education Department. This leadership position involves building and leading a team of data professionals. The Data team lead will play a pivotal role in extracting actionable insights from complex datasets and contributing to data-driven decision-making processes. The ideal candidate should have a strong background in data analysis, statistical modelling, and programming, with a passion for solving real-world problems using data.

Key Responsibilities:

Data Governance and Quality

• Establish data governance policies and procedures to maintain data accuracy, consistency, and compliance with data privacy regulations.
• Monitor data quality, perform data validation, and implement data cleansing processes as necessary.
• Ensure data security and access controls are in place to protect sensitive information.

Reporting and Analysis

• Oversee the creation and delivery of regular and ad-hoc reports, dashboards, and data visualizations to support educational decision-making
• Design and set up Automation processes to be able to service report requirements
• Conduct in-depth data analysis to identify trends, insights, and areas for improvement in the education system.
• Translate complex data findings into actionable recommendations for policy development and program improvement.

Data Infrastructure

• Design, develop, and maintain a scalable and robust data infrastructure to capture, store, and process education-related data.
• Implement best practices in data architecture, data modelling, and data warehousing to ensure data accessibility and usability.
• Collaborate with the EMIS team to ensure data systems are secure, compliant, and meet departmental needs.

Stakeholder Engagement

• Collaborate with various stakeholders within the Tamilnadu School Education Department, including policymakers, educators, and administrators, to understand their data needs.
• Communicate data insights effectively to non-technical audiences and provide data-driven recommendations to support decision-making.

Team Building and Leadership:

• Recruit, mentor, and lead a team of data analysts, and data scientists.
• Foster a culture of collaboration, innovation, and continuous learning within the data team.
• Set clear objectives and performance expectations for team members and conduct regular performance evaluations.

Continuous Improvement

• Stay up-to-date with the latest developments in data management, analytics, and technology trends.
• Identify opportunities for process improvement and automation to enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of data-related operations.

Communication & Documentation

• Documentation and communication related to program achievements/outcomes and program implementation through concept notes, presentations, reports, approval letters, etc.
• Documentation on on-ground learnings and knowledge received from external partners to support TEA’s internal capacity/knowledge building

Required Qualifications, Skills, and Abilities:

• Bachelor’s degree in a data-related field (e.g., Computer Science, Data Science, Statistics) required; advanced degree preferred.
• Proven experience in data management, data analysis, or a related field, with a minimum of 5 years of leadership experience.
• Strong knowledge of data warehousing, ETL processes, data modelling, and database management systems.
• Expert-level experience in SQL, PL/SQL, Python, R
• Strong analytical (read quantitative) and problem-solving skills.
• Strong communication skills (both written and verbal), experience in documentation, writing reports, proposals, and presentation skills
• Strong project management skills – prioritisation, setting goals, assessing progress and course-correction
• Ability to work collaboratively with cross-functional teams and communicate technical concepts to non-technical stakeholders.
• Understanding education-related data and policies is a plus.
• Experiences working with the government and in the education sector are desirable, though not necessary.
• High level of spoken and written fluency in English and Tamil

Salary: 12+ LPA

Expected date of Joining: Immediate

Employment Type: Permanent / Full Time

Location: Tamilnadu School Education Department, Chennai, Tamil Nadu

Reports To: State Lead, Tamil Nadu

To apply, fill out the form here.