Consultant – High-Potential Students

Role summary

Consultant – High-Potential Students is a role at Central Square Foundation in Gujarat, India (on-site). Posted 2026-08-10. Experience level: 0-2. No degree required.

Job title

Consultant – High-Potential Students

Company

Central Square Foundation

Location

Gujarat, India

Work arrangement

on-site

Category

Software Engineering

Experience level

0-2

Degree required

No

Date posted

2026-08-10

Job description

About the Programme

India’s school education system serves ~25 crore children. Many of these students come from underserved communities and face systemic gaps in identification and support. With most interventions beginning only after Grade 10, much of this potential remains untapped and underdeveloped.

To bridge this gap, CSF introduced a new workstream, High Potential Students (HPS), in 2025 to support India’s bright young minds from underprivileged backgrounds in becoming future innovators, researchers, and leaders. By 2030, we aim to transform the learning journeys of 1 lakh students by equipping them with the skills, support and exposure needed to thrive in higher education and high-growth careers. Through this work, we are committed to advancing equity and excellence, empowering young minds from every corner of India to realise their full potential.

As part of this workstream, CSF is launching a one-year initiative in Gujarat, in partnership with the Education Department, Government of Gujarat, to strengthen the state’s STEM learning ecosystem. The initiative works across two connected strands. The first strengthens the capacity of Atal Tinkering Lab (ATL) trainers across the state through a statewide diagnostic study, a digital learning hub, regional training workshops and a Master Trainer network. The second is a statewide STEM Excellence Challenge that identifies and nurtures high-potential student innovators across residential model schools, taking them from school-level innovation workshops through a multi-stage selection process to a state-level finale. Designed as a pilot, the initiative aims to generate evidence and a replicable model for statewide and multi-state expansion.

Job Description

HPS is looking for a motivated early-career professional to anchor data, reporting and coordination for the Gujarat STEM initiative. The consultant will build and run the programme’s monitoring and reporting systems, and coordinate day to day across government stakeholders, implementation partners and participating schools to keep delivery on track. The role requires thoughtful problem-solving, critical engagement with information and a high degree of ownership.

Please note that this role will be based in Gujarat and will require close, day-to-day coordination with the Education Department, Government of Gujarat and other relevant government stakeholders, along with regular travel to schools and districts across the state.

Key Responsibilities:

Build and maintain the programme’s monitoring and tracking systems across both strands, including gender-disaggregated indicators

Collect, clean and analyse implementation data from partners, schools and the field, and synthesise it into actionable insights

Prepare regular progress reports, review decks and documentation for internal teams, government stakeholders and partners

Coordinate on a day-to-day basis with the Education Department, Government of Gujarat, district officials, implementation partners and participating schools

Support delivery of the STEM Excellence Challenge, including school onboarding, workshop scheduling, tracking of student submissions, shortlisting and finale logistics

Support the ATL strand, including the diagnostic study, teacher onboarding and uptake tracking on the learning hub, and coordination of regional workshops

Undertake field and monitoring visits to schools and labs, and document observations and agreed follow-up actions

Conduct secondary research and support case documentation, storytelling and knowledge creation for the programme

Eligibility & Requirements:

Pursuing or recently completed a Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Economics, Law, Public Policy, Education, Social Work or related fields

0–4 years of experience, including exposure to working with or alongside government stakeholders

Strong analytical and problem-solving skills; comfortable working with data to generate actionable insights (Proficiency in MS Excel)

Proficiency in creating structured, visually clear presentations (PowerPoint/Google Slides)

Ability to synthesise complex information into concise, well-structured narratives

Strong written and verbal communication skills

Willingness to be based in Gujarat and travel regularly to schools and districts across the state

Desirable qualities:

Prior exposure to the Indian education sector (internships/projects included)

Interest in or exposure to STEM education, tinkering labs, or student innovation programmes

Familiarity with major Indian education datasets (e.g., UDISE+, NAS, ASER)

Basic understanding of tools like Power BI for data analytics

Working proficiency in Gujarati

What we are looking for:

Works independently with minimal supervision, demonstrating intellectual honesty and strong ownership

Curious and quick to learn; able to work across multiple projects

Comfortable working in the field and coordinating with a wide range of stakeholders

Strong attention to detail, with the ability to manage timelines

Duration of the Consultancy:

Contract term through March 2027, with continuation subject to performance review.

About Central Square Foundation (CSF)

Founded in 2012, Central Square Foundation (CSF) is a non-profit philanthropic foundation working on the vision of ensuring quality school education for all children in India. We are driven by our mission to transform the school education system with a focus on improving learning outcomes of children, especially from low-income communities.

We believe that ensuring Universal, Early, Conceptual and Procedural Mastery of Foundational Skills is absolutely essential for the overall success of the education system. In order to achieve this, we partner with individuals and social impact organizations to bring innovative solutions in education, as well as work with the government to drive systemic impact. We c