Open to opportunities

Rafael Varela

@rafaelvarela

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Project manager in educational assessment bridging data analysis and instructional design.

Belgium

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What I'm looking for

I seek roles combining project leadership, educational assessment and data analysis in collaborative, impact-focused organizations where I can drive evidence-based improvements in learning.

I am a project manager with extensive experience delivering educational assessment projects across Chile and Latin America, combining strong stakeholder management with technical data skills in SAS and R. I led proposals, budgets, teams and training activities, and I received an award for outstanding performance as Project Manager in 2018.

I hold a Master of Educational Studies (final semester) at KU Leuven with a thesis analyzing student behavior on an e-learning platform using log data, and earlier degrees in psychology and public policy. I have conducted psychometric, descriptive and inferential analyses, validated national datasets for PIAAC, and coordinated test development contracts with the Ministry of Education.

I am fluent in Spanish and English with intermediate French, certified as a CAPM, and trained in Agile, Scrum and generative AI for project managers. I seek roles where I can combine educational research, data analysis and project leadership to improve assessment and learning outcomes.

Experience

Work history, roles, and key accomplishments

Current

Volunteer Tutor

Current

Internat Folon - Fédération Wallonie Bruxelles

Jan 2025 - Present (8 months)

Provide in-person English lessons to support students' language learning and classroom participation.

Lesson planning Communication Mentoring

Project Manager

MIDE UC - Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile

Oct 2015 - Aug 2023 (7 years 10 months)

Managed educational assessment projects across Chile and Latin America, delivering on scope, budget, and schedule while achieving high client satisfaction and winning a 2018 outstanding performance award.

Project Management Stakeholder Management Budgeting Proposal Development Team Leadership SAS R Educational Assessment Instruction

Test Development Coordinator

MIDE UC - Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile

May 2015 - Sep 2015 (4 months)

Coordinated development of a pedagogical skills assessment for recent teacher graduates under a Ministry of Education contract, delivering the test on time and to specification.

Test Development Assessment Design Project Coordination Quality Assurance

Data Manager

MIDE UC - Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile

Jan 2013 - May 2015 (2 years 4 months)

Developed and validated final PIAAC datasets for Chile, including questionnaires and scoring rules, with approvals from the Ministry of Education and the PIAAC consortium.

Data Management Data Validation Occupational Coding SAS Quality Control

Data Analyst and Test Developer

MIDE UC - Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile

Oct 2011 - Jan 2013 (1 year 3 months)

Performed psychometric, descriptive, and inferential analyses on INICIA assessment results and prepared data products for stakeholders and the public.

Data Analysis Statistical Analysis R SAS Test Development Reporting

Training and Development Consultant

Pineal Consulting

Jul 2010 - Aug 2011 (1 year 1 month)

Designed in-person, online, and blended training programs and developed metrics to evaluate their impact for organizational clients.

Curriculum Development Blended Learning Metrics Stakeholder Engagement

Education

Degrees, certifications, and relevant coursework

KU Leuven

Master of Educational Studies, Educational Studies

2023 -

Master of Educational Studies with coursework in educational measurement, research methods, and statistics; thesis on analysis of students' behavior on an e‑learning platform using log data.