Director of Insight and Impact

The context:

Across the developing world, more children than ever are in school – but they are not learning. A recent study estimated that less than 1% of school children in Sub-Saharan Africa attend a school where the teaching meets basic standards of quality. At Rising Academies, we’re changing that, and we want your help. Our mission is to create the best schools and the most powerful teaching and learning tools for the people that need it most. We’re one of the fastest-growing quality-focused education companies in Africa, and a Certified B Corp®.

About us:

Founded in Sierra Leone in 2014, we’ve spent over a decade crafting learning solutions proven to dramatically improve student outcomes that elevate teaching quality at scale. 7 RCTs have shown that the students we support learn, on average, 2.4x faster each year than their peers in comparable schools.

Today, we serve more than a quarter of a million students across 1,000 schools in West and East Africa through three integrated and complimentary channels:

• Scalable Government Partnerships: We partner and collaborate with local and national governments across Africa to transform the quality of public school systems at scale.
• Pioneering Great-Value Private Schools: Our innovative networks of private schools deliver best-in-class results for children while developing highly scalable new technologies and approaches.
• High Impact Solutions for Partners: We offer our proven high-impact solutions to other education providers and schools to improve school performance & increase outcomes.

Our innovative approaches combine expertly designed curriculum materials, personalized learning experiences, intensive teacher coaching and actionable data for school leaders. You can learn more about our solutions here: https://www.risingacademies.com/oursolutions

At Rising we keep the safety and well-being of our students at the heart of what we do. All Rising employees are expected to abide by the Child Protection Policy, and to share in our commitment to meeting the highest standards of safeguarding excellence and protecting children from harm.

About the role:

We are looking for an exceptional and impact-driven individual to join our team as Director of Insight and Impact here at Rising Academies. At Rising, we believe great ideas should be tested, proven, and scaled to transform education systems. As Director of Insight and Impact, you will be at the heart of this mission, shaping our Learning Agenda, ensuring our programmes use data to drive improvement, and showcasing our results to the world.

You will strengthen our collective data capacity across central, group-level functions, including Academics and Digital, and across our private school and partnership implementations in all operating countries. You will also help set bold research priorities, connect evidence to action, and amplify Rising’s voice as a leader in education innovation and impact across Africa and beyond.

The Director of Insight and Impact will:

• Lead the development of a multi-year Learning Agenda and annual monitoring, evaluation, and learning plans that guide our research and improvement efforts.
• Strengthen how programme teams use implementation data, ensuring insights lead to tangible improvements in program delivery.
• Design and embed practical continuous-improvement tools across varied implementation models.
• Build organisational capacity to gather, verify, interpret, and act on data.
• Oversee high-quality studies, ensuring they meet rigorous methodological and ethical standards to measure impact and drive scale.
• Share Rising’s evidence and insights with credibility, through conferences, policy forums, and publications like our Annual Impact Report.
• Partner with the senior leadership team to ensure data and learning shape strategy and decision-making at all levels.

Location and reporting:

This is a full-time position. The role will be reporting to Rising’s Chief Academics Officer (CAO), with very close links to Rising’s Chief Program Officer and country programme implementation teams.

Ideally to be based in one of our Operating countries (Ghana, Sierra Leone, Liberia or Rwanda), but can be based anywhere on the African continent or globally.

NB: To clarify, this is a single position but posted to various locations (markets).

Application deadline:

The target start-date for this role will be February 2026. Thus applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis, we encourage interested candidates to apply as soon as possible.

Requirements

Qualifications and Experience:

• 8+ years leading research, MERL, or impact-focused roles, ideally within education or learning programmes in Africa or similar contexts.
• Strong track record designing and delivering research agendas and MEL frameworks that translate into real improvements.
• Skilled in a range of research and evaluation methods, from implementation studies to large-scale impact assessments.
• Confident turning complex data into clear insights and takeaways through dashboards, reports, and rapid learning cycles.
• Experience commissioning or managing external research partners, ensuring quality, timeliness, and ethical standards.
• Strong communicator, with the credibility to engage governments, funders, and partners, and to represent Rising at high-profile convenings.
• Proven leadership skills with experience managing teams, budgets, and cross-organisational initiatives.
• Advanced degree in Education, Public Policy, Economics, or a related field, or equivalent experience driving evidence-based impact, preferred.

About You:

• You are passionate about evidence and impact - driven to ensure every study, dataset, and report leads to better outcomes for children.
• A systems thinker with a bias for action - you spot patterns, simplify complexity, and move quickly to test improvements.
• A clear communicator who can translate rigorous research into stories and insights that inspire busy decision-makers.
• Collaborative - you enjoy working across teams, coaching others, and influencing without authority.
• Practical and resilient - you thrive in a fast-paced, resource-conscious environment and adapt quickly when priorities shift.
• Ethical and values-driven - committed to safeguarding, research integrity, and protecting those at the heart of our work: children.

Benefits

Why Join Us?

• Impact: Our students achieve learning gains 2.4 times faster than their peers in comparable schools, positioning our impact in the top 10% of global education interventions. This role offers an opportunity to contribute meaningfully to this proven success.
• Compensation: We offer a competitive salary and benefits package. We regularly benchmark our compensation against comparable businesses, social ventures and non-profits. Rising’s goal is to be transparent about salaries at all levels of the organisation and have a standard, global pay scale for all positions that is non-negotiable.
• Continuous Development and Growth: Rising is a Certified B Corp and twice named in its “Best for the World” list. We are committed to continuous development, which is grounded in our values and a vital part of how we bring the ‘Rising Way’ to life. We provide a nurturing environment where our staff are supported with the right ongoing conversations with their managers, among teams and as an organization, to support their career growth and help us reach our goals.

Rising is an Equal Opportunity Employer. We celebrate diversity and are committed to providing a work environment that is inclusive and free of discrimination and harassment. All employment decisions are based on individual qualifications without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, sexual orientation, ethnicity, gender identity and expression, national origin, family or parental status, veteran or disability status.

Rising is committed to creating a culture within the organisation, and its schools, that recognises the importance of safeguarding children and prioritising their rights and needs. We strive to uphold international safeguarding standards, and keep the safety and well-being of our students at the heart of what we do. All Rising employees are expected to abide by the Child Protection Policy, and to have the same level of commitment to protect children from harm. Safeguarding questions are part of every interview process and all Rising employees undergo reference checks before joining the organisation.