Data Scientist - Research & Analytics

About Pratham International

Pratham International is a US 501(c)(3) established to support learning innovations for children and youth in contexts across the globe. We enable the adaptation and spread of proven and scalable education solutions pioneered in India by Pratham Education Foundation to contexts across the global south through programming and technical assistance tailored to local realities.  Today, Pratham reaches approximately 7.5 million children annually across 23 Indian states and union territories and an additional 1 million across 31 countries..

Through the Pratham Shah PraDigi Innovation Centre (PraDigi), Pratham International also seeks to create technology innovations for low-resource communities, and support models aimed at learning for school, work, and life for children and youth. We work on several cutting-edge projects in the domain of Generative AI, Automatic Speech Recognition, and Natural Language Processing. 

The team’s innovative technology products include the Anytime Testing Model (ATM), an AI-enabled question generation and grading system that allows learners to be assessed on any topic, anytime; PadhAI: Reading Assessment App, which uses advanced speech recognition to evaluate children’s reading fluency in Hindi and eight Indian languages; and a suite of LLM-powered chatbots designed for diverse learning contexts: from BaalSakhi for early childhood care, to a skilling interview bot for youth employment readiness, and OCR-based analysis tools that digitize and assess student work at scale. 

At Pratham International, we build for the long term. Whether it’s ensuring products are truly accessible across rural India and the global south through languages, building datasets to ensure context and accuracy for products, or gathering feedback from the field.   Backed by partners like Google.org, Anthropic, and the Gates Foundation, we are committed to building digital public goods that ensure every child is in school and learning well.

Description of the Role

Pratham International, through its wholly-owned subsidiary in India (PULS Pvt. Ltd.), is looking to hire a Data Scientist to join our Research & Analytics team, focused on using data-driven insights to inform programmatic decisions and tackle complex social challenges. Candidates should have strong foundations in statistics, data science, and Python programming and a passion for applying these skills to education and development contexts. This role involves designing and executing rigorous analyses, working across teams to translate needs into tractable data problems, and communicating findings in clear, actionable ways to diverse stakeholders.

As a Data Scientist, you will

• Manage project-level data operations to ensure timely and accurate reporting.
• Undertake regular analyses to inform program design, monitoring, and decision-making.
• Apply statistical and machine learning methods to identify patterns, trends and predictors of educational outcomes.
• Design and evaluate predictive models, with attention to fairness, interpretability and program relevance.
• Lead data wrangling and cleaning, including SQL queries, API calls, survey datasets.
• Ensure data quality, integrity, and documentation for reproducibility.
• Build dashboards, reports, and visualizations (Excel, PowerBI, Tableau, or Python-based tools). 
• Translate technical findings into clear, accessible insights for program, content, and management teams.
• Partner with AI/ML team where advanced modeling or deployment is required. 

Desired Experience and Qualification

We are looking for people who have worked on Data Science projects using machine learning and deep learning and have an orientation towards research. 

• Bachelor’s or higher degree in Data Science, Computer Science, Statistics, Research Methodologies or a related field 

• Proficiency in Python with strong command of standard data science packages (numpy, pandas, scikit-learn, matplotlib, etc.).

• Strong foundations in statistics and probability.

• Ability to implement supervised and unsupervised ML methods, and key components of the data pipeline (cleaning, feature selection, cross-validation, parameter tuning).

• Working knowledge of SQL.

Why join us?

• Impact at a Global Scale: Your work will directly support the learning journeys of millions of children. With programs active in 31 countries, you will help build Digital Public Goods that bridge the gap for the millions of children across the Global South who still struggle with foundational literacy.
• Unique Technical Challenges: We apply advanced machine learning where it is needed most. You will solve "last-mile" problems—such as training ASR models on children's voices and optimizing LLMs for offline, low-bandwidth environments—that are rarely addressed in the commercial sector.
• A Culture of Growth and Evidence: At Pratham, we value rigorous testing and continuous learning. You will have the autonomy to experiment with the latest SOTA models, supported by a 5-year strategic roadmap and funding from partners like the Gates Foundation and Anthropic.
• High-Calibre, Mission-Driven Team: You will work alongside a global team of experts from institutions like MIT, Harvard, and INSEAD. Our alumni have gone on to lead successful startups and international policy shifts, all while remaining dedicated to the goal of "Every Child in School and Learning Well."
• Inclusive and Collaborative Environment: Join a diverse team that spans Asia, Africa, and Latin America. We value innovative thinking and local expertise, ensuring that the technology we build is deeply rooted in the realities of the communities we serve.

Employment Details 

• Contract Type: Full-Time Employment
• Date of Joining: Immediate; applications reviewed on a rolling basis.
• Work from Anywhere in India: We offer a flexible, remote-first work environment for candidates based anywhere in India. While you have the autonomy to work from where you are most productive, you will have the unique opportunity to travel to our field locations periodically. These visits are essential to see your models in the hands of learners and to gather the real-world feedback that drives our innovation.
• Competitive Remuneration: Salary is benchmarked against industry standards for AI/ML roles and is commensurate with experience. As a global organization, we are committed to compensation that recognizes the high-market value of your technical expertise alongside the deep social impact of your work.