Project Manager - National Science Bowl Pakistan

About CERP:

The Centre for Economic Research in Pakistan, or CERP, is a leading independent nonpartisan policy institution focused on improving decision-making in Pakistan through evidence-informed research, engaging with policy counterparts with real policy challenges and designing and advising on high-impact reforms based on data. At CERP, we also deploy cutting-edge pedagogy tailored for Pakistan and provide data insights to the private sector on product and process design.

About the Project:

The National Science Bowl Pakistan (NSBP) is a nationwide competition, inspired by the U.S. Science Bowl, that challenges high school students to expand and apply their knowledge of STEM subjects. It brings together talented students from across the country to compete in fast-paced, buzzer-style quiz rounds that test both individual expertise and collaborative problem-solving.

The Project Manager will lead two connected workstreams under the National Science Bowl Pakistan: the end-to-end delivery of the national science competition for private schools, and the implementation of an associated research project in partner schools. The role brings together programme and event management with field research coordination.

The ideal candidate is highly organised, comfortable managing teams and external stakeholders, and able to keep multiple workstreams on time and within budget.

Job Responsibilities:

1. Competition Delivery (Private School Competition)

• End-to-end ownership: own the full delivery cycle of the National Science Bowl Pakistan competition for private schools
• Project planning: develop and manage a detailed project plan with timelines, resources and goals
• Budget and financial management: create and oversee the competition budget and secure sponsorships, if required
• Outreach and registrations: develop strategies to increase school participation, collaborate on marketing materials, engage with target audiences and manage the registration process
• Competition logistics: plan and coordinate venues, materials, vendors and travel for all competition rounds
• Execution: oversee the running of competition rounds and lead event-day management
• Post-competition wrap-up: finalise results, issue certificates and prepare a lessons-learned report
• Volunteer team management: manage a team of 150+ student volunteers

2. Research Delivery: School Liaison, Surveys and Data Management

• School liaison: maintain relationships with partner schools and secure permissions and scheduling for all field activities
• Survey rounds: plan and execute the baseline and endline survey rounds, including instrument development, piloting and fieldwork
• Data management: oversee data entry and data quality checks for all survey rounds
• Field team management: manage the enumerator team and Research Associate, including training, task allocation and day-to-day supervision

3. Partner and Funder Coordination

• Partner coordination: act as the coordination focal point with implementing partners, preparing and sharing regular project updates
• Intervention design and rollout: coordinate the design of the intervention with implementing partners and manage the transition from practice sessions to full delivery
• Funder reporting: provide funders with regular updates on project progress and milestones

4. Communication and Stakeholder Management

• Maintain effective communication with schools, students, sponsors, partners and other stakeholders, addressing queries and providing timely updates
• Keep project leadership informed of progress, risks and decisions needed across both workstreams

Entry Requirements

Qualifications & Experience

• Minimum bachelor’s degree from a recognised university
• 4 to 5 years of project management experience
• Experience managing events, competitions or education programmes is preferred
• Experience coordinating field research or survey-based projects is a strong plus

Critical Skills:

• Strong communication skills, both written and verbal
• Ability to work independently and collaboratively
• Strong organisational skills and the ability to manage multiple workstreams and deadlines at the same time
• Ability to train, supervise and motivate field and project staff
• Familiarity with surveys, data collection and data quality processes
• Willingness to travel locally