About the Opportunity
The Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL) seeks qualified applicants for positions as Research Associates for projects on agriculture, education, environment, finance, health, labor, and governance in locations around the world. The projects study a variety of topics within the previously listed fields. The positions offer an opportunity to gain first-hand field management experience in an organization undertaking cutting-edge development research. These positions are located primarily in developing countries around the world and the principal investigators are J-PAL affiliated professors.
Research Associates work closely with academic researchers and other field staff to perform a variety tasks including, but not limited to: designing survey questionnaires, conducting qualitative research, running pilot exercises, refining study designs and surveying instruments, managing survey teams, negotiating contracts with survey firms, checking and analyzing data, cleaning data and assisting in preliminary analysis, assisting in the writing of project reports and policy memos, and coordinating with local partners running the programs being evaluated.
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Project Description:
Research on Improving Systems of Education (RISE) is a large scale, multi-country research programme that seeks to understand how school systems in the developing world can overcome the learning crisis and deliver better learning for all.
RISE India country research team, led by Prof. Karthik Muralidharan, Prof. Abhijeet Singh and Dr. Mauricio Romero, running multiple randmonised evaluations of various governance and pedagogy interventions across multiple states of India. In Tamilnadu, we are carrying out randomized evaluations related to early childhood education, COVID learning losses/remediation etc.
Research Associate’s Roles and Responsibilities:
- The RA will work closely with academic researchers and other field staff to perform a variety tasks including, but not limited to:
- Designing survey questionnaires, conducting qualitative research, running pilot exercise, refining study design, and surveying instruments.
- Managing teams: Recruit, train, and supervise both field-based and data operations teams consisting of project assistants, field managers, field-based surveyors, data entry operators and other field and office staff.
- Overseeing the implementation of the evaluation in accordance to the research design in association with our partner organization.
- Maintaining relationship with partner organizations at both headquarters and field levels.
- Supervising data collection and data-entry and ensuring good quality of the data at each of these two stages.
- Assisting with data cleaning and preliminary data analysis.
- Assisting in preparation of documents and presentations for dissemination.
- Reporting to PIs on all of the activities mentioned above.
Desired Qualifications and Experience:
- A Bachelor’s degree in Economics, Statistics, Education or related fields.
- Experience living in a developing country is a strong plus.
- Excellent management and organizational skills along with strong quantitative skills.
- Fluency and excellent communication skills in Tamil and English.
- Flexible, self-motivating, able to manage multiple tasks efficiently, and a team player.
- Demonstrated ability to manage high-level relationships with partner organizations.
- Knowledge of data analysis in Stata.
- Familiarity with impact evaluations and randomized controlled trials, in particular, preferred.
- Willingness to live in Chennai and travel extensively to study sites is essential.
- We are looking for a commitment period of 14 months for this position.
How to Apply
- Click HERE, for the Official Notification.
- Complete the J-PAL/IPA common application.
- After completing a brief registration, choose the RESEARCH job category, then select “Research Associate – RISE Project” and include resume, cover letter, transcripts, and two recommendation letters.
- Note that applications with incomplete submissions will not be considered.
- You are able to submit your application before your references complete their recommendation letters; however, you must include their contact information before submitting your application.
- Given the volume of applications received, only short-listed candidates will be contacted for an interview.
Looking for similar opportunities, join Opportunity Cell on WhatsApp or Telegram here.
