NGO Career Jobs – Project Associate, Local Political Accountability at Innovations for Poverty Action (IPA)

  Economics Jobs in Uganda, NGO - Non-Government Organisations Jobs in Uganda, Social Sciences Jobs in Uganda, Uncategorized
Organization: Innovations
for Poverty Action (IPA)
Duty Station: Kampala, Uganda
About IPA:
Innovations for Poverty
Action (IPA), is an international non-profit research organization. Based in
New Haven, CT, with offices in Washington, D.C. and worldwide, IPA works with
development partners and academic researchers to create and evaluate approaches
to solving development problems, to communicate “what works” in development and
to scale up successful projects in a variety of fields, including health,
education, microfinance, governance and agriculture.
About
Project:
The research project
addresses two barriers that weaken the political accountability of local
government councilors in Uganda with respect to their role in public service provision.
First, lack of information in the hands of politicians about public service
deficiencies in their constituency reduces the ability of local government
councilors to effectively monitor public service providers, or pressure
technocrats or service providers for targeted improvements. Second, citizens
have limited performance information about politicians, leading politicians to
operate under a cloak of impunity for low effort or corruption. Using a field
experimental methodology the project will study the effectiveness of two
interventions designed specifically to address these barriers to political
accountability: (1) opening a new channel of communication from citizens to
local government councilors to report public service deficiencies via an innovative
text message technology, and (2) widespread dissemination of information on
local councilors’ performance, with a specific focus on their monitoring
efforts of public service providers. For the latter intervention the project
will collaborate with a Ugandan NGO ACODE which has developed a Local
Government Councilor Scorecard assessing local councilor’s performance.
Job
Summary: The Project
Associate to help implement the Local Political Accountability study in
Uganda.  The position offers an opportunity to gain first-hand field
management experience in an organization undertaking cutting-edge development
research. The work will stretch your analytical and management skills to the
limit and will require full commitment and long hours in a challenging
environment. You will be contributing to a research effort at the frontier of
studies in political economy of development. This one year position will be
based in Kampala with extensive traveling in Uganda. You will work with and
report to a research team consisting of Guy Grossman, University of
Pennsylvania, and Kristin Michelitch, Vanderbilt.
Key
Duties and Responsibilities:
  • Manage
    multiple project end line data collection activities, including behavioral
    games with politicians and surveys at public health centers and schools;
  • Develop
    and pilot survey instruments;
  • Train
    and manage teams to conduct surveys with Ugandan citizens, local
    government politicians, local public servants, and school and health
    center personnel;
  • Ensure
    all aspects of data quality and assist with data cleaning and preliminary
    analysis;
  • Manage
    project budget, including tracking project expenses and adherence to the
    project budget;
  • Manage
    relations with the research team’s Ugandan NGO partner (ACODE) as a
    “liaison”;
  • Help
    monitor implementation of the partner’s programs, including the SMS
    platform;
  • Work
    closely with principal investigators and the local partners to ensure
    study protocols are followed;
  • Perform
    any other duties as assigned
Qualifications,
Skills and Experience:
  • The
    applicant should possess a Bachelor’s degree (Master’s preferred) in
    political science, economics, social science or related field.
  • Excellent
    management and organizational skills along with strong quantitative
    skills.
  • Outstanding
    interpersonal, verbal and written communication skills.
  • Fluency
    in English required.
  • Flexible,
    self-motivating, able to manage multiple tasks efficiently, and a team
    player.
  • Be
    detail oriented and able to work independently.
  • Knowledge
    of STATA strongly preferred.
  • Familiarity
    with randomized controlled trials preferred.
  • Experience
    living in a developing country is a strong plus.
  • Experience
    living in Africa or studying African politics/economics is a plus but not
    required.
How
to Apply:
Please follow the
application instructions below.  Any applications or CVs submitted outside
this process will not be considered.  Note, only short-listed candidates
will be contacted for an interview. Applicants will be reviewed on a rolling
basis.
Complete the J-PAL/IPA common application.
Please select the position(s) you are interested in applying for on the ‘Submit
Application’ page. Include two letters of recommendation, statement of purpose
(cover letter), CV, and transcripts. We will consider your application even if
you are unable to obtain reference letters before the deadline, but please be
advised that we will be requiring them should you be invited for an interview.
IPA is an Equal Opportunity
Employer/Affirmative Action Employer.
All persons shall have the
opportunity to be considered for employment without regard to their race,
color, religion, national origin, ancestry, alienage or citizenship status,
age, disability, sex, sexual orientation, veteran status or any other
characteristic protected by applicable federal, state or local laws.
IPA will endeavor to make a
reasonable accommodation to a qualified applicant with a disability unless the
accommodation would impose an undue hardship on the operation of our business.
If you believe you require such assistance to complete this form or to
participate in an interview, please contact us at jobs@poverty-action.org.
DISCLAIMER: The above
statements are intended to describe the general nature and level of the work to
be performed by the Project Associate.  The statements are not
intended to be an exhaustive list of all possible duties, tasks, and
responsibilities. Management reserves the right to amend and change
responsibilities to meet organizational needs as necessary. Please note that
IPA will never request any form of payment from an applicant. Applicants are
encouraged to confirm the information listed above with IPA prior to releasing
any extensive personal information to the organization. Please direct questions
to jobs@poverty-action.org.
Deadline: 15th January, 2014, but
applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis

For
More Ugandan Jobs, Please Visit https://www.theugandanjobline.com   or
find us on our facebook page https://www.facebook.com/UgandanJobline

Related Jobs