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Job Title:   Research Associate    

Organisation: Innovations for Poverty Action (IPA)

Duty Station:  Kampala, Uganda

About IPA:

Innovations for Poverty Action (IPA) is a research and policy nonprofit that discovers and promotes effective solutions to global poverty problems. IPA brings together researchers and decision-makers to design, rigorously evaluate, and refine these solutions and their applications, ensuring that the evidence created is used to improve the lives of the world’s poor. In recent decades, trillions of dollars have been spent on programs designed to reduce global poverty, but clear evidence on which programs succeed is rare, and when evidence does exist, decision-makers often do not know about it. IPA exists to bring together leading researchers and these decision-makers to ensure that the evidence we create leads to tangible impact on the world. Since its founding in 2002, IPA has worked with over 600 leading academics to conduct over 900 evaluations in 52 countries. This research has informed hundreds of successful programs that now impact millions of individuals worldwide.

Job Summary:  IPA Uganda seeks to hire a Research Associate, for a randomized controlled trial to evaluate the livelihoods program of the NGO Raising the Village (RTV) on household poverty and intra-household relationships.

The Research Associate will work closely with academic researchers and other field staff to perform a variety of tasks including, but not limited to: designing survey questionnaires, conducting qualitative research, running pilot exercise, refining study design 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 NGO partners.

The Research Associate reports to and falls under the direct supervision of the Research Manager or Associate Research Manager. The Research Associate will work with and seek project related guidance from the research team or Project Investigator. The Research Associate may from time to time perform other duties not listed in the job description.

Key Duties and Responsibilities:

• Liaise with Principal Investigators and Research Coordinator in the design of survey questionnaires
• Work with the data manager to program survey tools using SurveyCTO, high-frequency checks and data flows
• Develop data collection protocols and data quality assurance protocol
• Develop a data collection plan (procurement, logistics and route plan) that ensures adherence to data collection budget
• Manage the project budget
• Supervise training of team leaders, auditors and surveyors
• Conduct daily data quality checks
• Ensure implementation of survey spot checks and back-checks
• Compile clean databases
• Assist the PI team in data analysis as requested
• Assisting in managing relationships with donors, partner organizations and researchers
• Produce technical reports for donor and/or other stakeholders (e.g. fieldwork reports)
• Keep the Research Coordinator/Manager and the PI team appraised of all project activities

Other Duties

• As assigned by your supervisor, perform other tasks, which are consistent with your level in the organization.

Supervisory Responsibilities: Designated Project Field Managers, and overall oversight of the Field Officers

Qualifications, Skills and Experience:

• The applicant must hold a Bachelor’s degree in economics, business management, social sciences, public policy, political science or related fields, Master’s degree preferred
• Demonstrated proficiency in Stata and experience with data management, data cleaning, and regression analysis
• Experience with quantitative research, particularly with randomized controlled trials
• Excellent management and organizational skills along with strong quantitative skills;
• Must be able to work under pressure and meet deadlines, while maintaining a positive attitude
• Flexible, self-motivating, able to manage multiple tasks efficiently, and a team player
• Demonstrated ability to manage high-level relationships with partner organizations
• Experience running a large-scale survey and managing the survey implementation and data entry process
• Experience with Computer-Assisted Interviewing is preferred, but not required
• Fluency and excellent communication skills in English language.

How to Apply:

All candidates who wish to join Innovations for Poverty Action (IPA) should complete the J-PAL/IPA common application at the link below. After completing a brief registration, choose the APPROPRIATE CATEGORY job category, then select “Research Associate”. Applications require you to include a statement of purpose (cover letter) and CV.

Click Here

Deadline: 31^st August 2022

NB: Given the volume of applications received, only shortlisted candidates will be contacted for an interview.

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