Senior Research Associate – Sampark Project – J-PAL South Asia

The Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL) South Asia, based at the Institute for Financial Management and Research (IFMR) is pleased to announce a Senior Research Associate position for the Sampark project, an evaluation of the “Smart Shala” program implemented by Sampark Foundation in government primary schools in Jharkhand.

The selected candidate will be based in Ranchi, India, and work with Andreas de Barros (Postdoctoral Associate, Department of Economics, MIT), Jalnidh Kaur (Rhodes Scholar, PhD Candidate in Economics and Education, Columbia University), and Sabareesh Ramachandran (PhD Candidate in Economics, UCSD) to design, implement, and analyze a randomized controlled trial (RCT) to evaluate the program. The Senior Research Associate will work closely with Sampark Foundation to coordinate the implementation of the randomized evaluation to be conducted in the state of Jharkhand. At J-PAL South Asia, the Senior Research Associate will oversee a Research Associate and report to a Research Manager. The position is designed to help the selected candidate prepare for graduate-level studies in quantitative research and/or further professional opportunities in impact evaluation.

Country: India
Education: Bachelor’s
Start Date (Earliest): 1 May 2022
Language Requirement: English, Hindi
Length of Commitment:  Two years

Key responsibilities 

The Senior Research Associate will be responsible for:

• Assisting the Principal Investigators in developing instruments for each round of data collection;
• Collaborating with J-PAL South Asia’s data team and Sampark to digitize data collection instruments;
• Training enumerators on data collection instruments;
• Overseeing all rounds of data collection for the randomized evaluation, and ensuring that it complies with standards for data quality;
• Monitoring the quality of the implementation of interventions;
  Assisting with applications to local and international institutional review boards;
• Writing high-quality documents for the evaluation, including training manuals, process reports, and reports of results from the different rounds of data collection;
• Working in close collaboration with the research team and the partner organization, to track overall progress on the project and ensure adherence to timelines and project-plan;
• Overseeing a Research Associate.

Desired qualifications

Required:

• Excellent management and organizational skills;
• Familiarity with randomized evaluations;
• Flexibility, motivation, and ability to work independently and with others;
• Experience overseeing large-scale data collection efforts in a less-developed country;
• Experience cleaning and managing data and performing basic analysis in Stata or R.
• Proficiency in Hindi (spoken and written);
• A Bachelor’s degree in economics, data science, education, public policy, or a related field;
• Experience working in the education sector, preferably field experience – either directly working in schools or implementing education programs in India;
• Experience digitizing survey instruments on SurveyCTO;
• Experience liaising with an external partner organization.

Note on work authorizations

Candidates must have work authorization to work in India. This covers citizens of India, Nepal or Bhutan, and Overseas Citizens of India (OCI). In case a candidate is eligible for an OCI status but does not already have the card, J-PAL South Asia will sponsor the card.

How to Apply

Complete the J-PAL/IPA common application. After completing a brief registration, choose the Research job category, then select “Senior Research Associate – Sampark Project – J-PAL South Asia” and include a resume, cover letter, transcripts, and two recommendation letters. Note that applications with incomplete submissions will not be considered.

You can 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.