Senior Research Associate, Rwanda

Innovations for Poverty Action (IPA)

Senior Research Associate, Rwanda

• Location: Kigali, Rwanda
• Deadline to apply: 5 PM 14^th June 2024 , applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis
• Length of Commitment: 1 year, fixed term contract
• Desired start date: ASAP
• Reports to: Research Manager

Innovations for Poverty Action was established in Rwanda in 2013 as International Non-Government Organization. IPA Rwanda has 10 active projects spanning across Education, Agriculture, Finance and Health. With 36 full time staff, a network of part-time field numerators of over 300, IPA Rwanda predominantly implements Randomized Control Trails in collaboration with leading Rwandan and international academics, the Government of Rwanda and other development NGOs to evaluate the impact of new development concepts to help inform future government policy and development projects.

Project and position summary:

Innovations for Poverty Action (IPA Rwanda) seeks a Senior Research Associate to be based in Kigali, Rwanda, to support a research project that aims to understand the financial constraints to exporting in Rwanda. The project is led by Lauren Berquist (The Yale University), Jie Bai (Harvard Kennedy School), Ignacio Marra de Artinano (Universite Libre de Bruxelles) and Christian Lippitsch (International Growth Centre);).

The Senior Research Associate will work closely with the IPA research team, principal investigators (PIs), and implementing partners, gaining hands-on field research and management experience. Key responsibilities will include coordinating and collaborating with external academics, policy, and programmatic partners; designing and piloting survey questionnaires; recruiting, training, and managing junior research staff and field teams; designing and supervising the logistics of field activities; cleaning and analyzing surveys and administrative data; assisting in the writing of project reports and policy memos; and liaising with key stakeholders. The work will develop your analytical and management skills and require your full commitment in a challenging environment.

We are looking for people with excellent communication and executive skills. Project management experience is useful and a solid technical foundation in impact evaluation methodology, statistics, and econometrics, and demonstrated high intellectual abilities and academic performance. We are also looking for people who are capable of working individually and as a part of a team, who can adapt to different environments and contexts, and who have a continuous willingness to learn. As an ideal candidate, you must be able to organize complex work plans and lead teams to produce

Responsibilities:

• Manage day-to-day research activities, from planning, and implementation, to field and research work consolidation.
• Actively liaise and communicate with internal (supervisor, local, global IPA teams) and external [donors/ funders, local partners, Principal Investigators (PI)] on a regular basis to ensure smooth project delivery.
• Document all activities related to the project, including preparation of progress and results reports to Principal Investigators, research partners, and funding agencies, and sharing them in a timely manner.
• Assist in hiring, training, and managing project staff, including field staff, and interns
• Supervise and manage project field staff (data collectors, enumerators, field supervisors)
• Manage field and administrative data from collection, and processing, to storage, on-the-go troubleshooting, and adapt to changing field conditions to ensure timely and good quality field data collection.
• Conduct data cleaning and preliminary analysis, ensuring ready access to all data for research team members, as per requirement.
• Ensure adherence to data quality protocols, managing data quality audits and running high-frequency checks guided by IPA protocols and monitoring systems.
• Assist in managing partnerships with project partners, including providing timely updates and responses to partner organizations.
• Performing office and project-related tasks as needed

Qualifications and Experience:

Required

• Bachelor’s degree in economics, public policy, social science, statistics or a related field, Master’s degrees are preferred;
• Experience conducting social science or economic field research. Background in randomized control trials is strongly preferred;
• Experience supervising data collection and teams of field workers, designing surveys and implementing programs strongly preferred;
• Experience with data management and econometrics. Strong quantitative skills and advanced knowledge of Stata strongly preferred;
• Experience with electronic data collection platforms. Knowledge of SurveyCTO a plus;
• Demonstrated ability to manage high-level relationships with partner organizations;
• Experience working with government officials, especially in Rwanda is also a plus;
• Excellent management and organizational skills along with strong quantitative skills;
• Flexibility, self-motivation, the ability to manage multiple tasks efficiently as a team player;
• Ability to work a culturally diverse team and maintain high professional standards;
• Strong written and oral communication skills and complete fluency in English and Kinyarwanda is required.

Preferred

• Experience in coordinating and implementing large-scale data collection activities with firms;
• Proficiency in SurveyCTO programming;
• Knowledge of Stata (strongly preferred) or other data analysis software;
• Experience with quantitative and qualitative research methods;
• Familiarity with randomized controlled trials.

How to Apply:

Interested applicants meeting the requirements should fill an online application form and attach their Cover Letter, CV and Degree(s) through the following link: https://poverty-action.formstack.com/forms/iparwanda_senior_research_associate_igf_job_application_form_01_2022_copy

APPLICATIONS CLOSE AT 5 PM RWANDA TIME ON 14^th/06/2024. LATE APPLICATIONS WILL NOT BE CONSIDERED. DUE TO THE LARGE VOLUME OF APPLICATIONS, ONLY SHORTLISTED CANDIDATES WILL BE CONTACTED.