J-PAL South Asia
**Job Title:** Research Associate – Boosting Immunization Demand
**Organization:** J-PAL South Asia (The Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab)
**Location:** India
**About J-PAL:**
The Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL) is a global research center dedicated to reducing poverty through evidence-based policymaking. With a network of over 1,000 researchers worldwide, J-PAL conducts randomized impact evaluations to address critical poverty-related issues. J-PAL South Asia, based at the Institute for Financial Management and Research in India, focuses on conducting randomized evaluations, fostering partnerships for evidence-informed policy, and scaling up effective programs within the South Asia region. Over a decade, J-PAL South Asia has undertaken 193 randomized evaluations.
**About the Position:**
J-PAL South Asia seeks a Research Associate to lead impact evaluations in India. This role provides hands-on field management experience within a leading development research organization. The Research Associate will collaborate with a team of renowned researchers, gaining practical experience implementing randomized controlled trials. This specific project is a scale-up pilot of a successful government collaboration in Haryana, aiming to improve routine immunization rates through a novel ambassador identification model. The study will involve data collection across 450 villages, assessing the effectiveness of different ambassador selection methods.
**Key Responsibilities:**
* Designing survey questionnaires and conducting qualitative research.
* Managing field teams (recruiting, training, supervising project assistants, field managers, surveyors, and data entry operators).
* Overseeing data collection and entry, ensuring high data quality.
* Coordinating with administrative and finance teams on field staff matters.
* Implementing the evaluation according to the research design, collaborating with partner organizations.
* Ensuring compliance with IRB and J-PAL data protocols.
* Maintaining relationships with partner organizations.
* Assisting with data cleaning, preliminary analysis, and report preparation.
* Reporting to Principal Investigators (PIs) Arun Chandrashekar (Stanford University) and Esther Duflo (MIT).
**Desired Qualifications:**
* Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in economics, social sciences, public policy, education, or a related field.
* Experience living and working in a developing country is highly desirable.
* Prior experience in development research is preferred.
* Excellent management, organizational, and quantitative skills.
* Fluency in English and conversational-level skills in Hindi, Tamil, Kannada, or other regional languages.
* Flexibility, self-motivation, ability to manage multiple tasks, and teamwork skills.
* Strong interpersonal skills for managing relationships with partner organizations.
* Proficiency in Stata or other data analysis software is strongly preferred.
* Familiarity with randomized controlled trials, clinical trials, or quasi-experiments is preferred.
* Ability to work independently in rural field settings.
* Must have work authorization to work in India.
To apply for this job please visit www.povertyactionlab.org.
