Job Opportunity for Research Associate at Poverty Action Lab in Chennai

Start Date (Earliest):

25 September 2023

Length of Commitment:

One year

Language Requirement: Tamil, English

Joining Location: Chennai

Name of the Project: Evaluating the Effectiveness of Industry Investment Promotion Activities in Tamil Nadu

Sector: Firms

About the Organization

The Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL) is a global research center working to reduce poverty by ensuring that policy is informed by scientific evidence. Anchored by a network of 194 affiliated professors at universities around the world, J-PAL conducts randomized impact evaluations to answer critical questions in the fight against poverty. J-PAL South Asia, based at the Institute for Financial Management and Research in India, leads J-PAL’s work in the South Asia region. J-PAL South Asia conducts randomized evaluations, builds partnerships for evidence-informed policymaking, and helps partners scale up effective programs. Over more than ten years of existence, J-PAL South Asia has conducted 193 ongoing and completed randomized evaluations.

About the position 

J-PAL South Asia at the Institute for Financial Management and Research seeks qualified applicants for the position of Research Associate to lead impact evaluations in India. The position offers an opportunity to gain first-hand field management experience in an organization undertaking cutting-edge development research. The Research Associate will join a team of world-class researchers from leading universities in the world and will gain first-hand experience implementing randomized control trials in an organization undertaking cutting-edge development research Read more about our work and projects here. 

J-PAL South Asia is an equal opportunity employer. We evaluate qualified applicants without regard to age, disability, family status, gender identity, race, religion, sexual orientation and other attributes protected by law. We strongly encourage people from marginalized communities to apply for this role.

Project Specific Details

Tamil Nadu is the second largest state economy in India, and has a strong investment climate. As Tamil Nadu looks to attract more investments and improving the industrial growth in the state, the study aims to use rigorous research to inform the industrial policy. The study aims to elucidate the firms’ decision making process, how the firms obtain and respond to different forms of information, improving the effectiveness of the outreach methods employed and quantifying the broader impact of the investment for the broader Tamil Nadu economy and workers, i.e. on jobs and productivity, accounting for spillover effects across supply chain relationships and other channels

Research Associates work closely with Research Managers & Principal Investigators who guide and supervise them in their various tasks.

Key Responsibilities

• Research Associates work closely with academic researchers and other field staff to perform a variety tasks including, but not limited to:
• Designing survey questionnaires, conducting qualitative research, running pilot exercises, refining study design and survey instruments
• Managing teams: Recruit, train, and supervise both field-based and data operations teams consisting of project assistants, field managers, field-based surveyors, data entry operators and other field and office staff
• Supervising data collection and data entry to ensure good data quality during both these phases
• Co-ordinating with the Administrative and Finance team on a variety of tasks related to field staff contracting and payments
• Ensuring that the project complies with IRB and JPAL data collection and security protocols with the help of the Research Manager
• Assisting with data cleaning and preliminary data analysis
• Assisting in preparation of documents and presentations for donor reporting as well as dissemination activities
• Reporting to PIs on all of the above mentioned activities
• Any other task as assigned by the Research Manager, AD Research or ED 

Desired Qualifications 

• A Bachelor’s/Master’s degree in economics, social sciences, public policy, education or related fields
• Previous experience in social science research preferred
• Excellent management and organizational skills along with strong quantitative skills
• Fluency and excellent communication skills in English
• Some conversational-level skills in Tamil would be preferable.
• Flexible, self-motivating, able to manage multiple tasks efficiently, and team player
• Knowledge of Stata (strongly preferred) or other data analysis software is preferred
• Familiarity with randomized controlled trials/clinical trials/quasi-experiments preferred
• Ability to deal with unstructured and changing environments

Note on Work Authorizations:

• Candidates must have work authorization to work in India.