Research Associate at Innovations for Poverty Action (IPA)

Position Summary

• The Research Associate (RA) will lead the data collection and management of research projects within the Nigeria Country Office under the supervision of the Research Manager. The RA will supervise project field staff, including the field managers, supervisors and enumerators, while ensuring timely submission of deliverables to donors and partners. The Research Associate will perform a variety of tasks related to managing day-to-day research activities, from planning to implementation and monitoring research data quality.

Responsibilities

25% - Project Management:

• Programing survey instruments in SurveyCTO, following programming best practices
• Supervising and monitoring data collection to ensure the high quality of the data
• Implementing data quality checks and fixing issues with data collected during data collection
• Managing project finances including budgeting, expense tracking, and financial reporting
• Cleaning data on an ongoing basis.

25% - Partner engagement:

• Handling day-to-day Principal Investigator and partner communications
• Providing timely updates and responses to partner organizations and participating in meetings with key stakeholders
• Keeping the Research Manager apprised of all developments in the project and serve as the key link between the field staff, research team, and Principal Investigators.

25% - Technical leadership:

• Prepare training materials and collaborate with the survey firm in conducting enumerator training and piloting instruments
• Ensuring that all team members follow necessary protocols and procedures
• Regularly communicate project updates to the Research Manager
• Providing training and supervision for research project staff
• Supporting the country office in project and policy development as needed.

25% - Analysis and reporting:

• Assisting preliminary analysis and ensuring ready access to all data for researchers
• Thoroughly documenting all activities related to the project in detail
• Maintaining accurate records of interviews and safeguarding the confidentiality of subjects, as necessary
• Preparing high-quality progress and results reports to Principal Investigators (PI), research partners, and funding agencies, and sharing them timely
• Producing dissemination materials such as presentations, final reports, and evidence briefs
• Supporting other tasks that may be assigned by the Research Manager.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in economics, public policy, social science, or a related field; graduate degree strongly preferred
• 2-5 years of relevant work experience, including experience in economics research, impact evaluations, international development
• Advanced Stata competency
• Experience with quantitative and qualitative data collection and analysis
• Experience managing field data collection
• Strong professional writing skills
• Strong client-facing and presentation skills
• Fluency in English
• Self-starter, entrepreneurial mindset, versatility, and ability to learn at a fast pace
• Passion for making data-driven decisions a reality in the international development sector
• Willingness to spend at least 50% of the time at the study sites during data collection periods
• Professional experience with research project management in Nigeria is preferred
• Professional experience in randomized control trials is preferred