Research Specialist at Women's World Banking

Reports to: Research Director
Classification: Exempt
Start Date: Mid-July

Job Summary

• Women’s World Banking is seeking a creative and curious Research Specialist with experience in understanding consumer behavior and deploying cutting-edge qualitative methodologies to create key consumer insights.
• The research specialist’s work will inform business decisions among financial services providers and key stakeholders engaging in financial inclusion.
• The specialist will join a small and agile research team skilled in applied qualitative and quantitative research methods.
• The position is responsible for designing, executing, synthesizing, and applying research on consumer behavior.
• Applicants will intuitively understand consumer behavior. They will be able to quickly and clearly apply insights to product design. They will have a diverse set of methodologies at their fingertips, and will be able to work in emerging markets among low income consumers. They will have a passion for women’s economic empowerment and social change.

Responsibilities
Perform qualitative research in emerging markets, which may take the form of:

• Conducting desk research and literature reviews, utilizing secondary research sources such as market research data to address key research questions and inform our understanding of consumers
• Developing relevant research plans and instruments that are responsive to cultural and sociological norms of low-income women in low- and middle-income economies
• Providing logistical, methodological, and supervisory support for research efforts, such as creating and maintaining research protocols, training and supervising data collection teams in the field, conducting interviews, managing relationships with clients and consultants, analyzing qualitative data (using software such as NVivo), and managing institutional review board (IRB) processes when necessary
• Working with product and solution design teams to share key consumer insights that drive business decisions, and working with these multi-disciplinary teams to evaluate the effectiveness of these decisions on consumer outcomes
• Creating research-based publications that advances the knowledge and thought in the field of financial inclusion

Craft technically accurate and applicable research products and communications, which may include the following activities:

• Clearly translate research concepts and processes to internal and external stakeholders
• Communicating findings and recommendations via written and oral presentations, slide decks and technical reports to staff and clients at high level meetings internally and externally
• Sharing consumer insights to Women’s World Banking’s audience through blogs, executive summaries, newsletters, and other channels as determined by advocacy strategy

Manage a portfolio of projects, including:

• Coordinating across project teams to track research activities in a diversity of markets with multiple institutions, proposing ideas for process improvement, and ensuring deadlines are met
• Manage industry-facing research efforts to understand consumer engagement with new technology and trends with high potential to increase women’s financial inclusion
• Developing strong relationships with internal and external partners.
• Assisting in selecting appropriate tools and methods to suit projects constrained by timeline and/or budget.

Within the first 75 days:

• Assume full responsibility of the position;
• Embrace Women’s World Banking’s core values and desired behaviors;
• Fully integrate into the research team;
• Forge positive working relationships with cross-functional staff;
• Embrace Women’s World Banking’s unique characteristics and offerings;
• Learn and comprehend the Women’s World Banking business model;
• Become trained in and actively use of Women’s World Banking systems and policies into your day-to-day activities.

Requirements
Required Qualifications:

• Demonstrated expertise in cutting-edge qualitative primary research methods focused on creating consumer insights and evaluating the user experience
• Bachelor's degree demonstrating some concentration in social sciences (e.g. Anthropology, Information Studies, Sociology, Women’s Studies) or humanities
• 5-7 years of relevant work experience in high-pressure applied research settings
• 1-3 years of experience in managing complex customer research or qualitative data collection in low- and middle-income countries
• Highly effective communicator with both internal and external stakeholders with an outstanding ability to build consensus
• Able to properly document, convey and publish research findings to a wide variety of stakeholders
• Demonstrated ability to translate complex concepts and research data into actionable insights feature compelling storytelling, accessible, well-written reports and engaging presentations
• Ability to prioritize and manage multiple assignments concurrently, perform well under pressure, and meet deadlines while ensuring acute attention to detail and accuracy
• Extensive experience conducting interviews independently as part of research, assessment, or journalism
• Superior research, writing, proofreading, and interpersonal skills
• Ability to work in our open, collaborative, smart and team-oriented culture
• Ability to travel internationally for research, reporting, and representation purposes – approximately 20-30%

Preferred Qualifications:

• Master’s degree in a social science field with some concentration in qualitative research (e.g. Anthropology, Information Studies, Sociology, Political Science, Women’s Studies)
• On-the-ground experience managing complex research efforts in low and middle income countries.
• Familiarity with behavioral science methodologies and analysis
• Experience researching gender dynamics, women’s issues, and/or women’s empowerment in low- and middle-income country contexts
• Experience with user experience (UX) research methods, especially user interviews, rapid ethnography, usability tests, and contextual inquiry
• Experience with human-centered design, including synthesizing research findings into customer personas, customer journey maps, and service blueprints
• Experience in consumer research, consumer insights, or applied behavioral insights
• Previous work in finance or financial inclusion
• Experience with qualitative analysis software (e.g., NVivo, ATLAS.ti)
• Fluency in one of the languages spoken in one of Women’s World Banking’s priority markets (Mexico, Indonesia, India, Bangladesh, Nigeria, Egypt) is a definite plus