Research Associate

Job Description

This is an Expression of Interest (EOI) process, not a recruitment for an officially open position. Submissions will be reviewed on a rolling basis. If there is a potential match and a position becomes available, candidates identified through this process who meet the selection criteria will be contacted. Please note that we are unable to respond to individual EOI inquiries.

About PxD

PxD is a global non-profit that harnesses the power of technology, data science, and behavioral economics to provide targeted information to farmers in low and middle-income countries. Providing the right information to the right people, in the right way and at the right time, increases incomes, protects the environment and improves well-being. We are evidence-based: we test our interventions with randomized controlled trials to prove our impact and cost-effectiveness, to simultaneously learn from and improve our service, and to demonstrate our value to funders and partners. There are few programmes in international development that are as demonstrably cost-effective as ours.

Position description

At PxD, Research Associates have opportunities to work closely with PxD and affiliated researchers and substantially contribute to PxD’s research programs that test new ideas and measure their impacts.

Responsibilities may include

• Support the implementation of research activities for one or more workstreams with moderate oversight
• Carry out day-to-day basic data management, including cleaning and merging datasets to prepare them for analysis
• Produce accurate and organized summaries of data including basic analysis for descriptive statistics and simple regression analysis
• Support primary data collection, including enumerator training and running high frequency data checks
• Maintain project documentation, including experiment registry entries
• Carry out literature reviews and other desk research when research questions and basic structure are provided
• Fill in frameworks provided with specific information to identify program insights
• Draft survey and focus group discussion instruments when structure and concepts are provided
• Support PxD’s institutional knowledge management and internal learning efforts
• Contribute to internal and external communications to disseminate research findings including briefs, blogs, reports, and presentations
• Support IRB protocol development
• Contribute to funding proposals and project reports
• Assist with partner relations and working with external stakeholders for implementation of field operations

Qualification and experience in the following domains are likely to be important

• A bachelor’s degree in economics, agricultural economics, public policy, statistics, or a closely related field
• Strong understanding of economics, econometrics, and familiarity with randomized evaluations
• Excellent knowledge of Stata or R or similar software for data analysis
• Experience working on field research in economics in LMIC countries
• Experience in using SurveyCTO or a similar program for survey design
• Understanding of research ethics for human subjects in the social sciences
• Excellent organizational skills, detail-oriented, and ability to work both independently and collaboratively
• Fluency in English. Demonstrated strong oral and written communication skills
• Ability to work under time pressure and solve problems creatively

Successful candidates must be strongly interested in and committed to PxD’s mission to leverage technology to improve the lives of the poor at scale.

We are particularly interested in candidates who are located in Kenya, India, and Ethiopia.

How to submit an expression of interest

Please visit the: PxD WEBSITE and use the online form to submit a CV, a cover letter, and brief responses to the screening questions.

PxD is committed to building an inclusive and diverse organisation. We don’t make decisions based on gender, gender identity, class, ethnicity, sexual orientation or any other personal characteristics that are unrelated to the role. We understand that everyone has different lifestyles and we accommodate flexible working to make sure you are as productive and happy as you can be.

 We will use any personal data you provide for recruitment purposes only.