Research Analyst - Global Poverty Research Lab, Northwestern University

Organization: Northwestern University

About GPRL

The Global Poverty Research Lab (GPRL) is a research center based at Northwestern University that accelerates poverty reduction by generating frontier research and creating public goods in the form of data, methods, and syntheses, to enable others to design, test, and turn evidence into action.  

Projects at GPRL cut across the following pillars:  

1. Frontier Research: Generate cutting edge research in development economics including themes of mental health, agriculture, social protection, and renewable energy; co-create and maintain long-run panels with local universities, governments, and civil society that enable longer-term insights and support layered RCTs. 

2. Advance Research Methods: Build and test better ways to measure and learn, from questionnaire design and enumerator recruitment to rapid-cycle experiments (A/B, factorial, micro-randomized) that implementers can run using their own administrative data to tune delivery models, incentives, and other protocols. 

3. Aggregate Global Evidence: Building semi-automated pipelines and AI-assisted workflows to compile and structure scattered evidence from RCTs into living knowledge bases and run rigorous meta-analyses; deliver insights via evidence syntheses, interactive dashboards, and publicly accessible data for donors, investors, and practitioners. 

4. Making Aid More Effective: Turn evidence into ready-to-use decision tools, “smart buys” menus, and ROI/cost-effectiveness frameworks for donors, ministries, multilaterals, impact investors, and social enterprises. 

Our team  

GPRL is co-directed by Dean Karlan, Christopher Udry, and Nancy Qian, professors at the Kellogg School of Management and the Weinberg School of Arts and Sciences’ Economics department at Northwestern University. Other actively affiliated professors include Andrew Dillon and Lori Beaman. GPRL’s research managers, research analysts, and administrative staff support our investigators’ projects, in the process working closely with colleagues at universities, NGOs, and research institutions around the world. 

GPRL also works in close collaboration with research teams at Innovations for Poverty Action (IPA) to coordinate field data collection, disseminate evidence, and create shared training and research resources. 

Job summary   

GPRL is hiring several full-time Research Analysts to work with panel survey data, research methods studies, RCTs on topics like mental health and social protection, and meta-analyses.  

This position offers an opportunity to gain first-hand experience in managing and analyzing data from a range of sources, participating in research design discussions, and supporting project management.  

Core responsibilities

• Cleaning datasets and preparing them for analysis 
• Conducting analysis using advanced statistical and econometric tools  
• Assisting research managers with project development and dissemination tasks including creating analysis plans, submitting Institutional Review Board (IRB) applications, cultivating relationships with implementing partners, and supporting the development of dissemination presentations 
• Presenting analysis to investigators and incorporating feedback into subsequent analysis 
• Conducting literature reviews for analysis plans, working papers, and grant proposals 
• Supporting data collection and process monitoring by designing and programming questionnaires and conducting data quality checks for ongoing surveys 
• Preparing tables and figures for publications and presentations and assisting with paper revisions for peer-reviewed journal submissions 

Additional responsibilities as needed  

• Supervising undergraduate RAs as required  
• Supporting research staff with Lab-wide management tasks including mentoring new RAs and creating research and training resources.

Minimum competencies  

• Strong programming skills in Stata and/or R, combined with a willingness to learn other statistical software. Analysis at GPRL is primarily conducted in Stata and R. 
• Strong quantitative skills (coursework in econometrics and statistics) 
• Familiarity with randomized controlled trials  
• Excellent organizational skills  
• Fluency and excellent communication skills in English  
• Ability to seek resources and self-teach new statistical, analytical, and programming techniques 
• Flexible, self-motivating, able to manage multiple tasks efficiently, and work in teams.

Preferred competencies

• An enthusiasm for empirical research  
• Experience living or working in a developing country 
• Experience with reproducible research workflows, version control (GitHub), and modern documentation tools (Quarto, R Markdown) 
• Familiarity with meta-analytic methods or systematic review approaches 
• Demonstrated ability to build data quality assurance systems and manage collaborative data projects 
• Experience using advanced data infrastructure such as relational databases, API connections, and cloud computing 
• Familiarity working with a variety of machine learning models 
• Familiarity with other statistical, visualization or digital data collection software like ArcGIS/Python/SurveyCTO is a strong plus.

The research analyst will work in an open, collaborative environment with other GPRL staff in our common lab space at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois (bordering Chicago). The position offers the opportunity to interact with undergraduates, graduate students, and faculty from Kellogg and the department of economics at Northwestern, as well as research staff at IPA. It is well-suited for candidates interested in pursuing graduate study in economics or other social sciences in the future. It is also a great steppingstone for those wanting to explore non-academic careers in the field of development economics. The research analyst will be a full-time employee of Northwestern University with full benefits (including the ability to take classes at a highly subsidized tuition rate). 

We are looking for a minimum commitment of two years for this position. 

Non-immigrant visa sponsorship for this role is subject to country-specific restrictions determined by the US Department of State. Since these regulations are regularly revised, we advise applicants to review the current restrictions before applying.