Research Associate, Construction workers - J-PAL South Asia

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

This role involves work on two related projects on construction workers, in collaboration with the Labor Department of the Government of Odisha. The projects are studying (i) access to welfare programs for construction workers, and (ii) network complementarities in construction workers’ labor supply decisions. In particular, in the first project, the team is interested in understanding errors of inclusion and exclusion in access to welfare programs, and what costs construction workers face in registering for these programs and obtaining these benefits. In the second project, they are focusing on whether migrant workers in spot labor markets are more likely to accept jobs when they are offered in groups such that they can work with those in their pre-existing networks. The RA on this project will get exposure to a wide range of topic areas in a short period of time, working across themes of targeting and social protection, as well as labor economics.

The RA will work with the Research Manager & Principal Investigators, who will guide and supervise them in their various tasks. The PIs for this project are Sabareesh Ramachandran, a PhD student at University of California, San Diego, and Kartik Srivastava, a PhD student at Harvard University. Sabareesh and Kartik have both experimental and observational projects in development economics, and have both previously been RAs at J-PAL South Asia. 

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
• Overseeing the implementation of the evaluation in accordance to the research design in association with our partner organization
• Ensuring that the project complies with IRB and JPAL data collection and security protocols with the help of the Research Manager
• Maintaining relationship with partner organizations at both headquarters and field levels
• Assisting with data cleaning and preliminary data analysis
• Assisting in preparation of documents and presentations for donor reporting as well as dissemination activitiesReporting 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

Experience living in a developing country is a strong plus

Previous experience in development research preferred

Excellent management and organizational skills along with strong quantitative skills

Fluency and excellent communication skills in English

Some conversational-level skills in Odia strongly preferred

Flexible, self-motivating, able to manage multiple tasks efficiently, and team player

Demonstrated ability to manage high-level relationships with partner organizations

Knowledge of STATA or R 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.