Research Fellow - J-PAL South Asia

The objective of this implementation science lab is to generate rigorous and actionable evidence on how education programmes can be delivered effectively at scale in India. The Lab is led by Noam Angrist and Sharnic Djaker and works closely with governments and implementing partners. The lab’s work focuses on rapid randomized evaluations and embedded A/B tests, including for programmes with existing RCT evidence that are being adapted or taken to scale. These evaluations may draw on government, programme, and monitoring data, and will examine questions related to implementation fidelity, adaptation, delivery bottlenecks, and the ways in which policymakers and practitioners demand, interpret, and use evidence.

The Role:

The Research Fellow will play a senior technical role in shaping and delivering the Lab's portfolio of PI-led randomized evaluations. The role will lead selected workstreams across research design, measurement, analysis, documentation, and dissemination, combining rigorous quantitative methods with a practical understanding of programme implementation. The postholder will work in close partnership with government and implementation partners, and with colleagues responsible for research operations, to ensure evidence is both rigorous and useful.

Key Responsibilities:

The Research Fellow will:

• Research Agenda and Technical Leadership
• Support PIs in developing and implementing a research portfolio in collaboration with partners and policymakers.
• Contribute to research questions, theories of change, measurement frameworks, sampling strategies, experimental designs, and analysis plans.
• Lead the design and analysis of embedded A/B tests, rapid randomized evaluations, including those that draw on administrative, implementation, and monitoring data.
• Develop practical approaches to measuring implementation fidelity, adaptation, take-up, delivery bottlenecks, and evidence use.
• Research Delivery, Analysis, and Outputs
• Lead selected research workstreams as designated by the PIs, ensuring methodological rigour, operational feasibility, and responsiveness to partner priorities.
• Develop and oversee research protocols, survey instruments, data systems, quality assurance processes, and conduct and supervise quantitative analysis, in coordination with Research Associates, field teams, and partner organizations.
• Ensure adherence with J-PAL standards of data quality, documentation, reproducibility, research ethics, and J-PAL research protocols.
• Contribute to academic papers, working papers, technical reports, policy briefs, and presentations, under PI leadership and in line with J-PAL publication and authorship norms.
• Evidence Use, Partnerships, and Strategic Engagement
• Coordinate with J-PAL’s Policy and Scale-up teams in setting up and managing government and implementation partnerships, ensuring that research activities are aligned with partner priorities while remaining within J-PAL’s mandate and established partnership structures.
• Establish appropriate feedback loops for sharing valid interim learnings, where possible.
• Coordinate with Policy, Scale-up, Training, and Communications teams to support the translation of research findings into appropriate tools and outputs.
• Represent the Lab in meetings, workshops, and other engagements with senior policymakers, implementing partners, funders, and researchers.
• Support the PIs in identifying opportunities for new research partnerships and contribute to research development and proposal writing.
• Team Leadership and Research Quality
• Provide technical guidance, mentorship, and professional development support to Research Associates and other research staff.
• Support the effective allocation of work across projects and ensure timely, high-quality delivery of research outputs.
• Undertake field visits and partner engagement where useful for strengthening research design, understanding implementation realities, and ensuring research quality.

Desired Qualifications, Experience & Skills:

• Master's degree in economics, public policy, international development, statistics, mathematics, education, or a related field. A PhD or equivalent advanced research experience is desirable.
• Minimum of 5 years of relevant applied research or evaluation experience, with substantial experience supporting or leading technical workstreams within randomised evaluations in real-world implementation settings. Relevant doctoral research experience may be considered.
• Strong knowledge of randomised evaluations, including rapid randomised evaluations and embedded A/B tests, and familiarity with complementary quantitative methods used to support design, measurement, implementation learning, and analysis.
• Proficiency in Stata, R, or Python, and experience working with complex quantitative, administrative, programme, or monitoring data.
• Demonstrated ability to lead research workstreams from design through analysis, writing, and dissemination.
• Experience producing high-quality research outputs, including academic papers, working papers, technical reports, policy products, or equivalent.
• Exceptional written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to communicate complex evidence clearly to senior policy and practitioner audiences.
• Experience engaging constructively with government, implementing organizations, or other policy stakeholders. Experience working in India or another low- or middle-income country context is desirable.
• Strong organizational skills, judgement, and attention to detail, and the ability to manage multiple research priorities.
• Experience mentoring junior research staff and working effectively in a multidisciplinary team.

Other Requirements:

• Ability to prioritize effectively and manage multiple technical workstreams simultaneously.
• Intellectual curiosity, sound judgement, and a practical, adaptive approach to research in complex implementation settings.
• Ability to work independently, problem-solve, and collaborate closely with internal teams and external partners.
• Willingness to travel within India, and occasionally internationally, for research, partner engagement, and dissemination.

Note on Work Authorizations:

This is an India-based role. Candidates must be based in India and have work authorization to work in India.