Research Associate - J-PAL Africa

J-PAL Africa is seeking a South Africa based Research Associate, with a willingness to work from Johannesburg or Cape Town, to support its mission of reducing poverty by ensuring policy is informed by scientific evidence. We are looking for aspiring researchers with strong technical skills, a dedication to quality and a passion for working with diverse communities on poverty alleviation strategies.

J-PAL Africa, the Africa hub of J-PAL Global, is based at the Southern Africa Labour and Development Research Unit (SALDRU) in the University of Cape Town (UCT) School of Economics. This position will be based out of either our satellite office in Johannesburg or our office at UCT in Cape Town, depending on the project needs. This setup ensures proximity to our study partner organizations, program beneficiaries, and the rest of the J-PAL Africa research team.

The Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL) consists of a global network of academics who specialize in conducting randomized evaluations of social policies/programmes in order to generate scientific evidence about what works in the fight against poverty. J-PAL’s research associates work closely with these leading academics and partner organizations (often NGOs and governments) to design and implement these studies. 

The Research Associate will be expected to lead the implementation of one of our ongoing studies, closely working with the Research Manager, Principal Investigators, partner organizations and other members of the J-PAL team to oversee the implementation of the research study. This role provides an excellent opportunity to work at the frontier of rigorous research and evidence-based policymaking, contributing to knowledge that can improve the lives of citizens in South Africa and beyond. 

Responsibilities include:

• Contributing to study design
  • Working closely with Principal Investigators to scope the feasibility of randomised evaluations and helping to design study implementation methods
  • Conducting literature reviews or consulting related literature to inform study design. 
• Managing the project and its stakeholders
  • Coordinating and cultivating relationships with study partners.
  • Managing finances and contributing to donor reporting.
  • Supporting funding proposals for full study
• Leading data analysis
  • Cleaning administrative data for analysis
  • Working closely with Principal Investigators to analyze data for needs assessments, study design or computation of results (in Stata and/or R).
  • Performing cost-effectiveness analysis 
• Designing and managing data collection
  • Coordinating data collection efforts including hiring, training and managing teams of field staff.
  • Designing survey instruments, focus group discussions and other data collection tools and methods to achieve study objectives in partnership with academics.
  • Programming surveys, real-time checks and data cleaning processes (often in Stata and/or R).
  • Leading focus group discussions with potential recipients of the intervention
• Training others on research practices and contributing to J-PAL’s global knowledge repositories and external capacity building efforts.

Requirements for the job:

• A minimum of an Honour’s degree in economics, social sciences or other Honour’s level degrees involving training in statistics or coursework in quantitative research methods. Candidates with a bachelors degree who have MITx Micromasters in Data, Economics and Designing Policy credentials are encouraged to apply.
• Demonstrated strong quantitative skills, including proficiency in Stata/R and Microsoft Office suite
• Strong oral and written communication skills in English
• Excellent management and organizational skills, attention to detail and ability to work under pressure
• Creative and effective problem-solver, self-motivated and independent
• Excellent interpersonal skills 
• Familiarity with and interest in randomised evaluations and experimental methods
• Right to work in South Africa (citizenship, permanent residency or critical skills visa). Please note that J-PAL Africa cannot sponsor work permits.

Advantageous

• Prior experience in field research
• Experience with data cleaning, merging and management using Stata/R programming.
• Survey programming experience in SurveyCTO or equivalent.
• Proficiency in an official South African language other than English (e.g., isiZulu, isiXhosa).
• Valid driver’s license