Research Associate - Precision Development

About Precision Development (PxD) 

Precision Development (PxD) is a rapidly scaling 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 programs in international development that are as demonstrably cost-effective as ours. We currently work in seven countries in Africa, and Asia, and are expanding as more governments and organizations look for innovative ways to use new technologies to empower people across low and middle-income countries.PxD’s activities in India are implemented in partnership with Behaviour Change Advisory Services (BCAS) LLP.

Title: Research Associate

Location and work authorization: India, with current and ongoing work authorization

Salary: Competitive

Position: Full-time

Application deadline: 31 May 2024, 6 pm IST (applications may be reviewed as they are submitted)

PxD is looking for a driven, creative, and independent person to join a high-performing, flexible, and non-hierarchical team as a Research Associate.The successful candidate will 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. The successful candidate must have a strong interest in and commitment to PxD's mission to provide actionable information and other cost-effective, scalable services to people in poverty so that they can sustainably improve their incomes and well-being.

Qualifications:

A Bachelor’s degree in economics, agricultural economics, public policy, statistics, or a closely related field, and experience in at least several of the following domains are

Desired:

·      Strong understanding of economics, econometrics, and familiarity with randomized evaluations.

·      Outstanding analytical skills and the capacity to gather and apply available information, and connect theories and data to practical insights to generate evidence-based insights to develop, test, refine, and scale innovations.

·      Exemplary data and coding capabilities demonstrated through proficiency in data cleaning and processing, power calculations, sample selection, randomization, and basic regression analysis.

·      Excellent knowledge of Stata or R or similar software for data analysis.

·      Experience with different languages and tools used at PxD, such as SQL, Python, GIS, and SurveyCTO, is a plus.

·      Strong critical thinking and problem-solving skills. Experience working on field research in economics in LMIC countries, ideally leading field teams or data collection. Excellent organizational skills, detail-oriented, and ability to work both independently and collaboratively.

·      Fluency in English. Demonstrated strong oral and written communication skills.

·      Knowledge of any Indian language is a plus. 

·      Ability to work under time pressure and solve problems creatively

Responsibilities (including but not limited to): 

·      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 IRB protocol development.

·      Contribute to funding proposals and project reports.

·      Assist with partner relations.Contribute to PxD institutional knowledge management and internal learning efforts.

·      Support PxD institutional knowledge management and internal learning efforts.

·      Contribute to internal and external communications to disseminate research findings including briefs, blogs, reports, and presentations.