Research Consultant - Revitalizing Traditional Water Tanks for Climate Adaptation in India - J-PAL South Asia

Organization: J-PAL South Asia

Education: Bachelor's/Master’s in Economics/social sciences with a minimum 1 year of relevant work experience

Start Date: March 2025

Language Requirement: English, Hindi

Length of Commitment: 3 months for this position.

Location: Remote (India) – with travel to field locations for about a month.

About the Organization

The Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL) was established in 2003 as a research center at the Economics Department at MIT. Since then, it has grown into a global network of researchers who use randomized evaluations to answer critical policy questions in the fight against poverty. J-PAL is propelled by a first-rate team dedicated to research, policy, training, and other vital work, supporting J-PAL's mission to reduce poverty by ensuring that policy is informed by scientific evidence.

J-PAL South Asia, which is based at the Institute for Financial Management and Research (IFMR) in India, analyses and disseminates research results and builds partnerships with policymakers to ensure that policy is driven by evidence, and that programs proven effective are scaled up.

About the position

J-PAL South Asia at the Institute for Financial Management and Research seeks qualified applicants for the position of Research Consultant to lead the field data collection for an impact evaluation in India. The position offers an opportunity to gain first-hand field management experience in an organization undertaking cutting-edge development research. The Research Consultant 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. Research Consultant work closely with Research Manager & Principal Investigators who will guide and supervise for various tasks. Read more about our work and projects here.

About the project

Irrigation provides a possible means for farmers to adapt to climate change. In the Bundelkhand region of central India, traditional tanks were constructed centuries ago to store rainwater for irrigation later in the season or for cultivation during the dry season. But the tanks have deteriorated over time and now have much less capacity. This evaluation will measure the impacts of repairing these tanks to give more land access to irrigation as an adaptation to climate change. In addition, researchers will contrast two theories for how features of the labor market affect irrigation management in the Indian context.

Key Responsibilities

• Research Consultant work closely with academic researchers and other field staff to perform a variety of tasks including, but not limited to:
• Designing survey questionnaires, running pilot exercises, refining 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 vendor 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
• Reporting to PIs on all of the above mentioned activities
• Any other task as assigned by the Research Manager, or PIs

Desired Qualifications

• A Bachelor's/Master’s degree in economics, social sciences, public policy, or related fields
• Previous experience in development research preferred (experience managing field data collection is a strong plus)
• Excellent management and organizational skills along with strong quantitative skills
• Some conversational-level skills in regional language - Hindi
• Ability to work independently with minimal supervision, while also being a collaborative team member.
• Knowledge of Stata (strongly preferred)
• Familiarity with randomized controlled trials/clinical trials/quasi-experiments

Note on Work Authorizations

Candidates must have work authorization to work in India.