Research Manager Consultant - Yale Inclusion Economics

Yale Inclusion Economics will be launching new work in Kenya (and other locations in Sub-Saharan Africa) which aims to deepen data and empirical evidence and catalyze evidence-based policy and program change to enable women to improve their economic opportunities and overall welfare and development through the meaningful use and deployment of digital technology and capabilities.  This work will support the next generation of research and impact evaluations with governments as well as private sector and mobile network operator (MNO) partners to deepen our knowledge on addressing the barriers for closing digital gender gaps and advancing opportunities for women's agency in Kenya, enabling women to reap the benefits that digital technology can offer to enhance their lives and livelihoods.

The Yale Inclusion Economics (YIE) Research Manager (RM) Consultant will manage the research, policy engagement, and dissemination activities in Kenya, under guidance from the YIE Gender and Digital Lead.  The RM Consultant will maintain relationships with relevant policymaker and practitioner counterparts, manage timelines for research activities and ethical compliance, and contribute to documentation of activities conducted in Kenya. 

This position offers the qualified candidate an opportunity to support cutting-edge development economics research focused on innovations aimed to economically empower women through digital connection.  The candidate will work closely with research and programmatic staff at Yale and other leading academic institutions, to ensure research is high-quality and academically rigorous, while meeting donor requirements and advancing policy improvements relevant to economic and social inclusion.  Day-to-day responsibilities include guiding and monitoring primary data collection, supporting research staff requests, ensuring data security and ethics requirements are met, and implementing appropriate systems for research and staff management.

Inclusion Economics at Yale University is a policy-engaged research initiative based out of the Economic Growth Center and the MacMillan Center, collaborating with Inclusion Economics India Centre at IFMR and Inclusion Economics Nepal at Governance Lab – as well as colleagues at other leading universities, such as the University of Southern California and the Ohio State University. We draw upon economics, political science, and related fields to conduct cutting-edge research to understand how policy can promote inclusive, accountable economies and societies. Our core research focuses on gender as it relates to labor economics and broader economic empowerment, political economy and governance, and environmental economics. We also aim to build a culture of evidence and increase data literacy in the public sector, strengthening leaders’ ability to identify and implement evidence-informed policies. Throughout the research life cycle, we engage closely with policy counterparts to ensure we address questions of immediate relevance, and we regularly communicate data-driven insights with policy counterparts and the general public.

• Oversee the day-to-day implementation and ensure effective coordination of the evaluation, working with implementation partners, university partners, data collection partners and researchers to ensure that all aspects of the field project comply with the required specifications of the research design, including intervention implementation, sample selection, and data collection
• Work closely with the Principal Investigator, Gender and Digital Lead, and research team to develop and implement appropriate structures and systems for the intervention and related primary data collection, including the development and oversight of field and quality control protocols and coordination with local partners
• Ensure all compliance-related issues are identified and addressed in a proactive, efficient manner
• Support research team in ensuring all field and data activities are carried out in accordance with IRB and field safety protocols; assist with drafting of IRB protocols, supporting documents, and other ethical and licensing requirements
• Provide regular feedback to the research team, identifying potential obstacles to success and facilitating coordination to meet the project goals
• Provide appropriate inputs for project management (budgets, reports, etc.), program monitoring and reporting to the research team
• Ensure adherence of the project to research design principles for randomized control trial field experiments
• Manage day-to-day relationships with partners and key stakeholders
• Identify and communicate challenges and troubleshoot problems as they occur in the field
• Coordinate regular meetings across various time-zones and numerous team members, including setting the agenda, noting documentation and following up on meeting action items
• Other related tasks, as assigned.

• Master’s degree in economics, public policy, political science, statistics, econometrics or related field
• 3 to 5 years of management experience in international development or related field
• Excellent oral and written communication skills in English and Swahili
• Solid understanding of research project design and processes, experience with RCT’s
• Proven ability to manage multiple tasks and propose solutions in a timely manner with minimal supervision
• Excellent attention to detail
• Capacity to maintain an organized and structured work style in a fast-paced environment
• Strong interpersonal skills, and willingness to interact with a wide range of individuals ranging from Research Associates to academics, donors, research institutions, etc.
• Ability to work in a multicultural environment
• Willingness to visit research project sites as necessary

• Proven analytical skills and knowledge of common statistics software packages (e.g. STATA, R)
• Experience with research grants management, budgeting, and project management
• Experience with Python (pandas + scrapy), Git, database management

Direct supervisor: Gender and Digital Lead, Yale Inclusion Economics

Also reports to research Principal Investigator team: Rohini Pande, Yale Inclusion Economics; Simone Schaner, University of Southern California; Charity Troyer Moore, Ohio State University

If you are interested in this position, please fill out our Screening Questionnaire; you will be asked to upload a single PDF containing your CV, cover letter, sole authorship writing sample (only include coauthored pieces if a sole author piece is not available, and indicate which sections you led), and academic transcripts.  Label your file “Last name, First name – Research Manager - Yale”. 

To view other open positions, visit the Inclusion Economics Opportunities jobs page. 

Yale is an Affirmative Action Equal Opportunity Employer.  Yale values diversity in its faculty, students, and staff and encourages applications from people of diverse backgrounds, particularly women, members of minority groups, protected veterans, persons with disabilities, and others who have been historically underrepresented in the field of economics.