Research Manager - J-PAL Africa - South Africa

J-PAL Africa seeks a research manager to manage multiple research projects that test the impacts of a variety of

entrepreneurship and small business initiatives in South Africa through randomised evaluations (also known as randomized control trials). This is an exciting opportunity to contribute to the generation of scientific evidence about

what works in the fight against poverty. The research manager will work primarily with a lender to small businesses

and entrepreneurs building capacity within the research team and will get hands-on experience with real-world private

sector partners and their initiatives – all while working at the frontier of academic research.

The position will primarily be based in the Midrand office of the lender in Johannesburg. The position holder can also

make use of the Johannesburg office of J-PAL Africa, the Africa regional office of J-PAL Global, which forms part of the

Southern Africa Labour and Development Research Unit (SALDRU) in the University of Cape Town’s School of

Economics. The Abdul Latif Jameel Action Lab (J-PAL) aims to reduce poverty by ensuring that policy is informed by

scientific evidence. J-PAL consists of a global network of academics who specialise in conducting randomised

evaluations of social policies/programmes to generate this evidence.

The position holder should be a capable manager of field research projects, with excellent quantitative research and

people management skills. The role involves helping design RCTs, assisting in the management of the research staff

within the lender who work on these studies, closely liaising with the academic researchers who design and lead the

projects, and ensuring that the projects are implemented with fidelity to the study design. A key component of the

role involves ensuring rigorous data quality measures are in place, including high-frequency checks, back-checking,

effective training and debriefs with field staff, and other measures as required. The role also involves building and

maintaining strong relationships with project partners, a lender to small businesses and entrepreneurs, and working

with them to ensure study results inform their programmes and policies.

This is a soft funded position on a fixed contract for one year, with the possibility to renew.

Requirements:

• A Masters or PhD in Public Policy or Economics or another similar social science including graduate level (Honours and up) courses in econometrics/ statistics, microeconomics or development economics
• A minimum of two years relevant work experience
• Experience conducting field research in developing countries
• Demonstrated ability to conduct rigorous quantitative research
• Strong skills in data cleaning and analysis or other programming including task automation using Stata and/or R and/or Python 3
• Experience managing complex research projects
• Demonstrated people management experience (including managing staff at multiple levels), ideally including managing a survey team in a developing country
• Experience in managing relationships with multiple stakeholders from different institutions or departments
• Experience writing and managing budgets
• Proven ability to handle multiple diverse assignments at one time, successfully complete assigned tasks and meet deadlines while conducting high-quality work
• Advanced writing and oral presentation skills in English, particularly the ability to communicate technical research considerations to policymakers in a non-technical manner
• Familiarity with Microsoft and Google Suite, and data collection software like SurveyCTO and/or Qualtrics
• Ability and willingness to learn new software/ programming technologies

Responsibilities include:

• Manage the day-to-day operations of randomized control trials with small firms in a dynamic, fast-paced environment.
• Oversee data collection, ensure data integrity, and conduct advanced econometric analysis.
• Collaborate with researchers and local partners to ensure project goals are met.
• Present research findings to both academic audiences and corporate stakeholders.
• Contribute to the development of reports, academic papers, and presentations.
• Ensure project timelines and milestones are adhered to, with an ability to adapt to changes within a complex organization.
• Complete ad-hoc requests for the company in relationship to data management and analysis.
• Support as a trainer of capacity-building activities of J-PAL Africa: workshops, seminars, Evaluating Social Programmes, Executive Education courses, and staff training.

The annual cost of employment, including benefits, is between R612 625 and R720 734 dependent on qualifications and experience, with the possibility of additional compensation subject to performance.