Innovations for Poverty Action seeks a qualified Research Associate to manage a study that will use several interventions to understand the barriers to consumption smoothing among rural farmers in Zambia. Specifically, the study explores what drives the “hungry season”, the fact that farmers that appear to have plenty at harvest time run out of food and go hungry later in the year. The study will involve a randomized experiment that will use several interventions that try to uncover the drivers of this behavior. The Principal Investigators are Ned Augenblick (University of California, Berkeley), Kelsey Jack (Tufts University), Supreet Kaur (University of California, Berkeley) and Nicholas Swanson (University of California, Berkeley).
This position provides an excellent opportunity to gain extensive hands‐on experience in a field setting and to have significant management responsibility in a vibrant organization undertaking cutting‐edge development research. Key areas of involvement will include: piloting, designing survey questionnaires, recruiting, training and managing survey teams, designing and supervising logistics for the field activities, cleaning and analyzing survey data and assisting in the writing of project reports and policy memos.
Project description:
Rural agricultural workers in Zambia have consumption patterns that vary substantially over the year: high levels of consumption at harvest are accompanied by substantial reductions during the cropping season. The “hungry season” leading up to harvest appears to impose large hardships on households. For instance, during focus groups many farmers describe having to reduce the amount they are eating during this time, sometimes to as little as one meal per day. These costs raise the question of why rural households do not smooth consumption more, especially given that the hungry season is an event that occurs year after year.
We are designing a study to investigate this question in rural Zambia. The project will involve a randomized trial of interventions that might alleviate constraints to households smoothing consumption. We will measure impacts using household surveys. The position will be based either in Chipata (Eastern Province) or Mumbwa (Central Province).
Responsibilities 
  • Developing and piloting the survey instruments and interventions, including programming digital data collection; managing the translation and back-translation of the survey into the local language.
  • Hiring, training, and managing the field teams that will conduct the data collections.
  • Managing all field logistics, procuring products, and getting approvals from local authorities.
  • Ensuring all data quality protocols are followed including auditing enumerators and performing daily checks of the incoming data; correcting the errors of staff iteratively to ensure the data is of the highest quality.
  • Managing the data from collection at the household to delivery of a final, cleaned dataset.
  • Managing the budget including tracking all expenses to ensure costs are within project funds.
  • Managing the project budget and field expenses. formulation of direction and strategy
  • Perform related duties as assigned by supervisor
  • Maintain compliance with all company policies and procedures
Qualifications 
  • Excellent verbal and written communication skills, including ability to effectively communicate with internal and external customers
  • A Bachelor's or Master’s degree in economics, public policy, international development, public health or related fields.
  • Strong interpersonal and communication skills
  • Excellent project management and organizational skills with strong quantitative skills.
  • Knowledge of Stata; programming and other technical knowledge a plus.
  • Demonstrated ability to lead staff efficiently to achieve project goals.
  • Flexible, self-motivating, able to manage multiple tasks efficiently and a team player.
  • Experience working (preferably in a research-related capacity) in developing countries.
  • Familiarity with randomized controlled trials.
  • Excellent computer proficiency (MS Office – Word, Excel and Outlook)
  • Must be able to work under pressure and meet deadlines, while maintaining a positive attitude and providing exemplary customer service
  • Ability to work independently and to carry out assignments to completion within parameters of instructions given, prescribed routines, and standard accepted practices
  • Bachelor’s degree required, Master’s degree preferred