Senior Research Associate – Reducing Emissions and Air Pollution from Traditional Brick Kilns

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About the Organization

The Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL) is a global research center working to reduce poverty by ensuring that policy is informed by scientific evidence. Anchored by a network of more than 1,100 researchers at universities around the world, J-PAL conducts randomized impact evaluations to answer critical questions in the fight against poverty.

Job Description

To support this effort, we are seeking a Senior Research Associate who will support a comprehensive situation assessment of brick manufacturing in West Bengal as a prelude to piloting or larger scale RCT of the modified Zigzag 2.0 intervention. This assessment will inform our understanding of the local operational, market, and policy landscape, ensuring the intervention is customized for the local context.

Job Responsibilities

• Conduct desk research on brick sector regulation in India with a specific focus on West Bengal’s approach to air quality and brick sector regulation.
• Build relations and engage with key stakeholders in the West Bengal Pollution Control Board, Department of Environment, Land and Land Reforms Department, Department of Labour, and others.
• Conduct key informant interviews with sector stakeholders including brick owner association leaders, kiln owners, managers and workers, soil sellers, brick purchasers, government officials, NGOs.
• Conduct background research on potential partner institutions who could implement a pilot intervention and assist in developing a criteria for selecting/short-listing partner institution(s) and in the task of shortlisting potential partner institutions.
• Supervise a survey of kiln owners to capture operational practices, market needs, regulatory challenges, and readiness to adopt Zigzag 2.0’s low-cost changes.
• Summarise all findings in a final report on the feasibility of air pollution mitigation actions in the West Bengal brick industry.

Education Qualification/Required Skills & Experience

• Bachelor's/Master’s in social science (Anthropology, political science,  economics, sociology, or other related field)
• 2-5 years of relevant work experience, preferably with environment/development projects.
• Experience conducting qualitative research.
• Experience designing and conducting surveys, including designing survey questionnaires, running pilot exercises, refining survey instruments, recruiting, training and supervising field surveyors, and supervising data collection to ensure good data quality.
• Excellent communication skills, including the ability to liaise with government officials and local stakeholders effectively.
• Ability to work independently with minimal supervision, while also being a collaborative team member.
• Fluency in Bengali and English.
• Preferred: some experience with/understanding of the brick sector or air pollution policies.

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