Research Associate/Assistant

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About the Organization

UNESCO, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, is a specialized agency dedicated to strengthening our shared humanity through the promotion of education, science, culture, and communication.

We set standards, produce tools and develop knowledge to create solutions to some of the greatest challenges of our time, and foster a world of greater equality and peace.

Protecting biodiversity, responding to artificial intelligence, advancing quality education, safeguarding heritage, and ensuring access to reliable information are some examples of the work that UNESCO does with its 194 Member States across the globe.

Job Description

To support its work, 3ie is inviting applications from qualified professionals to join the team as a Senior Research Associate/Research Associate with the Evaluation Office in India. This is a remote position, but a base in Bengaluru and knowledge of Kannada will be preferred. Candidate should be willing to relocate to Bengaluru, if required.

Job Responsibilities

As a member of the team, the Research Associate/Research Assistant will undertake the following tasks:

• Support the design of evaluations, including building the program theory of change and identifying research questions
• Develop and pilot survey instruments and contribute to primary data collection
• Where data collection is by a survey firm, implement data quality control measures, including conducting field visits to monitor the survey team
• Clean and analyze quantitative and qualitative data and conduct data quality and consistency checks
• Liaise with partner organizations (government, research organizations, NGOs and donors)
• Take responsibility for knowledge management on the assigned projects
• Liaise within 3ie to produce knowledge and communication products on the assigned projects
• Lead coordination with external and internal stakeholders and organize capacity building, training and dissemination workshops, as needed
• Prepare donor reports and ensure internal reporting on the assigned projects is up to date

Research and evaluation support

• Research assistance, including data analysis, statistical and econometric analysis, power calculation, coding, preparation of tables, graphs and figures, literature reviews and others
• Support preparation and review of research proposals and research articles
• Contribute to developing questionnaires and databases
• Support data collection quality assurance activities
• Support implementation of transparency, reproducibility and ethical best practices in research
• Review technical deliverables and perform replication analysis (push button replication)

• Prepare presentations

Synthesis research support

• Assist in the development of synthesis review protocol
• Screen the search results, extract data from the findings of impact evaluations and systematic reviews
• Read assigned impact evaluations and systematic reviews
• Critically appraise the quality of assigned impact evaluations and systematic reviews using a structured checklist
• Write a summary of the critical appraisal to be published on the repository
• Peer-review the critical appraisal provided by others
• Extract and code meta-data from impact evaluations and systematic reviews, such as bibliographic information, sectors and methodologies used
• Support writing of reports, including figures and tables
• Describe the interventions under the guidance of the advisory council

Training and knowledge management

• Prepare training materials, including presentations, case studies and other materials
• Develop policymaker-friendly materials such as briefs, executive summaries, study summaries, blogs, conference abstracts and other reports for 3ie databases, internal tracking, website content and external channels
• Support the organization of workshops, meetings and events
• Contribute to the generation of writing outputs such as minutes from meetings and learning documents

Grant program and evaluation project support

• Coordinate with key stakeholders such as donors, thought-partners, grantees, implementers, policymakers and others
• Assist in preparing reporting documents
• Assist in setting up of advisory council as well as in organization, administration and coordination of advisory council meetings

Stakeholder engagement

• Work to expand existing and build new networks with stakeholders, including academic researchers, professional evaluators, development practitioners and others, as required
• Support the design of evaluations, including building the program theory of change and identifying research questions
• Develop and pilot survey instruments and contribute to primary data collection
• Clean and analyze quantitative and qualitative data and conduct data quality and consistency checks
• Liaise with partner organizations (government, research organizations, NGOs and donors)
• Take responsibility for knowledge management on the assigned projects
• Liaise within 3ie to produce knowledge and communication products on the assigned projects
• Lead coordination with external and internal stakeholders and organize capacity building, training and dissemination workshops, as needed
• Prepare donor reports and ensure internal reporting on the assigned projects is up to date

• Where data collection is by a survey firm, implement data quality control measures, including conducting field visits to monitor the survey team

Education Qualification/Required Skills & Experience

• A Master’s degree in economics, public policy or an equivalent subject is required

Skills and experience

Required

• At least 2-3 years of relevant professional work experience for Research Associate and 1-2 years for Research Assistant
• Demonstrated knowledge of recent advances in econometric analysis and causal inference

Desirable

• Prior experience and/or knowledge of quantitative methods, impact evaluation and synthesis research
• Prior experience in writing and producing reports, research papers or briefs
• Prior experience preparing evaluation teaching materials
• Working knowledge of Kannada is desirable. Everything else being equal, those based out of Bengaluru will be preferred  

Skills

• Strong data analysis skills using STATA; ability to work with large data sets; Technical expertise in costing and economic evaluation (e.g., cost-effectiveness analysis, cost-benefit analysis)
• Ability to communicate clearly and effectively at a technical level in English, both oral and written
• Strong ability to work on a team and under pressure with strict deadlines
• Strong organization and planning skills, proactivity and perseverance
• Ability to work in a multicultural setting and sensitivity to people of all genders
• Experience in managing large-scale surveys in developing country contexts, especially in the field of community-driven development programs and livelihoods

For more information please check the Link

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