Senior Research Associate (Data)

Technical Consulting

WELL Labs is looking for a self-driven, creative, and curious person to join a high-performing, flexible, and cross-collaborative team as a Senior Research Associate.

Position Overview

The candidate will have opportunities to work closely with affiliated researchers and stakeholders, and substantially contribute to WELL Labs’ programmes. The candidate would contribute to testing and refining new ideas, using rigorous methods to experiment and measure the real world impact of partner organisations, and identify pathways to scale. The candidate must have a strong interest in and commitment to WELL Labs mission to work with governments, businesses, multilateral institutions, and civil society groups to co-create science-backed solutions that improve people’s lives and livelihoods and sustain nature.

Job Location: Bengaluru/Delhi (hybrid)

Period of Engagement: Full-time

Responsibilities

The role will grow as the candidate develops, but they will start by focusing on the following key responsibilities:

Work with team leadership and other colleagues to design and implement research studies and monitoring, evaluation, and learning (MEL) activities across different projects within WELL Labs.
Own data management and field implementation for primary and secondary data being gathered for various projects across different geographies in India.
Supervise quantitative and qualitative data collection (including ODK management, focus groups, interviews, and quantitative surveys, and secondary data reviews) and conduct data cleaning, creating robust data management architecture tailored to each project.
Produce accurate and organised summaries of data, including basic analysis for descriptive statistics and simple regression analysis, and contribute to report writing.
Carry out literature reviews and other desk research, providing input on research questions and structure.
Develop and update project documentation regularly.
Assist in managing stakeholder relations and working with external partners for the implementation of programme operations.
Contribute and support internal and external communications to disseminate project results and research findings, including briefs, blogs, reports, and presentations.
Contribute to WELL Labs’ institutional knowledge management and internal learning efforts.

Qualifications, Experience and Eligibility

Bachelor’s degree or above in economics, public policy, international development, or closely related fields.
Good understanding of economics, econometrics, and familiarity with randomised evaluations.
Excellent knowledge of Stata or R or similar software for data analysis.
Experience working on field research in economics in India.
2-3 years of experience in using KoboToolbox/Survey CTO/ODK or a similar program for survey design and data collection
Ability to draw inferences from data to identify pathways for programme improvement and MEL evaluations.
Experience in a multi-faceted role, with the ability to balance and prioritise across multiple projects and stakeholders.
Strong writing and oral communication skills in English, with attention to detail and advanced writing and presentation skills.
Proficiency in multiple Indian languages is a plus.
Experience of working on agriculture or natural resource management projects is a plus.
Demonstrable experience in working with surveyor teams and field implementation for data collection.
Willingness to travel to field sites in India.