Innovations for Poverty Action (IPA) January 2012 Vacancies

Innovations for Poverty Action (IPA) is a U.S. non-profit organization dedicated to creating, evaluating, and replicating innovative solutions to poverty and policy problems worldwide.  IPA specializes in using randomized impact evaluation to assess the effectiveness of development programs.

Job Description

Background:
Country: Ghana
Start Date: ASAP
Length of Commitment: TBD

The Incentives to Save Project is seeking a Project Associate to run an evaluation that is ready to launch. The project asks the question of whether direct incentives are an effective policy tool for generating ongoing increases in savings rates.  Principal Investigators (PIs) include Gharad Bryan (LSE) and Margaret McConnell (Harvard School of Public Health).

The Project Associate would be an employee of Innovations for Poverty Action (IPA) and work closely with at team from IPA, LSE and HSPH. The position offers an opportunity to gain first-hand field management experience in an organization undertaking cutting-edge development research.

• Project Associates work closely with researchers and other field staff to perform a variety tasks including, but not limited to:  designing survey questionnaires, conducting qualitative research, running pilot exercise, refining study design and surveying instruments, managing survey teams, negotiating contracts with survey firms, checking and analyzing data, cleaning data and assisting in preliminary analysis, assisting in the writing of project reports and policy memos and coordinating with local partners running the programs being evaluated.
• The project associate would live and work in Tamale, Ghana and would work closely with the PIs.  The ideal candidate will have knowledge of Stata, previous experience with collecting or analyzing survey data as well as experience with large scale logistics operations in a developing world context.  We are looking for someone who could make a two year commitment.

Required Skills or Experience

Experience: Bachelors degree or Masters, limited experience

• A Bachelor’s degree in economics, social sciences, public policy, or related fields.
• Experience living in a developing country is a strong plus
• Excellent management and organizational skills along with strong quantitative skills
• Fluency and excellent communication skills in English
• Flexible, self-motivating, able to manage multiple tasks efficiently, and team player
• Demonstrated ability to manage high-level relationships with partner organizations
• Knowledge of Stata (strongly preferred) or other data analysis software is preferred
• Familiarity with randomized controlled trials preferred.
• We are looking for a commitment period of two years for this position.

How To Apply

If you are interested, please do two things:

1. Complete the J-PAL/IPA common application indicating that you are interested in applying for a “Type 1: Field Research Associate or Project Associate” position. Please include two letters of recommendation, statement of purpose, CV, and transcripts.
2. Send an email to [email protected], copying [email protected], following these instructions exactly:

• In the subject line: Put your full name, first (given) name followed by last (family) name.
• Attachments: Please attach ONLY your CV.
• In the email body: Copy exactly the following position line:100538 IPAGhana, Project Associate

Please do not include any text besides the position line(s) in the body of the e-mail. Adding extra text will interfere with the processing of your application.
Only short-listed candidates will be contacted for an interview.

DISCLAIMER: The above statements are intended to describe the general nature and level of the work being performed by Project Associate. The statements are not intended to be an exhaustive list of all possible duties, tasks, and responsibilities. Management reserves the right to amend and change responsibilities to meet organizational needs as necessary. Please note that IPA will never request any form of payment from an applicant. Applicants are encouraged to confirm the information listed above with IPA prior to releasing any extensive personal information to the organization. Please direct questions to [email protected].

IPA is an Equal Opportunity Employer (EOE), adhering to the laws that prohibit discrimination in the terms and conditions of employment. The IPA EOE policy provides equal employment, volunteer, and service opportunities to all qualified persons without regard to race, color, national origin or ancestry, religion, creed, sex, age, sexual orientation, gender identification, marital status, veteran status, disability (including HIV/AIDS), or any other status protected by applicable law.

Closing 17th Feb, 2012