Research Associate - Trade Credit at Innovations for Poverty Action (IPA)

Reporting To: Research Manager

Start Date: ASAP

Duration: One Year

Eligibility: Position open to local Kenyan hires only

About the Project: This study will measure the impact of offering trade credit to a group of retailers who currently have very limited access to financial services. We will address the commercial viability of this intervention from both the lender’s and borrower’s perspective, tracking repayment behaviour on the one hand, and assessing the impact on business development at the retail level on the other.

The project will shed light on the potential of trade credit to foster the development of small businesses in a developing country context.

About the position: The Research Associate under the general supervision of the Research Manager and within the limits of Innovations for Poverty Action-Kenya (IPAK) policies and procedures
coordinates the facilitation of field activities, data support for the project, and functions within IPAK.

Below is a list of some of the general duties and responsibilities of the Research Associate to be carried out as needed according to the determination of the Research Manager.

Duties and Responsibilities:

• Assist with overall project management, monitoring and implementation.
• Track progress of project activities and regularly inform Research Coordinator/Manager of progress.
• Coordinate field logistics, including the implementation of phone and in-person surveys with large samples of respondents.
• Manage, support and train a team of field staff.
• Implement systems to manage, clean, and analyze data related to project activities.
• Ensure smooth and timely data flow between various project activities.
• Assist with survey programming (e.g. SurveyCTO).
• Monitor indicators of staff performance (especially productivity and back-check verifications).
• Implement research protocols to ensure quality of all data collection activities.
• Prepare summary statistics and other analyses related to project outcomes.
• Keep track of project expenses and prepare financial reports.
• Work closely with IPA Kenya country office team and Principal Investigators/project implementers.

Qualifications and Experience:

Required:

• Bachelor’s degree in management, international development, public policy, or related fields.
• Excellent project management and organizational skills; meticulous attention to detail.
• Prior work experience (2-4 years) conducting field research collecting quantitative data.
• Ability to manage and clean complex datasets using STATA.
• Excellent financial management skills.
• Demonstrated ability to manage field teams and data collection at various levels (planning, piloting, collecting, transcribing, back-checking, financial budgeting and reporting).
• Flexible, self-motivating, able to manage multiple tasks efficiently, and team player.
• Demonstrated ability to manage high-level relationships with partner organizations and policy makers.
• Strong communication skills with fluency in English and Kiswahili.

Desired:

• Familiarity with randomized controlled trials.
• Knowledge of statistics.