Associate & Senior Associate (Kenya and Rwanda) at IDinsight

About the Associate & Senior Associate role

• IDinsight’s Associates and Senior Associates are high-performing early-career professionals passionate about experiencing the front-line realities of evidence-informed decision-making. These roles provide a rich, varied experience with responsibilities ranging from in-depth research and analysis, data collection management, client interactions, and internal team building.  We seek intellectually curious, resilient, and team-oriented individuals who – in addition to developing professional and technical skills – are highly motivated to grapple with the difficulties and unpredictability of trying to improve lives at scale.

Associates and Senior Associates are responsible for the following areas of work: 

Managing project team workflow, systems, and deliverables

• Driving the day-to-day execution of the project work according to project plans and leading internal coordination efforts for their team.
• Conducting and supporting appropriate research design, data collection or acquisition, technical analysis, and results visualization/packaging, etc. for project tasks
• Creating client deliverables, including reports, slide decks, and oral presentations to inform decisions and actions of clients
• Developing strategic communications to build awareness of IDinsight projects and learnings, contribute to sectoral knowledge, and shift the sector towards more evidence-informed policy and practices 

Supporting their team in developing strong client relationships

• Preparing talking points and presentations for client and partner meetings
• Managing relationships with stakeholders
• Contributing to client development, including developing proposals and concept notes

Leading data collection activities

• Overseeing all data collection activities to ensure quality, including questionnaire development, sampling, managing data collection teams, analysis, and result synthesis
• Traveling to project sites, IDinsight offices, embedded client locations, and other areas as per project needs 

Contributing to internal team building

• Developing, piloting, and implementing internal systems or other organizational contributions (e.g., event management) for IDinsight, in coordination with functional teams such as Operations, Communications, Finance, etc.
• Contributing to office life and culture building, such as facilitating All Hands Meetings; leading team building efforts at team retreats; participating in Social Cultural Committee events; and engaging with the DEI Working Groups. 

Examples of recent Associate and Senior Associate work streams include:

• Working with several African governments to support evidence-based decision-making capabilities in areas like women’s economic empowerment, education, economic growth etc. 
• Support a multi-workstream engagement with Living Goods on measurement and learning that involves building cost models, synthesizing evidence, and estimating health system savings across Kenya and Burkina Faso; and a focus on iterative report development and client feedback cycles. This project is a strong example of econometric analysis, client communication, and multi-country modeling in a health sector context.
• Working on a randomized evaluation of iDE's latrine subsidy intervention. Associate workstreams would include leading data cleaning, quantitative analysis, and report writing, while also preparing for dissemination workshops with Ethiopia's Ministry of Health. The project involves navigating real-world implementation challenges — including coding latrine quality outcomes and updating treatment classifications as partner verification data comes in,  making it a strong example of applied field evaluation work.
• Supporting a school-level RCT evaluating student performance incentives for the Global Schools Forum. Associates workstreams include producing school-level comparison reports that benchmark treatment schools against similar non-participating schools and include performance improvement recommendations. The project offers hands-on experience in education data analysis, report writing, and client-facing deliverables.
• Participating in IDinsight’s internal Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion working group on the Recruiting Committee, Careers & Promotions Committee, and/or the Work Culture Committee
• Analyzing data from IDinsight’s recruitment processes for our Global Operations team

Career development

• Skill and career development are core to IDinsight's values and long-term impact strategy. Associates and Senior Associates receive significant mentorship from IDinsight leadership, support from talented peers, and considerable autonomy in their work. They maintain professional development plans and are given "stretch" opportunities designed to strengthen a variety of skills. Real-time feedback and structured reviews are regularly provided to enable maximum professional growth. Additionally, Associates and Senior Associates have access to an annual professional development stipend that they are encouraged to utilize to explore their career interests and develop their skills.

Qualifications

• IDinsight Associates and Senior Associates come from a wide range of disciplinary backgrounds, including economics, data science, policy research, development projects, engineering, environmental science, political science, public policy, literature and more. Given that no Associate or Senior Associate comes in with the same exact background as another, we’re typically looking for candidates with a broad range of qualifications and former experiences. Here are some examples of the key qualifications most successful candidates should possess:

Knowledge, skills, and abilities

• Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Economics, Policy Research, Development Studies, Engineering, Environmental Science, Political Science, Public Policy, or a related field.
• Strong analytical skills, with exposure to (either via professional work experience or academic coursework) the basics of econometrics, data, and research analysis tools, and quantitative and qualitative research processes or an ability to quickly understand these topics
• Strong writing skills with the ability to translate technical jargon into well-structured, writing-based deliverables (e.g., policy briefs, project memos, analytical reports, external blog posts, and more)
• Ability to understand complex concepts and topics quickly even with limited prior knowledge or exposure and a willingness to invest in learning new concepts, skills, and methods without being prompted

Behaviors and mindsets

• Highly organized, attentive to deadlines, and able to manage a high volume of work with efficiency
• Excellent interpersonal skills, can effectively engage with stakeholders ranging from school children to senior government officials to internal colleagues, and places a high value on being a teamplayer
• Demonstrated ability to be a self-starter and fast learner; resourceful and resilient in the face of challenges
• Intellectually curious and a willingness to share your opinions with the team, question the status quo, and encourage others to expand their perspectives
• Excels in diverse team environments, consistently treating colleagues across our global organization with respect.
• Embodies our organizational values and demonstrates a steadfast commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion in their daily interactions.
• Deeply passionate about combating poverty worldwide and improving lives in disadvantaged populations
• Willingness to travel for extended periods of time where safety precautions and restrictions allow, including to remote and rural areas

Additional preferred qualifications

• Proficient in statistical analysis and data collection software, such as Stata, SPSS, R, SurveyCTO, and/or Open Data Kit
• Familiarity with local context as well as working proficiency in the local language(s) of country of placement