Research Associate (Monitoring & Evaluation) at GiveDirectly

About This Role

• GiveDirectly seeks a highly skilled and motivated Research Associate, Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) to assist the organization's research strategy for donor-funded projects and internal evaluations of GiveDirectly's own funded projects. The Research Associate will work on a dynamic research team supporting project monitoring and evaluation design, implementation, analysis, reporting, and dissemination. In addition, the Research Associate will benefit from exposure to intellectual exchange and networking with the various internal and external stakeholders linked to GiveDirectly’s work. The Research Associate will work closely with the Research Manager.

What You’ll Do

• Operationalize monitoring and evaluation plans across donor-funded projects and internal evaluations of GiveDirectly's own funded projects.
  • Design quantitative surveys and qualitative interview guides in collaboration with the data and country field teams and perform cognitive testing and piloting of data collection instruments.
  • Work with Field Operations to develop contextual understanding, facilitate data collection, ensure data quality, adapt implementation to local needs, and build local capacity.
  • Maintain data dictionaries that will serve as a reference guide for understanding the meaning, format, and usage of each data element within the context of the monitoring and evaluation framework.
  • Perform data quality checks to ensure the accuracy, reliability, validity, completeness, consistency, timeliness, and compliance of data collected for GD’s monitoring and evaluation purposes
  • Conduct primary data analysis for internal and externally funded non-RCT evaluations and provide statistical and analytical support to technology and data teams.
• Develop internal monitoring and evaluation learning and adaptation:
  • Prepare, maintain, and update GD’s monitoring and evaluation knowledge databases.
  • Undertake other administrative duties related to GD’s research projects, such as participating in internal meetings, arranging and facilitating M&E brown-bag sessions, synthesizing cash evidence, and coordinating the dissemination of internal evaluations and country program reports.

What You’ll Bring

• Exceptional alignment with GiveDirectly Values and active demonstration of our core competencies: emotional intelligence, problem-solving, project management, follow-through, and fostering inclusivity. We welcome and strongly encourage applications from candidates who have personal or professional experience in the low-income or historically marginalized communities that we serve.
• Understanding of the lives of people living in poverty - learned or lived experience of the reality of poverty -- this could be extreme absolute poverty or relative poverty in a higher-income country. We welcome and strongly encourage applications from candidates who have personal or professional experience in the low-income and/or historically marginalized communities that we serve.

At least a bachelor's degree and a minimum of 2 years of experience in designing and implementing monitoring and evaluation plans - Proficiency in designing and implementing M&E frameworks, systems, and tools. Knowledge of industry-standard monitoring and evaluation principles, methodologies, and best practices is preferred but not mandatory.

• Quantitative and qualitative research experience - Expertise in cognitive testing survey questions and survey design, training field teams and overseeing implementation activities. Additionally, conducting thorough data analysis using statistical software like STATA, SPSS, R, or Python to extract meaningful insights and recommendations is desirable. While experience in experimental/quasi-experimental research studies like RCT, RDD, Diff-in-Diff, and PSM designs is advantageous, it's not mandatory for the role.
• Communication - be equally comfortable having a technical conversation with program specialists and Field Operations teams as you are describing an evaluation in straightforward terms to an internal stakeholder who has neither program nor contextual knowledge. Experience communicating project evaluation clearly and compellingly with a range of internal and external audiences -- both verbally and in writing -- is crucial in this role.
• Sense of humor - we work hard, but our team appreciates a good joke.
• Language Requirement: English