Vacancies at Busara Center

About the role

The insurance portfolio contributes to building resilience in low-income communities and underserved segments by crafting innovative insurance solutions rooted in deep behavioral insights. In the short term, we are focused on agriculture and health insurance, to proactively tackle the most urgent impacts of climate change.

The Analyst role will require proficiency in data communication, with the ability to transform complex datasets into compelling narratives. As part of your responsibilities, you will conduct lab studies for game design, utilizing a unique blend of qualitative and quantitative skills. Your expertise in crafting insightful reports and visually engaging presentations will play a crucial role in conveying these nuanced findings to both technical and non-technical stakeholders, enabling a comprehensive understanding of our research among the wider team.

Role Purpose Statement

The Analyst plays a pivotal role in supporting Busara's advisory arm and will be instrumental in ensuring the delivery of high-quality research and advisory services, contributing to Busara's mission and goals by aiding in strategic decision-making and prioritizing projects effectively. This role involves collaborating with senior staff on various projects and client engagements, contributing through both qualitative and quantitative research activities. Analysts will be tasked with supporting the structuring and composing of reports, client deliverables, and analysis on ongoing projects, in close coordination with the Associates and Engagement Directors. The role holder requires a blend of technical expertise, project management acumen, and the ability to coordinate and communicate effectively across various teams and contributors.

Analysts will work closely with Project leads to perform a variety of tasks including, but not limited to:

CORE PROJECT RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Identify, troubleshoot, and resolve inquiries on external and internal research data and act as a research resource person for senior leadership, internal teams, staff, and external parties.
• Work closely, when necessary, with the data and programming team to source, clean, and structure data.
• Support the design of effective quantitative and qualitative survey instruments and coordinate all activities associated with survey development including research, formatting, liaising with survey programming teams, analyzing, summarizing, and presenting results; write reports highlighting key findings and present results.
• Support Associates/Senior Associates in preparing materials such as, but not limited to, drafts of client reports, experimental designs, literature reviews, proposals, and pitch decks.
• Support multiple large-scale research and advisory projects at a given time as may be required.
• Clarify research requests to identify potential data sources and informational resources; identify, and discuss research needs with Associates and Engagement Directors.
• Carry out general logistics planning for project activities as it relates to content outcomes such as phasing of field activities, coordinating meetings, etc.  Work closely with the Project Operations team and the Project Lead team to plan logistics for field operations, data collection, and data quality assurance.  
• Ensure that all project coordination work is communicated with the relevant teams at Busara to ensure proper roll-out of the engagement.  This includes, but is not limited to, finance, procurement, operations, facilities, and wellness.
• Perform any other duty as may be assigned by the project supervisor.

Minimum Requirements

• A Bachelor’s degree in Economics, Social Sciences, Public Policy, or related fields.
• High level of self-motivation and energy, an optimistic “can-do” attitude
• Strong analytical, interpersonal, and communication skills. 
• Qualitative and quantitative research or data analytic skills.
• Proficiency in R, STATA, Python, SAS, or other programming languages.
• Excellent organizational skills, adaptable, and capable of managing multiple tasks efficiently.
• Fluency and excellent communication and writing skills with a mastery of English and (if applicable) at least one other appropriate language for the office in which they will be based.
• Detail-oriented with an ability to maintain a broader perspective for institutional planning and decision making.
• Ability to work independently as well as collaboratively. 

And preferably

• Familiarity with randomized controlled trials.
• Familiarity with behavioral science.
• Exposure to large-scale research and consulting projects in countries in which Busara operates.

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Role summary

The insurance portfolio contributes to building resilience in low-income communities and underserved segments by crafting innovative insurance solutions rooted in deep behavioral insights. In the short term, we are focused on agriculture and health insurance, to proactively tackle the most urgent impacts of climate change.

The Associate position entails providing technical expertise in experimental design. We are searching for a candidate who has experience running behavioral experiments and games in a lab setting, such as the Busara Lab. As Busara Lab is a shared service, the successful candidate will require experience managing and collaborating across functions. This is a critical requirement for the role. Furthermore, possessing qualitative skills is an additional benefit.

About the role:

The Associate supports both the advisory and research arms of Busara by leading the planning, execution, and day to day management of Busara projects.

As primary project manager for all external Busara projects, an Associate quickly gains an expert understanding of a particular problem or research question and uses all tools at their disposal, both within and outside Busara to execute an engagement to the highest possible degree, with careful consideration of timing and budget. An Associate develops creative and rigorous solutions to client and partner needs and manages both internal and external relationships with energy, enthusiasm, and professionalism. 

Associates directly manage other project staff that work on their project and, as well as liaise with other Busara teams and are expected to coordinate and manage staff effectively.

Key Accountabilities/Responsibilities

CORE PROJECT RESPONSIBILITIES:

Associates will work closely with Busara offices and directly with academic researchers and advisory clients to perform a variety of tasks including, but not limited to:

• Associates will work closely with Busara offices and directly with academic researchers and advisory clients to perform a variety of tasks including, but not limited to:
• Engage in multiple large-scale research and advisory projects at a given time.
• Plan, manage, and execute external and internal engagements independently from start to finish with limited supervision.
• Incorporate the latest research in qualitative and quantitative methods, behavioral science, psychology, economics, and development to provide creative solutions to engagements.
• Manage and conduct qualitative and quantitative research and data analysis.
• Design, launch, and analyze effective quantitative and qualitative survey instruments with coordination among project staff (Analysts, Project Leads, Data and Programming, and Operations teams).
• Serve as a point of contact for clients and partners.  Effectively manage the needs of stakeholders through proactive communication and troubleshooting.
• Contribute to project on-boarding and off-boarding for knowledge management.
• Responsible for project timelines, deliverables, reports, and staffing.
• Contribute to the creation of proposals, concept notes, and pitch decks for new business opportunities and knowledge sharing. Present at conferences, networking events, or client meetings.
• Contribute to the design, execution, and dissemination of Busara internal research projects.
• Work closely to lead or support other Associates to fulfill engagement requirements.
• Perform any other duty as may be assigned by the project supervisor

CORE ORGANIZATIONAL RESPONSIBILITIES:

In addition to project responsibilities, Associates also have the following organizational responsibilities to ensure a healthy and functioning organization.

• Work with the Associate team to conduct goal-setting exercises, objectives and key results, and team building events.
• Contribute to skills-building workshops for Associate teams.
• Assist with internal initiatives where necessary.
• Serve as mentors to Analysts and Project Lead team members, when requested.

Knowledge, Skills, and Experience: Minimum Requirements

• A Bachelor’s degree in Economics, Social Sciences, Public Policy, or related fields. 
• Strong qualitative, quantitative, research, and data analytic skills.
• Proficient project management skills.
• 2-3 years’ previous work experience in managing projects in a related field.
• Strong academic behavioral science background.
• Extensive experience managing large-scale projects in developing countries.
• Demonstrated ability to manage high-level relationships with partner organizations.
• Excellent management and organizational skills.
• Flexible, self-motivating, able to manage multiple tasks efficiently, and a team player.
• Interest and experience working in a fast-paced working environment.
• Fluency and excellent communication and writing skills with a mastery of English.
• Experience working for in a social impact enterprise/org in the global south
• Ability to execute projects while sustaining a global focus and vision for institutional planning and decision making.

Desired Qualifications:

• A Master’s degree in Economics, Social Sciences, Public Policy, or related fields is strongly preferred.
• Experience managing or mentoring staff.
• Technical understanding and practical experience of randomized controlled trials and/or quasi-experimental designs
• Technical understanding and practical experience of qualitative research techniques.
• Experience in applying behavioral science to real-world problems.
• Proficiency in Stata, R, or Python