IPA’s Social Protection Program has partnered with the World Bank Africa Gender Innovation Lab to examine the impact of training on socio-emotional skills for both income and economic empowerment. A portfolio of projects include several randomized evaluations, often comparing curricula, with sub-experiments to evaluate specific project components or evaluate the validity of various measures of socio-emotional skills.

The project in Nigeria is examining these questions in the context of an agribusiness program managed by the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (FMARD). The Agro-Processing, Productivity Enhancement and Livelihood Improvement Support (APPEALS) project has one component designed to support women and youth as they build their businesses by providing business skills training, value chain trainings, preparation of business plan and facilitation of business name registration, business grant, mentorship, and the socio-emotional skills (SES) training. SES training has immense potential for APPEALS beneficiaries, as it is may improve beneficiaries’ ability to develop motivation and personal initiative, persevere despite obstacles, create business networks, and negotiate prices. These skills may be particularly important for women, who have smaller networks and must negotiate the sharing of assets and domestic responsibilities.

The Research Analyst will work with the the socio-emotional skills Program Manager, academic researchers (at the World Bank Africa Gender Innovation Lab) and the IPA country office in Nigeria to support data analysis. Location of candidate is flexible and full time work can also be an option for the right candidate.

Responsibilities

• Depending on abilities and interests, the RA will work with principal investigators to analyze the results and possible mediating factors.
• Clean and link different rounds of longitudinal survey data;
• Create all necessary indicators/variables;
• Compute summary statistics and perform basic econometric analysis;
• Produce tables with summary statistics and econometric results;
• Draft reports summarizing/discussing statistical tables.
• Support the writing of academic papers and/or policy briefs.
• Assist with data documentation and the public release of data.

Qualifications

Required

• Master’s degree in Economics, statistics or related field, preferably with a concentration in development economics, impact evaluation and/or applied micro-econometrics, and quantitative research skills are necessary;
• Technical expertise in impact evaluation and econometric analysis (proficiency in STATA is a requirement), particularly working with primary data from large-scale databases. Experience working collaboratively on a large research team is a plus;
• Superior written and oral communications skills in English are essential;
• Superior organization skills and ability to multitask effectively are essential.
• Solid understanding of challenges faced by female entrepreneurs and farmers in Africa.
• Drive for results – Able to take personal ownership and accountability to meet deadlines and achieve agreed-upon results.
• Commitment to teamwork, knowledge-sharing, and ability to collaborate across organizational boundaries. Cooperates with team members and contributes productively to the team’s work and outputs, demonstrating respect for different points of view.
• Strong interpersonal skills and cultural sensitivity to effectively work with global teams across cultures, work styles, and time zones  Experience working in low or middle-income countries preferred, but not required
• The RA can be based at any of the IPA offices (Please note that we cannot sponsor work permits or visas for this role, so candidates must already have work authorization for the country in which they would prefer to work.).
• Willing to undertake domestic and international travel if required.

Preferred Additional Qualifications

• Minimum of four years of relevant professional and/or academic experience in private sector, gender and impact evaluations;
• Fieldwork experience in Sub-Saharan Africa executing impact evaluations, including survey design and implementation;
• Behavioral competencies that facilitate dialogue with country partners and country teams, including listening skills, capacity development skills, and ability to adapt advice to the local institutional realities;
• Commitment to teamwork, knowledge-sharing, and ability to influence across organizational boundaries;
• Demonstrated track record of working with economic data and analytical tools and models to conduct economic analyses and produce user-friendly written outputs; understands underlying statistical concepts.
• Knowledge, Learning and Communication – Actively seeks knowledge needed to complete assignments and shares knowledge with others, communicating and presenting information in a clear and organized manner.
• Business Judgment and Analytical Decision Making – Analyzes facts and data to support sound, logical decisions regarding own and others’ work.