Specific duties:

• Contribute to socio-economic research in Zambia under the SIFAZ project and regional assessments in east and southern Africa on a need basis.
• Lead trainings in various aspects of socioeconomic research for research assistants and Ministry of Agriculture officers.
• Contribute to rigorous impact evaluation designs using experimental and quasi-experimental methods such as panel surveys, randomized controlled trials, and lab-in-the-field economic experiments.
• Backstopping new personnel (including consultants) under socioeconomics unit of CIMMYT in Southern Africa.
• Represent the lead CIMMYT Agricultural Economist in Southern Africa in his/her absence.
• Perform various tasks involving data collection, data maintenance, data analysis, statistical analysis, and econometric analysis.
• Conduct literature review, syntheses, and meta-analyses.
• Assist in the drafting and editing of discussion papers, policy notes, donor reports, project briefs, presentations, manuscripts, journal articles.
• Assist in organizing workshops and conferences.
• Assist with responses for internal/external data and information requests.
• Organize logistics and financial arrangements related to data collection, team travel, etc.
• Review monthly expenditures and keep track of staff time sheets.
• Perform all other related duties that may be assigned from time to time by the supervisor.

Requirements

• Master’s degree in a relevant social science field (Agricultural economics, development economics, environmental economics, natural resource management, sociology, geography, or related).
• Experience with fieldwork in rural parts of Zambia and familiarity with local languages, culture, customs, and norms, with at least 5 years’ experience managing applied research projects.
• A manual driver’s license is a requirement.
• Experience in planning and implementing mixed methods in data collection (e.g.,interviews, focus group discussions, farm and household surveys, and participatory research tools, economic field experiments, panel surveys).
• Deep knowledge of adoption and impact assessment methods and tools.
• Experience with quantitative and qualitative data analysis using software such as Stata and NVIVO, respectively.
• Proficient and competent in designing and implementing surveys using computer-assisted personal interviewing (CAPI) software such as Survey Solutions, Census and Survey Processing Systems (CSPro) etc.
• Knowledge and familiarity with behavioural and experimental economics approaches will be an added advantage.
• Ability and willingness to travel to rural areas within Zambia.
• The selected candidate must be able to demonstrate the following competencies: Critical thinking, communication, client orientation, and ability to work in a multi-cultural environment.