Research Associate: Apprenticeship – Cote d’Ivoire

REPORTS TO : Country Representative
DEADLINE TO APPLY : Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis until the position is filled
DESIRED START DATE : ASAP
HOW TO APPLY : J-PAL/IPA Common Application
JOB TYPE : International
CITY : Abidjan
COUNTRY : Ivory Coast

IPA-Côte d’Ivoire is looking to hire a Research Associate (RA) to manage two endline surveys for an RCT that aims to measure the impact of an apprenticeship program on youth. The program is implemented by the government of Côte d’Ivoire. The PIs on this project are Patrick Premand and Bruno Crepon. The RA will work closely with the PIs, the Research Manager and other IPA Côte d’Ivoire’s country office staff. This position offers the opportunity to gain first-hand experience in quantitative data collection and to work with an engaged partner organization and senior PIs on an exciting program that has already generated a lot of interest among academics, policy-makers and donors. Commitment expected for at least 1,5 years.

Apprenticeship programs are a major source of post-primary education in West Africa, and a common avenue to tackle youth under-employment. The government of Côte d’Ivoire and the World Bank have launched an experiment with an ambitious design to evaluate the impact of a subsidized, dual apprenticeship program on both youth and firms. A first follow-up survey was implemented, with the support of IPA, while youth were still in apprenticeship. The research team is now planning for two additional follow-up surveys among youth after their exit from the apprenticeship program, at the beginning of 2018 and 2019. In these surveys, we will track all youths in the sample with the objective to estimate program impacts on income, skills and employment in the medium run. IPA is recruiting an outstanding research associate to lead two waves of data collection: a first follow-up survey in January-July 2018 and a second follow-up survey in January-June 2019.

Responsibilities

• Revising and piloting the survey instruments, including programming questions onto a mobile phone/tablet and managing the translation of the survey into the local languages
• Recruiting, training and managing survey enumerators in accordance with IPA HR policies
• Planning and managing the data collection
• Monitoring and ensuring data collection complies with IPA standards of data quality, including auditing enumerators, and conducting data quality checks
• Maintaining compliance with all IPA procurement procedures
• Maintaining financial control of study expenditures including budget verses actual reporting and regular revisions to spending projections
• Cleaning data and assisting in econometric analysis
• Writing reports
• Perform related duties as assigned by supervisor

Qualifications

• A Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in economics, public policy, international development, or related fields
• At least 1 year of work experience, preferably in a research setting and data analysis
• Excellent project management and organizational skills; meticulous attention to detail; ability to work independently
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills in French and English, including ability to effectively communicate with internal and external stakeholders
• Must be able to work under pressure and meet deadlines, while maintaining a positive attitude and providing exemplary relationship management will all stakeholders
• Strong quantitative skills and very good knowledge of Stata required; programming and other technical knowledge a strong plus
• Demonstrated ability to lead staff efficiently to achieve project goal
• Flexible, self-motivating, able to manage multiple tasks efficiently and a team player
• Cultural sensitivity and demonstrated ability to work successfully with diverse constituencies required
• Experience with electronic data collection preferred
• Familiarity with randomized controlled trials

Application Instructions

Complete the J-PAL/IPA common application. After completing a brief registration, choose the Research job category, then select “Research Associate, Apprenticeship”. Most applications for research positions require you to include at minimum two letters of recommendation, a statement of purpose (cover letter), CV, and transcripts.

Note that you are able to submit your application before your references complete their recommendation letters; however, you must include their contact information before submitting your application.

Given the volume of applications received, only shortlisted candidates will be contacted for an interview.

NOTE: Applications will be accepted until the position is filled.