Reports to: Country Director and Research Team
Location: Kampala, Uganda
Deadline to Apply: January 15, 2014, but applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis
Start Date: February 3, 2014 or possibly earlier if available; 1 year commitment is required for this position. Innovations for Poverty Action (IPA), is an international non-profit research organization. Based in
New Haven, CT, with offices in Washington, D.C. and worldwide, IPA works with development partners and academic researchers to create and evaluate approaches to solving development problems, to communicate 'what works' in development and to scale up successful projects in a variety of fields, including health, education, microfinance, governance and agriculture.
Position Summary:
Innovations for Poverty Action seeks qualified applicants for the position of Project Associate to help implement the Local Political Accountability study in Uganda. The position offers an opportunity to gain first-hand field management experience in an organization undertaking cutting-edge development research. The work will stretch your analytical and management skills to the limit and will require full commitment and long hours in a challenging environment. You will be contributing to a research effort at the frontier of studies in political economy of development.
This one year position will be based in Kampala with extensive traveling in Uganda. You will work with and report to a research team consisting of Guy Grossman, University of Pennsylvania, and Kristin Michelitch, Vanderbilt.
Project Description:
The research project addresses two barriers that weaken the political accountability of local government councilors in Uganda with respect to their role in public service provision. First, lack of information in the hands of politicians about public service deficiencies in their constituency reduces the ability of local government councilors to effectively monitor public service providers, or pressure technocrats or service providers for targeted improvements. Second, citizens have limited performance information about politicians, leading politicians to operate under a cloak of impunity for low effort or corruption. Using a field experimental methodology the project will study the effectiveness of two interventions designed specifically to address these barriers to political accountability: (1) opening a new channel of communication from citizens to local government councilors to report public service deficiencies via an innovative text message technology, and (2) widespread dissemination of information on local councilors' performance, with a specific focus on their monitoring efforts of public service providers. For the latter intervention the project will collaborate with a Ugandan NGO ACODE which has developed a Local Government Councilor Scorecard assessing local councilor's performance.
Duties and Responsibilities:
- Manage multiple project endline data collection activities, including behavioral games with politicians and surveys at public health centers and schools;
- Develop and pilot survey instruments;
- Train and manage teams to conduct surveys with Ugandan citizens, local government politicians, local public servants, and school and health center personnel;
- Ensure all aspects of data quality and assist with data cleaning and preliminary analysis;
- Manage project budget, including tracking project expenses and adherence to the project budget;
- Manage relations with the research team's Ugandan NGO partner (ACODE) as a 'liaison';
- Help monitor implementation of the partner's programs, including the SMS platform;
- Work closely with principal investigators and the local partners to ensure study protocols are followed;
- Other duties as assigned
- A Bachelor's degree (Master's preferred) in political science, economics, social science or related field.
- Excellent management and organizational skills along with strong quantitative skills.
- Outstanding interpersonal, verbal and written communication skills. Fluency in English required.
- Flexible, self-motivating, able to manage multiple tasks efficiently, and a team player.
- Be detail oriented and able to work independently.
- Knowledge of Stata strongly preferred.
- Familiarity with randomized controlled trials preferred.
- Experience living in a developing country is a strong plus.
- Experience living in Africa or studying African politics/economics is a plus but not required.
Please follow the application instructions below. Any applications or CVs submitted outside this process will not be considered. Note, only short-listed candidates will be contacted for an interview. Applicants will be reviewed on a rolling basis.
Complete the . Please select the position(s) you are interested in applying for on the 'Submit Application' page. Include two letters of recommendation, statement of purpose (cover letter), CV, and transcripts. We will consider your application even if you are unable to obtain reference letters before the deadline, but please be advised that we will be requiring them should you be invited for an interview.
IPA is an Equal Opportunity Employer/Affirmative Action Employer.
All persons shall have the opportunity to be considered for employment without regard to their race, color, religion, national origin, ancestry, alienage or citizenship status, age, disability, sex, sexual orientation, veteran status or any other characteristic protected by applicable federal, state or local laws.
IPA will endeavor to make a reasonable accommodation to a qualified applicant with a disability unless the accommodation would impose an undue hardship on the operation of our business. If you believe you require such assistance to complete this form or to participate in an interview, please contact us at jobs@poverty-action.org.
DISCLAIMER: The above statements are intended to describe the general nature and level of the work to be performed by the Project Associate. The statements are not intended to be an exhaustive list of all possible duties, tasks, and responsibilities. Management reserves the right to amend and change responsibilities to meet organizational needs as necessary. Please note that IPA will never request any form of payment from an applicant. Applicants are encouraged to confirm the information listed above with IPA prior to releasing any extensive personal information to the organization. Please direct questions to .
Application Closing Date: Wednesday, 15 January 2014
View official advert at; http://poverty-action.org/getinvolved/jobs/Africa/IPAUganda101080