About the Organization:
The Centre for Micro Finance (CMF) is a non-profit, non-partisan research centre housed within the Institute for Financial Management and Research (IFMR) in Chennai. The mission is to improve the accessibility and quality of financial services for the poor through rigorous research, knowledge dissemination and evidence-based policy outreach.
About the Job:
CMF is looking for a Research Associate. S/he will supervise various research projects on behalf of CMF's partners – India’s MFIs such as SKS, Spandana and Bandhan and world-class universities such as MIT, Harvard, and Yale.
Tasks and Responsibilities:
- Oversee the implementation of the impact evaluation, in association with the partner organization;
- Design survey questionnaires, conducting qualitative research, running pilot exercises, refining study design and surveying instruments;
- Managing teams: recruiting, training, and supervising both field-based and data operations teams consisting of project assistants, field managers, field-based surveyors, data entry operators, and other field and office staff;
- Maintain relationship with partner financial institution at both headquarters and field levels;
- Maintain relationship with partner academic institutions;
- Ensuring quality of data during data collection and assisting with data cleaning;
- Conduct basic data analysis using statistical methods;
- Identify and collect useful administrative data;
- Disseminate preliminary and final research results through publications, conferences, and/or innovative methods such as podcasts or blog articles.
Qualifications:
- Bachelors degree in Economics, Social Sciences, or other international development-related field required. Masters degree preferred;
- Fluency in English required, fluency in Hindi preferred;
- Previous experience in development research preferred;
- Familiarity with statistical analysis packages (eg. SPSS, Stata) preferred;
- Flexibility and ability to deal with uncertainty. Adaptability to project needs and schedules;
- Experience and maturity in relationship management;
- Ability to work independently;
- Willingness to travel required.
Closing Date: 09 Nov 2012
How to Apply:
Interested candidates can send their resume and cover letter to cmfhr@ifmr.ac.in
Please mention "Research Associate" in the subject line.
