Project and Position Description

The Infant Feeding Project at CERP primarily aims to conduct a Randomized Controlled Trial to evaluate an intervention involving a mHealth tool and associated training targeting community-based Lady Health Workers (LHWs) to increase WHO-recommended breastfeeding practices in rural Pakistan. In its current phase, the project involves the designing, development and testing of the said intervention which provides decision-making support and educational tools to LHWs on breastfeeding in order to ultimately improve infant and child health outcomes. The project’s scope may also include additional studies related to LHWs and maternal and child health care in the future.

The Principal Investigators (PIs) on the project are Dr. Erica Field (Duke University), Dr. Katherine Vyborny (World Bank), Dr. Muhammad Yasir Khan (University of Pittsburgh), Dr. Nicola Singletary (North Carolina State University), Dr. Laila Ladak (Aga Khan University), Ms. Zohra Kurji (Aga Khan University), Ms. Zahra Shaheen (formerly Aga Khan University). The project involves working closely with Principal Investigators and partner organizations, including those in the provincial health departments, to design and implement the project.

CERP is recruiting a Research Assistant for a full-time role based at the CERP office in Lahore (including possible travel to rural areas around Lahore for fieldwork). CERP’s project teams are small, and the amount of work we accomplish is significant. The Research Assistant will be reporting to the Program Manager and the PIs.

Job description and responsibilities:

•  Design and develop data collection protocols and instruments, and data sharing protocols with government partners.
• Support execution of quantitative and qualitative research activities on the ground, including interviews, focus group discussions and surveys.
• Coordinate and work closely with the team tasked with developing the mHealth software application and other partners to ensure timely and satisfactory development, testing, and rollout of the application.
• Clean and analyze raw survey data and other project data sets for analysis; assist in conducting data analysis.
• Conduct quality checks on survey activities and prepare visualizations/descriptives as necessary.
• Contribute to internal and external communications to disseminate research findings including briefs, blogs, reports, and presentations.
• Conduct desk research and prepare drafts for stakeholder deliverables.
• Develop and update project documentation regularly.
• Support development and submission of IRB protocols, renewals, and amendments.

• Bachelor’s degree in economics, or public policy from an internationally recognized university
• Strong understanding of research methods and familiarity with randomized trials
• Strong written and oral communication and interpersonal skills; should be able to communicate with a wide variety of stakeholders in the government and private sectors, donors as well as academics
• Experience and willingness to clean/manage data and perform analysis in STATA
• Excellent organizational skills, detail-oriented, and ability to work both independently and collaboratively
• Ability to work under time pressure and solve problems creatively
• Knowledge and interest in the design and use of digital interventions/ human-tech interaction
•  Experience of working on health-related research projects is preferred
• Experience in using SurveyCTO or a similar program for survey design is desired
• Fluent in English and Urdu. Conversational knowledge of Punjabi is preferred