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 Associate 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 Associate will be reporting to the Program Manager and the PIs.

Job description and responsibilities:

• Coding, and piloting survey instruments on SurveyCTO and gathering information on potential issues in the field for troubleshooting
• Monitoring survey activities, establishing a spot-checking mechanism, and assessing incoming survey data for accuracy, speed, and quality through cleaning and analysis
• Overseeing field enumerators and other fieldwork activities including training and monitoring the implementation of the intervention
• Cleaning and merging datasets in Stata, assisting in tasks related to data collection, storage, and backup
• Generating summary stats, reports, and visualizations using Stata
• Performing data analysis using econometric and statistical techniques and tools
• Monitoring compliance of RCT conditions for different interventions
• Supporting execution of  qualitative research activities on the ground, including interviews and focus group discussions
• Designing and developing data collection protocols and instruments, and data sharing protocols with government partners
• Coordinating and working 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.

• Masters degree in economics or public policy from an internationally recognized university
• Minimum of two years of relevant experience in development sector or research
• Strong understanding of quantitative 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
• 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
• Experience and willingness to clean/manage data and perform cleaning and 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
• Fluent in English and Urdu. Conversational knowledge of Punjabi is preferred