Youth Impact’s mission is to connect youth to proven life-saving information. Our vision is to enable over 1 million youth to thrive through delivery of multiple evidence-based programs. We are at an inflection point in our growth: we have over 350 staff, three programs in health and education, and a cumulative reach of over 200,000 youth in 10 countries. Our culture is unique: we are always learning, have a dynamic, youthful team, a fierce commitment to measurement and evidence, and work hand-in-hand with the government. On any given day our leaders will sing and dance, negotiate MOUs, and spend dedicated time with the field team in schools.

Youth Impact’s Research and Innovation team seeks to hire skilled and motivated Research Associates who will play a critical role in producing data and evidence to support us to scale up our programs within Botswana and with partners around the world in over ten countries, including with partner NGOs, governments, research organizations such as IPA, and multilaterals such as the World Bank.  

On any given day, we might be: discussing the latest ideas for a randomised controlled trial or A/B test to improve our programs at scale with our facilitators and programs teams; visiting schools to figure out ways to improve our  monitoring tools and data collection systems; cleaning and analysing data to assess impact; clearly visualizing our  data; writing up our results to share with the world; work-shopping data insights with programs teams to advise  them on how to improve programs; working with government counterparts to support them to collect, use and  interpret data to improve education and health of students; and meeting organizations around the world to support  them to do the same! We think it’s the dream job for anyone passionate about impact, evidence, and data.

Primary Purpose

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We seek candidates who excel in a team-oriented and collaborative environment that values curiosity, a passion for improving youth’s lives, and the application of rigorous evidence to complex problems. The ideal candidate has strong quantitative research skills with a technical foundation in impact evaluation methods and strong organizational and task management skills necessary for carrying out high quality quantitative data collection. The candidate will also enjoy problem-solving and applying creative thinking to challenges and building relationships with program leaders, implementers, and government partners. We are especially interested in candidates located in Botswana or elsewhere in Africa.

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Primary Duties & Responsibilities

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• Work on a global research team that generates evidence (using RCTs, A/B tests and high frequency monitoring) to improve youth-focused health and education programs in Botswana and around the world.

• Assist with study design, study instruments, monitoring implementation fidelity.

• Support paper-based and electronic data collection across our programs, including developing and programming digital surveys, training facilitators, managing data collection, and monitoring data for quality.

• Organize and maintain clean, easy-to-use code and databases for all field work, including survey data, monitoring data, and administrative data.

• Clean, manage, and analyse data in Stata (preferred) or R.

• Support production and communication of research insights for internal programs teams, as well as academic, policy, and practitioner audiences.

• Support and mentor junior colleagues to develop their technical and professional skills.

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Required Qualifications

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• Masters degree or PhD in economics, public policy or a related discipline, with strong quantitative skills. In exceptional circumstances, those with a Bachelor’s degree and considerable relevant experience may also be considered.

• Excellent knowledge of Stata (preferred) or comparable statistical software program e.g. R or Python 

• Familiarity with randomized evaluations and econometric methods 

• Relevant experience including experience in monitoring and evaluation, quantitative field research, and analysis and cleaning of large datasets.

• Advanced working knowledge of Microsoft Office applications

• Demonstrated ability to manage various concurrent tasks effectively and coordinate between multiple colleagues and teams. 

• Strong written and verbal communication skills, in particular, the ability to communicate complex thoughts and ideas simply and effectively and tailor communications to the audience.

• Ability to work in an international team based across different geographies. 

• Willingness to travel to different regions in Botswana a few times throughout the year for 1-2 weeks at a time to support training, tool piloting, and program and survey implementation.

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Desired Qualifications

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• Adaptability, motivation and ability to thrive in a fast-paced environment- The role can be demanding and, at times, subject to external pressures for timely completion.

• The candidate must be adaptive, creative, organized, and highly motivated. 

• Ability to create “structure out of nothing:” strong ability to turn a visual reality or imagined outcome into a codified set of steps, actions, and goals on paper, and to execute those steps.

• Self-starter: the individual should be a highly motivated and driven self-starter who can push for the delivery of activities in a fast-paced environment, seeking clarity when needed.

• Experience with programming surveys in SurveyCTO or similar software

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To apply, You will be asked to:

1. Answer the following: 

1. Why are you applying to join Youth Impact? (Limit 150 words) 

2. Discuss your research experience and how it will prepare you to thrive in this role (Limit 150 words). 

3. Briefly describe your experience working with Excel, Stata, R, and/or Python, such as details about cleaning and/or analysis you have done with one of these programs (Limit 100 words) 

4. Submit a resume. 

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2. Submit 1-2 samples of your previous work (in an academic or professional setting) that demonstrate (a) analytical writing skills and (b) policy-relevant insight (e.g., compelling tables and figures). Note that it is acceptable to submit separate documents illustrating (a) and (b). 

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3. Submit a coding deliverable - see the instructions and data in the coding deliverable attachment.

Benefits include generous annual leave, sick leave, (including global health insurance provisions), various stipends, professional development opportunities, the ability to work remotely, access to our amazing global networks and much more.

Deadline: Close of business Friday 23rd August

Time Period: Time period: 2-year, with potential for extension pending performance.

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Location: Flexible, but ideally in a time zone that is within Central African Time +/-7 hours. We are especially interested in candidates from or located in Africa, particularly those with experience in our main countries of operation or partnership including Botswana, Namibia, South Africa, Ethiopia, Uganda, and Philippines.

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