Research Manager

Title: Research Manager
Location and work authorization: Remote (India) with current and ongoing work authorization in India. Frequent travel to Delhi is required.

Compensation: Competitive
Position: Full-time
Posted on: February 10, 2025
Application deadline: March 09, 2025, 6 pm IST (applications may be reviewed as they are submitted)

PxD is seeking a Research Manager to join the Digital Agriculture Project Management Unit (PMU), in partnership with the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare (MoAFW). We are looking for a proactive self-starter with strong research management skills and the ability to engage with a diverse range of stakeholders. The ideal candidate will focus on scaling digital agricultural initiatives and designing solutions that are impactful and inclusive. A solid understanding of digital technology adoption and scaling through government channels is essential.

If you are passionate about leveraging evidence, technology, and government partnerships to drive positive change in the agricultural sector, we encourage you to apply.

Responsibilities (including but not limited to):

The role will grow as you develop, but you will start by focusing on the following key responsibilities:

• Identify learning objectives and resources available for one or more individual projects and manage the implementation of research activities, ensuring that projects adhere to appropriate rigor, policies, timelines, and budgets.
• Work with the team leadership and colleagues to scope, design, pilot, and scale evidence-backed digital agriculture services.
• Develop and implement new research ideas and projects that support PxD s programs and partners.
• Guide teams on the use of evidence-based approaches and ensure that PxD maintains the standards for technical appropriateness and rigor.
• Interpret and contextualize external and internal evidence and insights for PxD programs
• Oversee data management and analysis for research projects and survey creation and implementation.
• Oversee documentation of research activities, research results, and rationale for decisions made.
• Develop and fill in frameworks with specific information to identify program insights.
• Manage partner relations and work with external stakeholders to implement program operations.
• Responsible for developing and ensuring compliance with IRB protocols and relevant in-country research permission requirements.
• Contribute to funding proposals and project reports.
• Contribute to the strategic planning and global functioning of the organization.
• Provide close mentorship and guidance to Associate level staff.
• Contribute and support internal and external communications to disseminate project results and research findings, including briefs, blogs, reports, and presentations.
• Contribute to PxD s institutional knowledge management and internal learning efforts.

Requirements:

The ideal candidate will have:

• A Bachelor s or a Master s degree in economics, agricultural economics, public policy, or a closely related field.
• Professional experience working on at least two large projects involving the design and management of rigorous research and/or evidence-based programs in LMIC countries.
• Ability to draw inferences from data to identify pathways for program improvement (e.g., call center productivity, feedback of users to an SMS campaign, looking at usage statistics).
• Adept at consuming large amounts of academic and scientific literature as well as other technical information, synthesizing key findings, and applying takeaways to program and research design.
• Deep understanding of economics and randomized evaluations.
• Excellent knowledge of Stata or R or similar software for data analysis
• Experience in using SurveyCTO/ODK or a similar program for survey design.
• Strong grasp of the research program life cycle and ability to supervise all activities on the ground.
• Experience in a multi-faceted role, with the ability to balance and prioritize across multiple projects and stakeholders.
• Experience managing program and/or research staff.
• Experience managing partnerships with an implementing organization.
• Understanding and application of research ethics for human subjects in the social sciences.
• Strong writing and oral communication skills in English, with attention to detail and advanced writing and presentation skills.
• Proficiency in Hindi is required. Knowledge of any other Indian language is a plus.
• Experience working with government agencies.
• Willingness to travel to field sites in India
  

PxD is committed to building an inclusive and diverse organisation. We don t make decisions based on gender, gender identity, class, ethnicity, sexual orientation, or any other personal characteristics unrelated to the role. We understand that everyone has different lifestyles, and we accommodate flexible working to ensure you are as productive and happy as possible.

We will use any personal data you provide for recruitment purposes only.

About PxD:

PxD is a global non-profit that harnesses the power of technology, data science, and behavioral economics to provide targeted information to farmers in low and middle-income countries. Providing the right information to the right people in the right way and at the right time increases incomes, protects the environment, and improves well-being. We are evidence-based: we test our interventions with randomized controlled trials to prove our impact and cost-effectiveness, to simultaneously learn from and improve our service, and to demonstrate our value to funders and partners. There are few programmes in international development that are as demonstrably cost-effective as ours.

In India, PxDs activities are implemented in partnership with Behaviour Change Advisory Services (BCAS) LLP.