Associate Researcher Zambia Institute For Policy Analysis And Research

The Zambia Institute For Policy Analysis And Research (ZIPAR) is the leading Think Tank in Zambia, with a distinctly international character. The Think Tank provides an environment for creative thinking and conducting policy analysis and research, promotes dialogue and advocacy and delivers capacity building and training. Overtime, the Institute has grown to become a critical reference in the social and economic policy discourse in Zambia. To support the Executive Director to effectively engage with stakeholders and promote evidence-based policies, ZIPAR seeks to recruit an Associate Researchers in the Trade and Investment Unit.

Job Purpose

Under the supervision of the Research Fellow II – Trade and Investment, the successful candidate will work to support Unit operations on a broad spectrum of policy analysis and research projects. She/he will also work to build competence in a specialized area of operation to support the provision of evidence-based policy advice.

The successful candidate will thus, support the production of quality and timely research reports and policy commentaries and will, as may be assigned, use appropriate platforms to effectively disseminate evidence-based policy advice. She/he will be expected develop skills and experience in conducting policy analysis and research and be able to transfer the skills and experience to both internal and external stakeholders through training. Furthermore, she/he will be expected to contribute to the financial sustainability goals of ZIPAR.

Duties and Responsibilities

Under the supervision of the Research Fellow II – Trade and Investment, the Associate Researcher will be responsible for the following duties under six (6) key result areas:

Key Result Area 1 – Policy Analysis and Research

• Undertaking literature reviews to support conceptualization of research;
• Contributing to research design, data collection, analysis, and dissemination of the results of desk reviews, surveys, interviews and focus groups to support studies and projects;
• Data verification in both digital and written form, ensuring that any errors that may occur during transcription are eliminated;
• Designing spreadsheets, statistical tables, and associated graphs using appropriate computer software.
• Designing and preparing a variety of written and statistical reports in a timely manner and in a variety of presentation formats including posters, infographics, power point presentations, consultancy reports, policy briefs, commentaries, position papers;
• Handle necessary administrative paperwork and other documentation needed for project validation and research quality control;
• Participating in the monitoring, evaluation and institutional learning activities including period management and project reporting;
• Keeping accurate records of work processes, finances and technical minutes of technical or project meetings; and
• Assisting in the maintenance of data to support reports and publications, program reviews, and other institutional research reports, supporting model building and simulation activities.

Key Result Area 2 – Policy Dialogue and Dissemination

• Supporting dissemination activities of ZIPAR research outputs; and
• Attending ZIPAR research meetings, seminars, workshops and other meetings as necessary.

Key Result Area 3 – Capacity Building

• Reviewing and proof reading of reports and working papers;
• Participating regularly in professional development opportunities; and
• Assisting other researchers with various tasks, including data entry, field research, statistical analysis and presentation preparation.

Key Result Area 4 – Building of Relationships and Networking

• Assist in the management of institutional networks and maintain customer accounts.

Key Result Area 5 – Fundraising

• Assisting to maintain customer accounts;
• Supporting development of business opportunities; and
• Supporting general fundraising activities for ZIPAR.

Key Result Area 6 – People Management

• Supervising data collectors and interns, and
• Responding to ad-hoc requests by the Executive Director or Unit Head, working with them to clarify their needs and optimize the utility of research results.

Required Attributes and Competences

• Good grasp of social development and economic theory;
• Willingness to acquire intermediate/advanced research skills including modelling/simulation;
• Good technical writing and analytical skills;
• Good IT skills including Microsoft Office, statistical packages i.e., SPSS, Stata, R, E-views, Python and internet search engines;
• Good team workmanship, under minimum supervision and interpersonal skills;
• Attention to detail;
• Willingness to work in a fast-paced work environment;
• Good communication skills, written and oral in English; and
• Self-motivated, self-directed, creative, organized, and deeply committed to personal and organizational excellence.
• Good grasp of trade and investment theory and practice

Qualifications and Experience

• Minimum of Bachelor’s degree in Economics or closely related field;
• Master’s degree in Economics or closely related field  will be an added advantage;
• A publication attributed to the candidate is a further added advantage; and
• At least one year post qualifying experience preferably in a research environment.