Associate Research Fellow

The Markets, Trade, and Institutions Unit of the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) seeks a qualified candidate to serve as Associate Research Fellow. This is a 2-year exempt, renewable position based in Washington, DC. 

 The ideal candidate will have a strong background in applied economics and be interested in contributing to evidence on policies that will help drive inclusive economic growth for farmers, traders and firms along food value chains and build resilience to shocks. The selected candidate will work on multiple ongoing development projects in Central America, conducting research on migration, food security and nutrition, agricultural markets, and rural development. The successful candidate will design and conduct research that includes analysis of primary and secondary data. The job will also require overseeing and managing data collection and research projects, coordinating with research support staff, and outreach and capacity strengthening activities. The position involves frequent travel to Central America.

Essential Duties:

Specific duties include but are not limited to:

• Conducting research on migration, food security and nutrition, agricultural markets, and rural development, and the intersection of these topics.
• Publishing high-quality research in peer-reviewed journals and other outlets (such as discussion paper series, book chapters, briefs, and blogs), and presenting findings at international conferences and workshops.
• Performing rigorous theoretical, statistical, and econometric analyses.
• Assisting with primary and secondary data collection, including fieldwork activities and survey design, training, and implementation.
• Assisting in managing projects and in reporting on project activities.
• Assisting in coordinating and supervising the work of research support staff and external collaborators.
• Communicating research to a broad spectrum of stakeholders including fellow researchers, academicians, funding agencies, policymakers, and local partners.
• Cultivating professional relationships with external collaborators and collaborating organizations for the purposes of research, capacity development, and communications.

Required Qualifications:

• PhD in Economics or closely related field.
• Research experience on topics related to migration, food security and nutrition, agricultural markets, and rural development.
• Demonstrated ability to perform both theoretical and empirical analyses on the research areas identified above.
• Demonstrated capacity to produce good publications record in peer-reviewed journals.
• Demonstrated knowledge of state-of-the-art techniques used in quantitative economics, including structural and reduced-form modeling.
• Excellent statistical and econometric skills on cross-section analysis, panel data, and/or time-series analysis.
• Excellent working knowledge of Stata and Matlab.
• Experience in primary and secondary data collection in developing countries, including experience in household survey design, training, and implementation.
• Excellent written and spoken English communication skills.
• Strong team player, self-motivated with the ability to work independently and with colleagues from diverse fields.
• Willingness to travel extensively as required by research and collaboration needs.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Experience conducting theoretical and empirical research in Central America.
• Sound knowledge of other relevant statistical/econometric software packages such as R, Julia, or Python.
• Intermediate working knowledge of ArcGIS.
• Experience working in Latex.
• Field experience in collecting quantitative project and household data in Latin America.
• Experience on project managing or reporting.
• Fluency in written and spoken Spanish.

Source: https://phf.tbe.taleo.net/phf04/ats/careers/v2/viewRequisition?org=IFPRI&cws=43&rid=3567