Research Assistant

Job Description

Job Summary: The Research Assistant supports the design, implementation, documentation, and communication of mixed methods and socially inclusive research on a broad range of topics such as customary and legal land rights, women’s land rights, sustainable land management, agriculture, governance, and other socioeconomic dimensions of land tenure in developing countries.

Reporting and relationships: The Research Assistant will report to the Director for Research, Evaluation and Learning

Availability: The Research Assistant is expected to work typical workweek of 20 hours and may be required to work in the evenings and on weekends occasionally. Currently staff are WFH. Post pandemic, we are anticipating a hybrid approach. Days in the office would be based on need and negotiated with your supervisor. No travel is required.

Essential Job Functions:

• Analyzes qualitative and quantitative data, including data from surveys, interviews, focus group discussions, community mapping, and field observations, and documents analytical processes and choices
• Assists in the development of data collection tools, data entry and management systems, indicator designs, and other assessment tools for Landesa projects.
• Manages, organizes, and cleans primary data for analysis and in accordance with ethical and funder requirements and documents steps and choices in data cleaning.
• Conducts literature reviews and analysis of secondary data in support of project design, proposals, and design and implementation of applied research
• Supports efforts to build research, monitoring, and evaluation capacities of Landesa and its partners, including coordinating and preparing content for peer learning sessions
• Supports quality assurance and synthesis of monitoring and evaluation indicators and supports regular reporting on indicators and other monitoring and evaluation content for projects
• Contributes to publications and presentations for a variety of audiences & stakeholders, both in co-drafting content and supporting editing, formatting, and citations

· Collaborates with Landesa staff as well as partners at universities, research institutions, development agencies, government offices, and NGOs who will help create or use land-related research, monitoring, and evaluation findings.

· Carries out miscellaneous administrative tasks and other duties depending upon the needs of the organization.

Required Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities:

• A deep commitment to the mission of a better, safer future for the world’s poorest people through land ownership and secure land rights.
• Ability and commitment to apply a gender-sensitive approach in their work

· A strong foundation in statistical methods and analysis of quantitative data, including but not limited to descriptive statistics, comparison of groups, multivariate analysis, and working with complex survey data.

· Substantial experience working with Stata including writing code for data management, cleaning, and analysis. Experience with KOBO is considered a plus.

• Proficiency using electronic social science research and literature review tools and a commitment to learning unfamiliar research tools.
• Ability to work in support of and collaboratively with a range of people cross-culturally and at all levels
• Ability to work collaboratively with teams regardless of role within team and to proactively seek ways to contribute to team success.

· Self-motivated and able to set and meet goals

· Ability to perform work independently and with minimal supervision.

• Excellent ability to communicate in writing and orally in English.
• Proficiency using Microsoft Suite of products including Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, and other software.
• Be available to work 20 hours per week.

Education and Experience:

· A Bachelors degree in the social sciences (Masters preferred)

· Graduate level training in statistical methods and analysis of quantitative data.

· A minimum of 2 years of applied social science research experience

· Preference will be given to individuals with work experience on land, natural resource, or gender-related issues. Prior work experience with international or national development institutions and field research experience is considered beneficial.

Additional Comments: The above job description is not intended as, nor should it be construed as, exhaustive of all responsibilities, skills, efforts, or working conditions associated with this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made in appropriate circumstances to enable qualified individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions of this job.

To Apply: Qualified candidates should complete an online application on Landesa’s career page. Authorization to work in the U.S. is required.

About the Organization

Landesa: Landesa, a 501c3 nonprofit organization based in Seattle, works to strengthen land rights for people experiencing poverty around the world – those 2.47 billion chiefly rural people who live on less than two dollars a day. Landesa works with communities, NGOs, corporations, and governments on land-related programs that provide opportunity, further economic growth, and promote social justice. Landesa places special emphasis on establishing and protecting land rights for women and inheritance rights for girls.

Landesa employs a staff of more than 120 worldwide, including senior land tenure specialists with legal, economic, gender, natural resource management, measurement and evaluation, and agricultural expertise. Landesa has offices in Seattle, Dar es Salaam, Washington DC, Yangon, Beijing, Delhi, and Monrovia.