Senior Research Associate

ABOUT SPARK MICROGRANTS

Spark MicroGrants believes in a world where everyone lives with dignity and determines their own positive future. Spark has worked in 1000+ villages in 6 countries and has pioneered a community-driven development model in sub-Saharan Africa. Spark works with NGO and Government partners to scale the model's adoption and impact on rural communities - on their own terms. Our model combines facilitated community meetings with a small, discretionary grant to catalyze local action and institution building. Read more about our Approach, Impact and Values on our website. 

ABOUT THE RESEARCH TEAM

The Research team at Spark Microgrants works to generate and support the uptake of evidence on approaches that channel resources and decision-making to the village level. Spark’s own research focuses on four key areas: 

• Rigorous research to assess the impact of Spark’s village grants and planning approach and its core components 
• Pilots to test adaptations to Spark’s approach to strengthen key outcomes of interest
• Operational research to identify key components for national scale
• Community engagement in defining research questions and understanding the results from research
  
  

In addition, the Research team at Spark seeks to influence evidence generation and uptake by key external stakeholders.

WHO YOU ARE 

Spark seeks a Senior Research Associate to work closely with the Senior Research Director and the Evidence and Strategy Manager as a part of the Research team.

The Senior Research Associate will play a key role in designing, managing, and delivering high quality research that supports Spark’s research and learning priorities. This is a hands-on research role for someone who combines strong quantitative and analytical skills with the ability to independently own each stage of a research project, from assessing operational feasibility and research design through analysis and dissemination. The role will contribute to rigorous evaluations and applied research, develop and maintain reproducible data management and analytical workflows, and translate findings into actionable insights for a diverse set of audiences.

RESPONSIBILITIES

Project Ownership & Research Management

• Own assigned research projects or workstreams from initiation through delivery, including developing work plans and budgets, managing timelines, coordinating inputs and research activities, and ensuring timely completion of deliverables.
• Lead quantitative research activities for assigned projects, from research design and measurement approaches through analysis and dissemination. Some experience with qualitative research is preferred.
• Ensure that research activities and outputs meet organizational standards for rigor, quality, and research ethics.
  
  

Data Collection, Analysis, and Management

• Develop and maintain reproducible analytical workflows, including organized and well-documented code, version control, and research documentation, including records of key analytical decisions.
• Develop, program, test, and deploy survey instruments and other research tools.
• Prepare and maintain research datasets following reproducible data management practices

• Analyze and synthesize quantitative, qualitative, and, where relevant, geospatial data to answer research and programmatic questions.
• Translate complex analytical findings into clear products for research and practitioner audiences, including data visualizations, briefs, reports, presentations, and technical documentation.
• Develop a thorough understanding of Spark’s monitoring systems and how monitoring data can be used to further process evaluations and to generate learning for the organization.
  
  

Team Contribution & Capacity Building

• Contribute to strengthening team-wide research systems, tools, templates, and quality standards.
• Collaborate across research and program teams to ensure that research responds to organizational priorities and generates useful evidence for decision-making.
  
  

WHAT YOU BRING 

You may come from philanthropy, international development, government, community organizing, research, public policy, social movements, multilateral institutions, or another field. 

• Master’s degree in social sciences (economic, political science, sociology, social psychology), data science, evaluation, international development or related fields.
• 5-10 years’ relevant experience in conducting applied quantitative research, evaluation, or policy research in low- and middle-income country contexts, with demonstrated ability to independently manage substantial components of a research project
• Experience with randomized controlled trials, quasi-experimental methods, or other applied evaluation approaches.
• Strong quantitative skills, with demonstrated experience selecting, applying, and interpreting appropriate statistical concepts, including regression analysis, hypothesis testing, sampling, and statistical inference.
• Demonstrated experience cleaning, managing, analyzing, and documenting complex research datasets.

• Strong working knowledge of statistical analysis software like Stata or R, and digital data collection platforms like commcare or SurveyCTO. Familiarity with LaTeX for research documentation and reporting is preferred.
• Experience with version control systems such as Git and with reproducible, well-documented analytical workflows.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills in English, including demonstrated ability to explain technical methods and translate analytical findings into clear insights for non-technical audiences.
• Strong writing skills and ability to write for multiple audiences, i.e. donor reports, proposals, blog posts, op-eds, etc.
• Demonstrated ability to work effectively across multidisciplinary teams and with colleagues or partners with different levels of technical expertise.
  

OTHER INFORMATION

Job Location: Based in one of Spark’s countries of operation: Uganda, Rwanda, or Malawi. (Elsewhere in East Africa may also be considered for strong candidates, if candidates already possess valid, legal work authorization for other requested job locations.)  

Reporting to: Senior Research Director

Start date: As soon as possible

Salary: Salary is based on geographic location and commensurate with experience

Probation period: Three months probation period with learning and performance objectives

Time commitment: Full time.

How to Apply: Follow the link to apply: https://sparkmicrogrants.bamboohr.com/careers/182 

SAFEGUARDING

Our safeguarding follows a do no harm principle. All Spark staff are expected to respect and uphold the safeguarding procedures and principles to minimize harm to stakeholders, program participants, and the environment, in compliance with the World Bank Environmental and Social Framework and national legislation in the countries where we operate. 

EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER 

Spark Microgrants provides equal employment and advancement opportunities to all individuals. Employment decisions at Spark are based on merit, qualifications, and abilities. Spark does not discriminate in employment opportunities or practices on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, national origin, gender identity, age, disability, marital status, or any other characteristic protected by the law. Spark will make reasonable accommodations for qualified individuals with known disabilities unless doing so would result in undue hardship to daily operations.