Statistician in KENYA

Note: We are only hiring applicants with work authorizations in India, Kenya, Senegal and Morocco.

Statistician - Research, Evaluation, and Data (RED) Team and Data on Demand Team

Locations: East Africa (Nairobi, Kenya); South Asia (Delhi, Hyderabad, Jaipur*, India); Southern Africa (Lusaka, Zambia or Lilongwe, Malawi*); West & North Africa (Rabat, Morocco or Dakar, Senegal)

About IDinsight

We amplify social impact by partnering with leaders to develop tailored solutions. Our mission is to use data and evidence to help leaders combat poverty worldwide.

IDinsight is a mission-driven global advisory, data analytics, and research organization that helps global development leaders maximize their social impact. We tailor a wide range of data and evidence tools, including randomized evaluations and machine learning, to help decision-makers design effective programs and rigorously test what works to support communities. We work with governments, multilateral agencies, foundations, and innovative non-profit organizations in Asia and Africa. Our work spans a wide range of sectors, including agriculture, education, health, governance, sanitation, financial inclusion, and other areas.

We have expertise in a variety of rigorous approaches and methodologies, which we tailor to each client depending on their needs and constraints. To achieve a positive social impact we:

• Support clients’ use of data and evidence for routine and major decision-making.
• Inform funding decisions – toward high-impact initiatives and away from less effective programs or approaches.
• Create and share tools, knowledge, and ideas that expand the use of data and evidence for social good.

Our diverse, growing team of roughly 180 outstanding colleagues operate in nearly two dozen countries around the world. Learn more about our mission and values at www.IDinsight.org.

About the RED Team

​​The RED Team is the nerve centre behind IDinsight's mission to conduct high-quality, technically accurate, rigorous, ethical, and transparent work. RED Team members are the sectoral specialists and methodological experts on client engagements. It takes the lead on some of the most technically complex client engagements, such as data science, data engineering and monitoring systems work. It is responsible for setting the technical standards and producing and maintaining the technical resources of the organization, while ensuring the technical professional development of all IDinsight staff.

About the DoD Team

Data on Demand (DoD) intends to amplify social sector impact worldwide by making accurate data on hard-to-reach, low-income populations an order of magnitude faster and cheaper. DoD works via:

• Networks of hyper-local surveyors that execute data collection tasks near their homes
• Representative, mobile-enabled household panels for rapid phone surveys
• Custom software to efficiently manage the productivity of remote staff and data quality

DoD can currently provide representative data for 140 million people in India, and we are rapidly expanding within and beyond India.

About the Statistician’s role

The Statistician will support a large portfolio across diverse geographies, sectors, and methodologies. The Statistician will primarily work on the design and analysis of representative sample surveys, working closely with IDinsight’s DoD team, but will have an opportunity to contribute to causal analysis (“impact evaluation”) and data science initiatives.

The Statistician will think critically about how to optimize methodological rigor given our clients’ time, operational, political, and budget constraints. The ideal candidate should love being thrown many different types of problems, be able to quickly digest and understand the program and evidence objectives, and provide advice and guidance on how best to proceed.

The Statistician will be an important member of IDinsight’s Research Evaluation and Data (RED) Team. The RED Team is responsible for ensuring that the services we provide to clients are statistically and methodologically sound. In collaboration with the RED Team lead and personnel, the Researcher’s role will include the following activities:

• Designing and implementing representative sample surveys and other related activities for IDinsight clients in collaboration with project teams. The Statistician will play a key role along with our client teams in designing and implementing studies for IDinsight clients, including in-person household surveys, secondary analysis of administrative data sets (like IHDS), strengthening data quality controls, remote surveys, complex estimation techniques (e.g. multiple frames, hierarchical modelling, etc.), and incorporating recent developments in data science in primary survey design and analysis.
• Ensuring the technical rigour of project deliverables. The Statistician will support project teams in drafting and refining technical documents, including research designs, pre-analysis plans, sample size calculations, data collection instruments, technical reports, and other documents. The Statistician will also be a crucial resource to the country office where he or she is stationed by providing technical expertise on short-term issues that confront project teams.
• Contribute to technical innovations: The Statistician will work with project teams and external collaborators to contribute to innovation efforts in sampling design (ex: GIS-based, prediction approaches to sampling theory), data quality (ex: machine learning to predict data quality issues), embedded experiments for survey methodology, and analytical techniques (ex: Small area estimation, Bayesian modelling and inference), and other related topics.
• Working with culturally and geographically diverse project teams. The Statistician will work with project teams that can be spread across the globe and comprise different nationalities and cultures.
• Supporting the technical professional development of staff. The Statistician will prepare and lead training sessions on technical topics (such as sampling design and statistical inference) on a regular basis. He or she will also provide individualised support to staff on their technical professional development.
• Publishing IDinsight studies in academic and policy journals. The Statistician will have the opportunity to co-author publications in academic and policy journals to showcase results from IDinsight studies based on IDinsight’s client needs and the Statistician’s interest.
• Develop new projects and services. The Statistician will have the opportunity to develop new projects and client relationships in accordance with IDinsight’s values of client-focused and decision-focused research.

The Statistician will be expected to fulfill these responsibilities and others professionally and within strict deadlines. He or she will also be expected to propose, design, and implement new initiatives to support project teams and increase the technical rigour of IDinsight’s work.

Qualifications

• Deeply passionate about social, economic, and environmental policies and programs and social impact
• Advanced degree in statistics, demographics, population studies, survey methodology, economics, econometrics, political science, public policy, public health, sociology, anthropology or other applied fields.
• Outstanding quantitative and critical thinking skills
• Self-starter who will thrive in a start-up setting by taking ownership and initiative
• Intellectual curiosity and sense of humor
• 3+ years of relevant work experience preferred, including designing and managing research programs, quantitative analysis, field research, and managerial experience in a developing country
• Significant experience with either Stata or R is required. Experience with additional programming languages a plus
• Prior work authorization in one of the position locations
• Deep contextual knowledge and experience in the regions where IDinsight works
• Candidates interested in the Senegal or Rabat office should ideally be fluent in French.

Nuts & bolts

Start date

The start date of this position is rolling, with preference for candidates that can start immediately.

Compensation

Compensation and benefits are commensurate with the qualifications and experiences IDinsight is hiring for and competitive within the global development sector. We are especially proud of the people-focused benefits we offer, including comprehensive international health insurance, including mental health coverage; paid vacation, sick, and parental leave; relocation benefits; a travel stipend; technology and work-from-home stipends; a professional development budget; and more. Please note, as a non-profit, we are unable to provide compensation similar to leading private sector organisations.

How to apply

Please visit out careers website to apply for this role.