Senior Research Associate – Market Intelligence

About the role

The Senior Research Associate will manage a portfolio of market intelligence studies from design through field implementation to data handover. Working closely with internal research teams, country offices, procurement staff and external partners, the role ensures studies are delivered on time, within budget and to high quality standards.

Key responsibilities

• Coordinate day‑to‑day activities for 2‑3 studies, maintaining workplans, milestones and budgets while escalating risks.
• Oversee the full research workflow: instrument development, partner contracting, survey programming, piloting, fieldwork and data handover.
• Design and adapt quantitative, qualitative and experimental methods, including surveys, interviews, focus groups and field experiments.
• Standardise questionnaires, manage version control and test programmed surveys before deployment.
• Monitor field data quality, flag issues and support troubleshooting of programming or data problems.
• Serve as primary contact for implementing partners, guiding onboarding, training, field launch and deliverable review.
• Maintain and improve reusable research assets such as templates, SOPs and quality‑control tools.

Required profile

• Master’s degree in economics, agricultural economics, development studies, marketing, social sciences, statistics, data science or related field (or equivalent bachelor’s plus experience).
• 5‑7 years of professional experience in applied or market research, survey research or development research.
• Proven ability to implement both quantitative and qualitative research designs and to move fluidly between methods.
• Hands‑on experience developing research instruments and supporting field implementation.
• Track record of working with external research agencies or implementation partners.
• Strong appetite for learning new research tools and emerging methodologies.

Required skills

• Survey programming in platforms such as SurveyCTO, ODK or KoboToolbox.
• Design and validation of digital questionnaires, including logic, validation rules and coding conventions.
• Data quality assurance and routine monitoring of field data.