Research Associate

Background:

The Arab Resource Collective (ARC) is a non-governmental regional organization. ARC's mission is to work with partners on producing and disseminating knowledge, promoting policies, and developing human resources in order to translate rights into reality. ARC targets children and youth within their environment, and focuses on health, education, and protection.
Arab Network for Early Childhood (ANECD) was formed in 2014 as a Regional ECD network based in Lebanon. ANECD's mission and general goal are to 'Connect, empower, harmonize, advocate, produce and communicate regionally adapted ECD experiences and resources to Arab societies on the rights of young children to playful learning, health, nutrition, and protection from harm.

ARC/ANECD conduct different evidence-based research on their programs, strategic research models and situational assessments on ECD and MH related topics in Lebanon and the 8 ANECD Arab member countries.

Research Associate’s tasks and responsibilities:

Communication and Coordination:

Coordinate the Research work in ARC/ANECD under the supervision of the management team.
Coordinate with the different ARC/ANECD coordinators on the research components projects.
Attend and organize all research related meetings.
Liaise with the Primary Investigators and research focal points on the different research projects.
Working with other team members to provide methodological, research and evidence based support, as required.
Performing research on projects in collaboration with external partners (ANECD and others).
Effectively manage relationships with the internal and external stakeholders.
Provide regular progress of the research to the project coordinator.
Follow the timeline given by ARC/ANECD and communicate any challenges with the Management Team.
Work in coordination with ARC/ANECD’s MEAL Coordinator.
Coordinate with ARC/ANECD’s Graphic Designer for report designs and data visualization.
Coordinate with ARC/ANECD’s Communication Coordinator for data publishing.

Research methodologies:

Develop research methodologies in accordance with the theme.
Come up with research questions.
Be innovative and intuitive in research theme choosing.
Work on IRB documents.
Develop, test, and validate research tools (FGD - in depth one-on-one interviews - stakeholder interviews - etc.).
Develop coding and analysis protocols.
Incorporate and test tools on system (mostly kobo but could be different)
Develop data collection protocols and data quality assurance protocols.
Develop a data collection plan that ensures adherence to data collection budget, timeline, and ethics.
Ensure implementation of survey spot checks and back-checks.
Set the criteria of selection for data collectors and participate in recruitment.
Train data collectors on the tools and methodology.
Supervise the online and Face-to-Face data collection.
Organize and follow up in coordination with ARC/ANECD’s Coordinators the research timeline implementation.
Compile and clean data.
Safeguard the data collected and identities of participants in coordination with MEAL Coordinator and the Data Management System.
Conduct data analysis.
Performing any other reasonable duties as directed by the management team.

Research Writing:

Exceptional written Arabic and English communication skills with proven experience writing on complex topics in different styles and for various audiences, including the ability to develop and effectively communicate key messages, edit content provided by others in a way that improves readability yet maintains the intended messaging, and design visually-appealing documents.
Conduct desk review.
Document the entire research implementation process.
Develop a report template following the criteria for publishing in scientific journals.
Develop any template needed for researchers working with ANECD to follow and fall in cohesion.
Develop a policy brief and policy recommendations templates.
Critically reviewing reports produced by peers, academics and other agencies
Contribute to the publication of reports, articles and data.
Summarize research findings and outcomes.
Spot and report trends in data.
Review all translated documents.

Research Associate qualifications:

Masters’ degree in statistics, education, psychology, social sciences, public policy, public health, political science, or related fields.
5+ years of experience in the field of Research.
Have participated or preferably led at least 3 research publications.
Proficiency in advanced computer skills with proficiency in Microsoft packages (Word, Excel, PowerPoint),
Proficiency SPSS and other statistical and research software and tools.
Experience with data management, data cleaning, and regression analysis.
Experience with quantitative research.
Excellent management and organizational skills.
Strong qualitative analysis skills.
Able to work under pressure and meet deadlines.
Ability to manage high-level relationships with partner organizations
Experience running a large-scale survey and managing the survey implementation and data entry process
Fluency and excellent communication skills in Arabic and English language.
Familiarity with ECD, Mental health, and humanitarian projects research is required.
Familiarity with Climate Change research is a plus.

Requirements:

Send CV + list of contributions and publications.