Location: Shillong, Meghalaya (open to travelling to other locations within the state)

Status: Full-time

Deadline: 20 March 2021

About Accountability Initiative, Centre for Policy Research 

Accountability Initiative (AI) at the Centre for Policy Research is a research driven non-profit that advances transparent governance, and accountable policy implementation which can serve people’s needs. We identify and analyse the reasons that work against efficient public services delivery in India. We provide the evidence to policymakers and implementers to enable decision making that is responsive to the ground reality. We believe that accountability of the administrative machinery to the people forms the bedrock of good governance, which lies at the heart of all our efforts.

Accountability Initiative currently has operations and staff in 5 Indian states.

Job Description

AI is seeking to hire a Research Associate (RA) to provide research support to the Planning and Finance Departments of the State Government of Meghalaya on various aspects of public finances and other socio-economic initiatives within the state. The engagement will entail working and coordinating with Meghalaya Planning and Finance Department officials on broad-based research and analysis tasks. The position is based out of Shillong, Meghalaya and may require the candidate to make field visits within the state. The duration of the employment will be 1 year with opportunities for further extension.

About the project

The Planning and Finance Departments, Government of Meghalaya have embarked on a collaboration with the Accountability Initiative, Centre for Policy Research, New Delhi. This collaboration is expected to result in many important inputs into the policies and operations of the Government of Meghalaya. It is expected to aid in formulation, planning and execution of policies for better public service delivery and citizen welfare.

Key Tasks and Responsibilities

The role of the RA will primarily include the following:

• Conducting broad-based research to support future economic and welfare initiatives in the state (across sectors such as agriculture, industry and trade)
• Programme monitoring and evaluation (M&E) support
• Analysis of state budget and public finance data
• Making presentations of intermediate outputs to the department
• Coordinating with the AI team members, and officials and internal staff in the State Government Departments
• Any other tasks stipulated by the AI research team

Required Qualifications

• Minimum qualification: Master’s in Economics, Statistics or any other relevant discipline, OR MBA in Finance
• Interested in working on state and union budgets, governance issues, public policy and/or social sector in general. Candidates with prior experience in these areas will be preferred
• Minimum 2 years of work experience
• Strong quantitative and analytical research capabilities
• Good written and oral communication skills
• Ability to share knowledge and work in a strong team-oriented environment
• Proficient in Microsoft Word, Excel and PowerPoint. Prior knowledge of statistical software packages (such as Stata or R) is desirable.