Economist (Consultant)

About IDinsight

We're a global data and evidence advisory, working with governments, philanthropies, and non-profits to improve lives at scale, using technology and AI where they can deliver the most impact.

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 240 outstanding colleagues operates in nearly two dozen countries around the world. Learn more about our mission and values at www.IDinsight.org.

About the role

IDinsight engages economists as consultants (hereafter the Consultant) to bring specialist expertise in applied microeconomics and causal inference to a portfolio of client engagements spanning multiple geographies, sectors, and methods. Engagements may be scoped broadly or specialised along any of these dimensions, depending on the Consultant's expertise and IDinsight's needs.

The core of the role is judgment under constraint. The Consultant will be asked to think critically about how to maximise methodological rigour within our clients time, operational, political, and budget limits. and to be explicit about the trade-offs that follow. The ideal candidate is comfortable moving between unfamiliar problems, can quickly absorb a programme's theory of change and a client's decision needs, and can give clear, actionable guidance on how to proceed.

The scope of a typical engagement may include:

• Research design and analysis. Designing and advising on evaluations and other research activities (impact evaluations, descriptive and diagnostic studies, process evaluations, monitoring systems, programme design and advisory, M&E advisory, and scale-up analysis) with a focus on identification strategy, estimation, and interpretation.
• Technical review and quality assurance. Drafting and reviewing technical documents, including evaluation designs, pre-analysis plans, power and sample size calculations, data collection instruments, analysis code, and technical reports. The Consultant may also be asked to resolve discrete technical questions that arise for project teams mid-implementation.
• Technical capacity building, where scoped. Where included in the terms of reference, preparing and delivering training on technical topics (for example causal inference, statistical inference, or Stata/R programming) and providing targeted technical mentoring to project staff.
• Scoping support. Advising on the technical feasibility and design of prospective engagements, in line with IDinsight's commitment to client-focused and decision-focused research.

Deliverables, timelines, level of effort, and reporting lines are set out in the engagement's terms of reference. The Consultant is expected to meet agreed deadlines, communicate proactively where scope or feasibility shifts, and flag methodological concerns early rather than at the point of delivery.

Qualifications

Required

• Advanced degree in economics, econometrics, applied statistics, or a closely related quantitative field. PhD preferred; candidates with a Master's degree and a demonstrable record of comparable applied research will be considered.
• Demonstrated command of causal inference and applied microeconometrics, including experimental and quasi-experimental identification strategies, power analysis, and the interpretation of imprecise or null results.
• At least 5 years of relevant post-graduate experience designing, executing, or advising on evaluations and quantitative research in low- and middle-income country contexts.
• Proficiency in Stata or R, sufficient to write, review, and debug analysis code that others will reproduce.
• Ability to produce clear written technical output (evaluation designs, pre-analysis plans, technical memos) that a non-technical decision-maker can act on.
• Capacity to work independently against agreed deliverables and timelines, with limited day-to-day supervision, and to flag methodological or feasibility concerns early.

Preferred

• Substantive expertise in one or more of IDinsight's sectors (health, education, agriculture, social protection, governance, or environment).
• Contextual knowledge of one or more regions where IDinsight works, including familiarity with relevant administrative or survey data sources.
• Experience advising government or foundation counterparts directly, including translating methodological trade-offs into decision-relevant terms.
• Experience with additional programming or data tools (Python, SQL, geospatial analysis, SurveyCTO or equivalent).
• Peer-reviewed or policy publications drawing on applied field research.
• Local applicants or foreign candidates with existing work authorization.

Contracting

This is an hourly consultancy engagement. Rates are commensurate with qualifications and experience and will be confirmed during the selection process. Anticipated volume is approximately 20 hours per month, though this may vary with project cycles. Work is assigned and approved in advance and invoiced monthly. This is a contractor engagement and does not include employee benefits.

How to apply

This application includes several questions and requires a CV (one to two pages) covering your professional and personal experience as well as academic qualifications. Please omit headshots, parental details, birth dates, marital status, and similar personal information — these aren't relevant to our review. For more on IDinsight's hiring process, our commitment to reducing power asymmetries, and FAQs, visit www.IDinsight.org. Any questions should be directed to [Confidential Information].

IDinsight's commitment to reducing power asymmetries

IDinsight is committed to reducing power asymmetries in the social sector. Our commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion reflects our understanding of the need for the sector to abandon unhealthy practices of the past. We wish to be part of a new generation of international NGOs who are honest about this history and transparent about our role in the present. Our commitment is also aligned with the impact of our work.

We seek a workforce that is inclusive of a variety of perspectives that will help us refine and improve our methods and relationships, and strengthen the services we provide our clients and their communities or constituencies. The following commitments represent our vision for the IDinsight team:

1. IDinsight will have greater representation from the populations with whom we work and clients we serve.
2. IDinsight will have greater representation from the countries in which we work.
3. Across all countries in which we recruit, we will seek greater representation from historically excluded communities.
4. IDinsight will foster an inclusive work culture that empowers a diverse team to do their best work.

IDinsight is committed to non-discrimination in our recruitment, employment practices, and organizational culture, regardless of people's age, disability, gender, gender identity, national origin, race, religion or belief, or sexual orientation, or any other status protected by applicable law.