Senior Associate - Research & Learning

The Gender x Digital (GxD) hub is a research and evaluation centre at LEAD, IFMR–Krea University, working at the intersection of digital systems, AI, and women’s realities in India. The hub conducts rigorous gender-intentional research and evaluation, provides technical advisory support to governments and implementers, and engages with a range of stakeholders to ensure that evidence shapes how digital and AI systems are designed and governed. We are seeking a Senior Associate whose focus will be research and evaluation delivery, complemented by writing and communications work that supports GxD’s research and evaluation portfolio and its visibility as a thought leader on gender × digital × AI issues. The candidate will sit primarily within GxD’s Evidence Generation workstream, contributing directly to research or evaluation studies, while also actively supporting the Ecosystem Engagement & Thought Leadership workstream in shaping how GxD’s findings are communicated to policy, donor, and public audiences. This is a research-forward role for someone who is at home in the field or with a dataset, and who can also turn findings into a clear report, blog, or deck. The ideal candidate is a strong researcher, can write and communicate well, and who is energised by variety across projects. Key Responsibilities 1. Research & Evaluation Design and Delivery • Contribute to the design and implementation of new studies, including instrument design, sampling strategy, fieldwork coordination, and analysis working with other team members. • Apply mixed-method approaches, combining quantitative analysis (Stata, R, or Excel) with qualitative enquiry, to generate evidence on women’s digital and AI capability and outcomes. • Support secondary data analysis for GxD’s internal knowledge products and evidence briefs. • Lead data cleaning, analysis, and interpretation for assigned studies, with attention to methodological rigour and quality assurance. • Support literature reviews and evidence synthesis, and contribute to the design of MLE frameworks and indicators for ongoing evaluations. 2. Research Writing & Knowledge Products • Draft evaluation reports, working papers, policy briefs, and evidence notes to a publishable standard, ensuring findings are both methodologically sound and accessibly written. • Translate technical research findings into clear, methodologically grounded narratives for policy, donor, and public audiences, maintaining a consistent voice across GxD’s outputs. 3. Communications & Narrative Building • Support GxD’s website content, social media content, decks, and one-pagers that carry GxD’s research into wider circulation. • Support preparation for convenings and speaking engagements including briefing materials, decks, and talking points. • Contribute to GxD’s DOI and publication-visibility infrastructure 4. Cross-Project & Cross-Team Coordination • Work across GxD’s Evidence Generation & MLE and Ecosystem Engagement & Thought Leadership work streams, coordinating with the relevant team members. • Support proposal development, particularly the research design, methodology, and framing sections of pitches to funders. • Proactively flag opportunities to package ongoing research into external-facing content. Requirements Essential • Master’s degree in Development Studies, Public Policy, Economics, Gender Studies, Communications, or a closely related field, with 3+ years of relevant experience; OR Bachelor’s degree with at least 5 years of experience combining applied research and writing/communications roles. • Demonstrated ability to lead research and evaluation delivery, with strong skills in writing and communications. This is a research-first but hybrid role: the majority of the workload is research and evaluation, complemented by strong writing and communications. • Strong working knowledge of quantitative and qualitative research methods, including instrument design, primary data collection, and statistical analysis (Stata, R, or Excel). • Excellent written English, with a portfolio of published or publishable writing (reports, briefs, blogs, or articles) that demonstrates the ability to translate technical findings for varied audiences. • Experience supporting institutional communications such as website content, newsletters, social media, or donor-facing materials. • Comfortable managing multiple concurrent projects and workstreams, with strong self-organisation and follow-through. Strongly Desired • Prior experience in a research, evaluation, or think tank environment, ideally with exposure to gender, digital inclusion, or AI-related themes. • Experience with content or website platforms and familiarity with visibility/DOI infrastructure. • Ability to convert evidence into digestible formats, with demonstrated experience of working with a variety of communication formats (decks, website, campaign material, podcosts etc). Key Attributes • A strong researcher, with fluent narrative-building skills as a complement. • Strong sense of ownership with ability to take a partial draft or a rough dataset and shape it into something publishable. • Comfortable operating in a lean, fast-moving team with a varied portfolio of projects. • Collaborative instinct and works well across research, communications, and stakeholder-facing colleagues without needing rigid handoffs. • Keen interest in gender, digital systems, and AI’s social implications.