Research Associate

Title: Reserach Associate 

Location: Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

Position: Full-time

Posted on: 25 June 2026 

Application deadline: 5 July 2026, 6 pm EAT (applications will be reviewed as they are submitted)

About the Role:

PxD is seeking for a Research Associate to join a high-performing, flexible, and non-hierarchical team. In this role, you will have the opportunity to contribute to PxD’s new workstreams, collaborate closely with PxD and affiliated researchers, and play a key role in testing and refining innovative ideas. You will use rigorous methods to experiment, measure impact, and identify pathways to scale our programs.

The ideal candidate will be passionate about PxD's mission: to provide actionable insights and cost-effective, scalable services that help people in poverty improve their incomes and well-being sustainably.

About PxD:

PxD is a global non-profit that harnesses the power of technology, data science, and behavioral economics to provide targeted information to farmers in low and middle-income countries. Providing the right information to the right people in the right way and at the right time increases incomes, protects the environment, and improves well-being. We are evidence-based: we test our interventions with randomized controlled trials to prove our impact and cost-effectiveness, to simultaneously learn from and improve our service, and to demonstrate our value to funders and partners. There are few programmes in international development that are as demonstrably cost-effective as ours.

Responsibilities (including but not limited to): 

The role will grow as you develop, but you will start by focusing on the following key responsibilities:

• Work with the team in scoping, designing, piloting, and scaling evidence-backed digital agriculture services, including spending time with farmers in the field to ensure that services are closely aligned with user needs.
• Conduct qualitative and quantitative data collection (including farmer focus groups, interviews, and quantitative surveys) and data cleaning.
• Work closely with program teams to design user-centered products, conduct human-centered design (HCD) activities, and generate insights into user needs, behaviors, and experiences 
• Produce accurate and organized summaries of data, including basic analysis for descriptive statistics and simple regression analysis, and contribute to report writing.
• Carry out literature reviews and other desk research, providing input on research questions and structure.
• Develop and update project documentation regularly.
• Assist in managing partner relations and working with external stakeholders for the implementation of program operations.
• Contribute and support internal and external communications to disseminate project results and research findings, including briefs, blogs, reports, and presentations.
• Contribute to PxD’s institutional knowledge management and internal learning efforts.
  

Requirements:

The ideal candidate will have:

• Bachelor’s degree in economics, public policy, international development, or closely related fields.
• Strong understanding of economics, econometrics, and familiarity with randomized evaluations.
• Excellent knowledge of Stata or R, or similar software for data analysis.
• Experience working on field research in economics in LMIC countries.
• Experience in using SurveyCTO/ODK or a similar program for survey design.
• Ability to draw inferences from data to identify pathways for program improvement (e.g., call center productivity, feedback of users to an SMS campaign, looking at usage statistics).
• Experience in a multi-faceted role, with the ability to balance and prioritize across multiple projects and stakeholders.
• Strong writing and oral communication skills in English
• Strong attention to detail and advanced writing and presentation skills.
• Willingness to travel to field sites in Ethiopia, subject to security considerations.
  

How to apply: 

To apply, please visit the PxD website and use the online application form to submit a CV, cover letter, and brief responses to the screening questions. Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis until the application deadline of 5 July 2026, 6 pm EAT.

PxD is committed to building an inclusive and diverse organisation. We don’t make decisions based on gender, gender identity, class, ethnicity, sexual orientation, or any other personal characteristics that are unrelated to the role. We understand that everyone has different lifestyles and we accommodate flexible working to make sure you are as productive and happy as you can be. 

We will use any personal data you provide for recruitment purposes only.