Senior Research Associate

Location: Lahore, Pakistan

Duration: 12 months (Full-time)

Reports to: Program Manager and Principal Investigators (PIs): Zahra Mansoor (University of Bristol), Nazish Afraz (King’s College London), Anam Shoaib (University of Oxford).

Organisation: Centre for Economic Research in Pakistan (CERP)

Position Overview

The Senior Research Associate (SRA) will provide technical and operational support for the research (predominantly qualitative but will also incorporate basic quantitative research methods) and analysis of evidence use across tax reform case studies under the project ‘Evidence Use Across Reform Types: A Comparative Study of Revenue Policy in Pakistan’. The position requires strong qualitative research skills, policy literacy, and attention to detail.

Key Responsibilities

• Assist in conducting literature review to provide input in designing interview instruments and conducting key informant interviews (in-person and phone) with policymakers, bureaucrats, donors, and civil society actors.

• Conduct process mapping of reform timelines, identifying decision points, bottlenecks, and the entry of evidence into policy processes.

• Perform document and language analysis using online tools to track framing, discourse, and media narratives related to reform debates.

• Manage logistical aspects of fieldwork, including scheduling, travel, and coordination with policy actors and provincial counterparts.

• Take detailed interview notes, manage transcription and translation workflows, and ensure timely data cleaning and organisation.

• Support coding and thematic analysis in NVivo and assist PIs in synthesizing insights for reports and publications.

• Conduct secondary data collection (policy documents, media archives, and social media sentiment analysis) to complement interview evidence.

• Provide operational support for the planning and execution of the dissemination event in Lahore.

Requirements:

• Master’s degree in Public Policy, Political Economy, Sociology, or related field.

• 2–4 years of experience in qualitative research or policy analysis.

• Demonstrated skills in qualitative interviews, transcription, and qualitative data analysis and management.

• Experience with process mapping and media/social media language analysis tools.

• Familiarity with NVivo or other qualitative analysis software.

Familiarity with quantitative analysis on STATA.

• Excellent organisational and communication skills.