Project Specialist

University of Southern California • Los Angeles, CA

3d • Hybrid

About The Position

The University of Southern California’s Center for Economic and Social Research (CESR) is hiring a full-time Project Specialist to support research in development and health economics. The position reports directly to Dr. Zachary Wagner and works closely with collaborators at USC, RAND, and partner organizations in Nigeria. It is a one-year, fixed-term, grant-funded position with a hybrid work arrangement, based two to three days per week on USC’s University Park campus in Los Angeles, California.

The primary project is a large-scale randomized study in Bauchi State, Nigeria, examining whether pre-emptive home delivery of oral rehydration salts (ORS) and zinc reduces child mortality. The study builds on a cluster-randomized trial that delivered ORS and zinc to households with children under five and will conduct approximately 400,000 household surveys. Retrospective birth histories and verbal autopsies will be used to estimate the intervention’s effect on diarrhea-specific child mortality.

The role combines research and quantitative analysis with substantial project management. The Project Specialist will participate in all stages of the research process, including coordinating data collection, managing relationships with research and field partners, monitoring study progress and data quality, analyzing datasets, and contributing to academic publications. Depending on interests, performance, and project needs, the role may also include work on related development economics and global health research.

The successful candidate will work closely with Dr. Wagner and receive mentorship in research design, econometric analysis, project management, and academic writing. The role offers participation in the CESR and USC research community, collaboration with researchers and field partners across institutions, ownership of a major research project, and opportunities to develop quantitative and project-management skills and build an independent research agenda.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in economics, public policy, statistics, mathematics, or another quantitatively oriented field; candidates with a Ph.D. or master’s degree are also welcome. Combined experience and education may substitute for the minimum education requirement.
• At least two years of minimum experience, with directly related education and experience sufficient to advise on project procedures and analysis techniques.
• Excellent quantitative and analytical skills.
• Coursework in economics, econometrics, statistics, or related quantitative methods.
• Experience with statistical software such as Stata, R, or Python.
• Exceptional organizational skills and attention to detail.
• Ability to manage multiple workstreams, meet deadlines, and proactively identify tasks requiring attention.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills and ability to coordinate effectively with collaborators across institutions and countries.

Nice To Haves

• Prior research assistant or project manager experience working with primary data collection.
• Interest in pursuing a Ph.D. in economics, public policy, public health, epidemiology, or a related quantitative social science field.
• Experience with randomized controlled trials, survey research, field research, primary data collection in low-income settings, or project management.
• Experience working with mortality datasets or direct experience collecting mortality data, including familiarity with verbal autopsy (VASA) instruments.
• Preferred master’s degree.
• Three years of preferred experience.

Responsibilities

• Manage day-to-day project implementation, coordinating researchers, field teams, and partner organizations; tracking timelines and deliverables; organizing research meetings; and following up on action items.
• Travel to Nigeria to help oversee training of the data collection team.
• Coordinate with the study team in Nigeria during survey piloting and large-scale data collection, and help identify and resolve implementation and data-quality issues.
• Support the development, programming, testing, and refinement of survey instruments.
• Assist with study protocols, IRB materials, pre-analysis plans, field manuals, and other research documentation.
• Monitor incoming survey data and develop systems for regular data-quality checks and reporting.
• Help clean data and conduct econometric analyses of the intervention’s effects on diarrhea-specific and all-cause child mortality, including robustness and heterogeneity analyses.
• Produce publication-quality tables and figures and contribute to literature reviews, presentations, and academic manuscripts.
• Maintain clear, reproducible project documentation, data workflows, and analysis code.
• Depending on interests, performance, and project needs, contribute to related research projects in development economics and global health.

Benefits

• Mentorship in research design, econometric analysis, project management, and academic writing.
• Opportunity to participate in the CESR and USC research community and collaborate with researchers and field partners across multiple institutions.
• Opportunity to take substantial ownership of a major research project and develop quantitative and project-management skills.
• Opportunity to build an independent research agenda.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Entry Level