Senior Research Fellow - Institute for Economics and Peace - [Archived Advertisement]

The Institute for Economics and Peace (IEP) is a non-profit research organisation dedicated to shifting the world’s focus to peace as a positive, achievable, and tangible measure of human well-being and progress.

Rated as one of the world’s most impactful think tanks with a budget under $5 million and a think tank to watch by the University of Pennsylvania’s Global Go To Think Tank Index, the Institute is further expanding its research team of nine staff.

IEP achieves its goals by developing new conceptual frameworks to define peacefulness; providing metrics for measurement; uncovering the relationship between peace, business and prosperity, and by promoting a better understanding of the cultural, economic and political factors that drive peacefulness. The research outputs of the Institute have been featured in leading media internationally, from the Guardian, the Economist, Huffington Post, Washington Post, CNN, and BBC and are widely cited by intergovernmental organisations and in academia.

Current and previous partners include numerous leading organisations internationally, such as; the United Nations Development Programme, Chatham House, Economist Intelligence Unit, Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), The World Bank, the Organisation for Economic Development and Co-operation (OECD), the Club de Madrid, the World Tourism and Travel Council (WTTC) and the Commonwealth Secretariat. The Institute is a non-partisan and not-for-profit organisation with offices in Sydney, New York, Mexico City and The Hague.

Senior Research Fellow Role

The Senior Research Fellow will be an experienced and senior expert with a track record of conducting quantitative research in the social sciences, development studies, statistics, economics, and peace and conflict studies. S/he will be able to lead new and ground-breaking thinking on conceptualising frameworks and measurements for creating more peaceful societies. S/he will have strong understanding of current debates in development, peace and conflict studies, and in relevant international forums. 

The Senior Research Fellow will conduct research on a wide range of topics including IEP’s Global Peace Index, Positive Peace research, peace economics, development studies, and peace and conflict studies.  Some experience or knowledge of systems thinking, complexity thinking, or systems engineering as well as familiarly with quantitative risk modelling would be highly desired. Ideal candidates will have a deep interest in big picture questions around peace and development, be open-minded to multidisciplinary approaches in the social sciences and are well travelled.  

Selection criteria and previous experience required

1. Master’s degree (PhD an advantage) in a combination of economics and/or statistics, development studies, international relations or other social sciences discipline.
2. Minimum of seven years professional experience conducting empirical research and quantitative data analysis specifically related to a combination of social sciences, development studies, economics, statistics and peace and conflict studies. 
3. Experience working with governmental and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) on peace and development issues, economics, peace and conflict studies, and/or international security issues.  
4. Experience handling large datasets and knowledge of R, SPSS, STATA, and other related econometric packages is required. Ability to write code for R, SPSS or STATA and advanced Microsoft Excel skills.
5. Track record of demonstrable analytical and data visualisation skills. 
6. Excellent verbal and written communication skills. Competence to undertake research assignments and project manage teams with minimal supervision.
7. Some experience in writing grant applications to large donors and intergovernmental organisations highly desirable.

Duties and Responsibilities

• Contribute to conceptual research on how to measure and quantify the factors that create more peaceful societies and the economic benefits of peace.
• Analyse data to develop new conceptual frameworks to generate evidence that can influence policy.
• Collect, assemble, and maintain datasets for quantitative peace and conflict research within R and Microsoft Excel.
• Project management of research projects with a variety of internal and external stakeholders.
• Write a diversity of IEP research reports, briefing memos, summaries of journal articles, books, blogs and news articles.
• Organise large datasets; write code in R; present results of empirical analysis in interesting and easy to understand table and graphical formats to complement published IEP material. Visualise data in interesting and efficient ways.
• Collect and analyse information from a wide variety of sources; monitor relevant material from conferences and seminars, government and intergovernmental documents, academic journals, institutional databases, relevant civil society organisations and NGOs.
• Where necessary, write grant applications; work with external clients and consultants.  
• Attend international conferences and seminars as required.

Desired personal qualities

• Excellent attention to detail and solution oriented.
• Ability to meet multiple deadlines in a fast-paced work environment.
• Ability to work well under pressure with discretion and judgment.
• Deeply committed and interested in peace and development.

Location: This position is based at IEP headquarters, Sydney Australia. Candidates from outside of Australia will be considered to fill this position.
Hours: This is a full time position.

Remuneration: The senior research fellow remuneration package will be commensurate with experience.

Applications to:  CV and cover letter addressing the selection criteria and desired personal qualities to jobs@economicsandpeace.org

Deadline for applications: 29 April 2017

Website: www.economicsandpeace.org, www.visionofhumanity.org