Field Consultant

About Us:

Good Business Lab is a not-for-profit worker well-being research organization. We design and evaluate programs that can find common ground between worker well-being in blue-collar settings and business interests, and then through our newest initiative GBL ventures develop and scale products based on our research. We've worked with corporates such as Shahi Exports, Radnik Exports, H&M, Gap Inc., and GANNI, and are backed by funders such as Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and academics at the world's top universities such as Harvard Business School.

Our founding team brings together two US-based academics who are professors at the University of Michigan and UC San Diego and have PhDs in economics from Yale University and the head of Organizational Development at Shahi Exports, India’s largest apparel manufacturer. Our work is spread across labour-intensive industries (e.g., garment, electronics, and automobile manufacturing, retail, and food service) in the global south and we maintain offices in India, the US, and Latin America.

We have over 100 global full-time staff across offices worldwide, 17 completed and 16+ ongoing projects across gender, skilling, workplace environment, and health issues, and over 200,000 workers directly impacted.

Length of Commitment: 8 - 10 Months

Location: Chennai

Remuneration: 5 - 7 LPA

Start Date: Immediate

Role Summary:

The Field Consultant will work closely with academic researchers, the research team, the data team, and other field team members to help implement various projects and vertical-specific goals. They will also ensure high data collection standards and will be responsible for managing and building robust and ethical data collection practices for smooth implementation. They will also focus on hiring and managing the new team members in the vertical.

Qualification & Experience:

(The areas of knowledge and expertise that matter most for this role)

• Bachelor's/Master’s in Economics, Social Work, or any related field, Minimum 2+ years of relevant work experience
• Ability to work in a team, manage multiple projects on the ground, review and prioritize work independently, and be self-motivated.
• Ability to complete assigned tasks and meet deadlines while maintaining high-quality work.
• Ability to work standard work hours and should be open for traveling (in and around Chennai and Tamil Nadu (Hosur))
• Be detail-oriented, have strong organization and self-management, and have good oral and written communication skills.
• Basic knowledge of survey data collection tools like SurveyCTO is preferred.
• Ability to be resourceful and creative in problem-solving
• Basic to pro-level experience in Microsoft Word and MS Excel.
• Ability to read, write and converse in Tamil and English (A candidate that can also speak in Kannada would have an advantage)

Roles & Responsibilities:

(Areas that will play to your strength and all the responsibilities we will trust you with)

• Conducting and coordinating field surveys with the stakeholders and making regular field visits (can be to both urban and rural areas) to ensure that the survey is being conducted smoothly, followed by good data collection practices.

• Coordinating with the stakeholders, managing field issues, making field visits to explain the research design, and aligning the workflow within their premises.

• Planning and managing data collection and ensuring good data quality and surveyor productivity throughout the project by following GBL data collection standards.

• Plan and manage data collection through various methods like In-depth interviews, FGDs, Vignettes, etc., for both qualitative and quantitative data collection.

• Ensuring project documentation is complete and well-maintained, including designing, maintaining, and tracking field reports/project logs in Google documents and spreadsheets, along with drafting and developing materials, manuals, guidelines, and field protocols as per project requirements.

• Planning and overseeing day-to-day work for the surveyors and field consultants/analysts, getting appointments, leading training along with analysts, speaking to partners to get prior permission to use their premises, making arrangements for travel and other logistics, providing feedback, follow-ups to the research and field team, ensuring good data quality, following protocols, securing and procuring required equipment and materials, and ensuring that survey equipment is functional. The role will require an end-to-end project management.

• Monitoring the surveys and debriefing the surveyors based on the observations obtained regularly.

• Coordinating with the finance and the people ops vertical on various vendor and procurement management tasks.

• Hire, onboard, and train Field Analysts.

• Managing and monitoring FA weekly workloads and their growth in the organisation.

• Maintaining relations with stakeholders and performing additional duties as and when needed

What should you be comfortable with?

• A dynamic environment with competing priorities.

• Working in a team with shared responsibilities.

• Independently coordinating with coworkers to accomplish goals.

• Being resourceful in new environments and scenarios.

• Problem-solving in high-pressure environments.

• Adapting your approach, being focused on the problem and not being stuck to one idea or way of solving a problem.

How to apply?

Please make sure to include in your cover letter: a concise explanation of why you want to be part of the GBL Team, how your skills can support us in this role, and how this position can support you in achieving your career goals.

Recent projects and blog posts:

To acclimatize yourself with some of our work, you can read our blog posts on Medium, and also go through our LinkedIn, Twitter, and Instagram.

The process:

We are glad you’re interested in applying for this role! Here is an excerpt of the screening process overview which can take up to 6-8 weeks (from the date of the application deadline).

1. CV screening

2. Take home assignment

3. First round interview

4. Second round interview

Our commitment to diversity:

GBL is an equal-opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, national origin, religion, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, age, physical disability, or length of time spent unemployed. We celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees. We offer traditional monetary workplace benefits such as insurance and travel allowance. We are a young and growing company making us the ideal ground for team members to experiment, take on dynamic roles, and grow with us. We focus on happiness, output, and quality of work. If you have a disability or special need that requires accommodation, please let us know during the recruiting process.

Note: By clicking on the 'apply for this job' button, you confirm that you understand and accept GBL’s Privacy Policy. You also understand that GBL has zero-tolerance against sexual harassment/ exploitation /abuse/misconduct ("SEA"). You confirm and declare that you have never been convicted by any court of law and/or you have never been subjected to any sanctions or inquiry or proceedings (be it disciplinary, administrative, civil, or criminal) arising from an investigation in relation to sexual harassment/abuse/misconduct or left employment pending investigation and refused to cooperate in such an investigation.