Senior Research Associate – Field & Product Insights

About Creador Foundation and Multiply

Creador Foundation is a registered foundation with a presence in Malaysia and India. In India, we run Multiply, a digital financial education programme for women from low-income households. Our videos and social channels have built an audience of more than 1.4 million followers.

About the role

We are building Maitree, an AI-enabled assistant on WhatsApp for women who run small businesses. Maitree allows women to speak or type in their own language and access practical support on business records, costs, pricing, profit and other day-to-day business decisions.

The Senior Research Associate will support field research and learning for Maitree, combining mixed-method research, partner training, field coordination, data quality, analysis and synthesis. Findings will strengthen our understanding of users and inform product and programme decisions. You will report to the Learning & Insights Manager and work closely with the Product Manager, partner organisations and the wider Multiply team.

Key responsibilities

1. Research design and field implementation

• Support the design of qualitative and quantitative research, including research questions, tools, field protocols and analysis plans.
• Conduct and support interviews, focus group discussions, surveys, field observations and structured product-testing exercises with women entrepreneurs.
• Observe how women engage with Maitree and systematically document user behaviours, questions, barriers and contextual factors.

2. Partner training and field coordination

• Run Training-of-Trainers and research briefings for partner teams involved in mobilisation, onboarding, testing and data collection.
• Coordinate field activities with partner teams, including timelines, participant requirements, logistics and follow-up.
• Support the Learning & Insights Manager with decks, research materials and documentation for partner engagements.

3. Data quality and research management

• Supervise qualitative and quantitative data collection and conduct regular quality checks while fieldwork is underway.
• Maintain datasets, transcripts, field notes, audio and supporting documentation in a structured central repository, with findings traceable to their source.

4. Analysis and synthesis

• Analyse survey and usage data alongside interviews, focus groups and field observations using appropriate qualitative and quantitative methods.
• Identify recurring patterns across research and testing cycles, distinguish them from one-off observations, and communicate clearly what the evidence does and does not support.
• Prepare concise insight notes, research briefs, partner reports and internal updates, and contribute to longer-form research outputs where relevant.

5. Product and programme learning

• Synthesize field findings for the Product and Learning teams, including where users face difficulties, what context is missing and which needs are not being met.
• Support follow-up research and field tests to examine product changes, new features or programme approaches, and share relevant evidence with other Multiply teams.

Requirements

3–5 years of relevant experience in social-impact research, evaluation, development consulting, programme learning or a related field.

• Strong mixed-method research skills, with experience analysing quantitative data as well as interviews, focus groups and field observations.
• Experience conducting or supervising field research, including training field teams or partner staff and maintaining data-quality standards.
• Strong analytical and structured problem-solving skills, with the ability to move from a research question to evidence, interpretation and a clear conclusion.
• Strong Excel skills and working knowledge of at least one quantitative analysis tool such as Stata, R or Python.
• Clear written and verbal communication skills, including experience preparing research notes, presentations or partner reports.
• Ability to work independently under the supervision of a manager, manage multiple workstreams and adapt quickly as priorities evolve.
• Strong written and spoken English and Hindi. Marathi is an advantage. Willingness to travel to field and partner locations as required.
• A Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in economics, public policy, development studies, social sciences, statistics or a related discipline.

Preferred experience

• Experience in women’s livelihoods, financial inclusion, entrepreneurship, small businesses or programmes serving low-income communities.
• Exposure to digital products, technology-enabled programmes or research involving user behaviour is an advantage. Prior product or AI experience is not required.