South Asia Researcher - REMOTE

About ACLED

The Armed Conflict Location & Event Data organization (ACLED) is a disaggregated data collection, analysis, and crisis mapping institution. The ACLED team collects conflict information, conducts analysis to describe, explore, and test conflict scenarios, and makes both data and analysis openly accessible. ACLED's work informs journalism, academic research, and public discourse on conflict, and supports practitioners and policymakers worldwide. ACLED is the highest-quality and most widely used real-time data and analysis source on political violence and protest globally.

The consultancy opportunity

ACLED is looking for a South Asia Researcher to assist in the collection, review and management of political violence and protest data across the South Asia region, including but not limited to Bangladesh, Pakistan, India, and Afghanistan.

Researchers must be available for around 15 to 20 hours per week. This opportunity is fully remote and can be done from any location with reliable internet service. 

This is an entry-level, independent consultant opportunity, and may require submissions mid-week and on weekends.

This opportunity is open to nationals of any country. For more information, please review the Applicant FAQs.

Collection of data is conducted by reviewing news, international organization, NGO and security reports on a list of assigned countries, and recording the incidents of political violence into an Excel template. Researchers will focus on coding events to provide holistic coverage of current political violence, ranging from protests to battles.

Review and management of data involves ensuring the quality, consistency and reliability of the data produced. The researcher provides team members with experience conducting detail-oriented tasks, and producing and managing quantitative data.

Please note that this opportunity involves working with conflict-related media and reading about violent events.

Specific deliverables:

Candidates who are selected will undergo extensive ACLED training. The training consists of several exercises. Candidates' exercises will be scrutinized and only those who are delivering at the required level will be retained as Researchers.  

For those selected, the initial consultancy period will be from July 2026 to June 2027. After this, continuation may be possible, pending evaluation of quality of deliverables and availability of funding. 

Remuneration:

Remuneration is 20 USD per hour.

Skills and competencies:

ACLED is seeking applicants who have the following skills and experience:

• University degree in international relations, political science, conflict studies, peacebuilding, international development, or related field.
• Familiarity with Excel (essential).
• Fluency in English (essential).
• Fluency in Bengali (highly preferred).
• Fluency in at least one or more major South Asian languages, including Urdu, Pashto, Dari, and Hindi (preferred);
• Experience conducting desk-based research.
• Experience working to deadlines with limited supervision.
• A high level of attention to detail and ability to receive and incorporate feedback.
• Research focus or professional experience in conflict research or peace-building in South Asia region generally, or country-specific studies in Bangladesh, Pakistan, India and Afghanistan is a strong advantage.
• Familiarity with conflict dynamics and relevant actors in Bangladesh, Pakistan, India, and Afghanistan (essential), and in the larger South Asia region (preferred).
• Experience in media monitoring or related areas is advantageous.
• Access to a computer, a reliable internet connection, email, and the Microsoft Office Suite.

Applications:

To apply for this opportunity, please submit a CV and cover letter detailing qualifications, experience and language proficiency to our career portal. Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis. Interested candidates are advised to apply as soon as possible. We will only review applications received through our career portal, so please make sure to use the application form on the portal. Shortlisted candidates will be asked to complete a two-hour exercise as part of the evaluation of their coding aptitude. 

Please make sure to check your spam folder for correspondence.

Further information is available online at acleddata.com.