Umair Kiani Email & Phone Number

Islāmābād, Pakistan

As an Intervention Manager at Adam Smith International, my responsibilities spanned from project leadership to quality assurance and strategic planning. I am responsible to manage and oversee key reform interventions.Key contributions include:• Led and executed Revenue Mobilisation Interventions, placing a strong emphasis on quality assurance to ensure the production of accurate and timely project reports.• Conducted a comprehensive diagnostic study during the inception phase of projects. My research directly contributed to the development of a Revenue Mobilisation delivery plan, providing critical insights for project development.• Took responsibility for creating and maintaining both annual and quarterly reports for the program. My attention to detail and organizational skills ensured accuracy and consistency in all reporting.• Played a pivotal role in the successful completion of inception phase deliverables. My contributions were integral in the development of implementation work plans, directly impacting the efficiency and effectiveness of projects.• Drafted Terms of Reference (TORs) to streamline implementation activities. This strategic work enhanced project efficiency, demonstrating my ability to improve operational processes.

• Led Smart Containment with Active Learning (SCALE) program on "Understanding COVID-19 Prevalence in Pakistan." • Analyzed survey and administrative data, co-authored reports, and coordinated with health authorities. • Trained enumerators and managed data collection for COVID-19 random testing in high-density market areas.

As the lead on the Social Norms Project, I executed a Randomized Control Trial (RCT) across 180 rural communities spanning four districts and two provinces. The study focused on assessing the impact of edutainment interventions on child marriage and girls' education.Key responsibilities and achievements included:• Contributing to the design and execution of the Pre-Analysis Plan for endline survey data, laying the groundwork for comprehensive analysis.• Managing comprehensive data collection activities, including school attendance records and marital status across 177 villages, providing valuable insights for our research.• Conducting extensive data cleaning and analysis of midline data from 5400 respondents, ensuring the accuracy and reliability of our findings.• Liaising with key government organizations and implementing partners, including the Home Department, Punjab Social Protection Authority, Planning and Development Board, and Social Welfare Department, for seamless project implementation.• Implementing robust tracking and monitoring protocols throughout the intervention, midline, and endline activities, which contributed to attrition rates of less than 10% during each field activity. This demonstrated the effectiveness of our participant engagement strategies.

Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan

In my role, I was responsible for steering a multitude of responsibilities related to data collection, training, coordination with implementing partners, and data cleaning.Key contributions include:• Monitoring of data collection during intervention activities, ensuring the accuracy of monthly administrative data on school attendance and marriages across 180 study villages.• Conducted comprehensive training for a team of 30 enumerators, preparing them for efficient baseline and midline data collection.• Partnered with implementing organizations Bedari and Indus Resource Centre to guarantee the seamless execution of edutainment interventions in the field. This included the co-design of monitoring tools to optimize the quality of these activities.• Collaborated effectively with key government entities, including the Home Department, Punjab Social Protection Authority, Planning and Development Board, and Social Welfare Department. The objective was to ensure the necessary permissions for project survey activities were secured.• Managed extensive data cleaning activities for the midline survey data of approximately 5400 respondents. In addition, I led the drafting of robust survey instruments, enhancing our data collection efforts in the field.

In my role at the Centre for Economic Research in Pakistan, I was instrumental in a variety of areas related to data collection, management, and analysis, protocol development, and team coordination. My contributions were recognized with a promotion to Senior Research Associate within nine months due to my strong performance and positive impact on the organization.Key contributions include:• Conducted pilot studies and field visits to ensure the robustness and accuracy of data collection, demonstrating my commitment to high-quality research outcomes.• Developed and co-designed field protocols, survey instruments, and lab-in-the-field experiments, thereby optimizing the quality and scope of our data collection efforts.• Implemented stringent data management protocols, including data security measures to safeguard information during field work and post-survey periods.• Led training sessions for enumerators to collect baseline survey data, contributing to the team's professional development and the quality of our data.• Oversaw comprehensive data cleaning and analysis of baseline survey data, ensuring accurate and insightful research outcomes.• Prepared in-depth reports on baseline survey data by analyzing key variables, delivering critical insights to guide future research.• Applied the Mahalanobis distance matching technique to randomize sample villages into different treatment arms, improving the fairness and accuracy of our study.• Effectively coordinated with survey and implementing partners to conduct baseline survey activities, ensuring smooth execution and collaboration.• Drafted and presented a comprehensive report on the baseline survey and artefactual experiments to our donor, showcasing our findings and confirming their investment's value.

• Did research work on groundwater management in Pakistan by gathering data on groundwater, water table, rainfall recharge, groundwater salinity, and canal withdrawals

Lahore

• Managed an International Growth Centre funded project “Investigating the Environmental and Economic Benefits of Energy Efficient Brick Kilns”.• Collected primary data, performed cost-benefit analysis, acted as a liaison between the principal investigator and other stakeholders including brick kiln owners and Environment Protection Department, and wrote a report on the economic analysis

• Worked with a government institution, PSCA, on a research project titled “Smart Urbanism in Lahore; Developing Real-Time Optimal Solutions and Estimating Economic Cost of Congestion” in collaboration with LUMS.• Analyzed congestion data from PSCA using ArcGis and quantitatively estimated the congestion and its economic costs in selected areas of Lahore.

Lahore, Pakistan

In my role as a Research Associate at the Lahore University of Management Sciences, I successfully managed a diverse range of responsibilities, including qualitative survey execution, training of government officials, data handling, and the creation of comprehensive data sets.Key contributions include:• Conducted an in-depth qualitative survey across Lakki Marwat, Swabi, and Kohat districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK) Province, Pakistan. This was part of an IGC-funded RCT aimed at enhancing student learning outcomes in government schools through the introduction of school-specific and teacher-specific performance evaluations.• Delivered comprehensive training for school inspectors, who are government officials, preparing them for interventions in 240 public schools across KPK.• Managed data cleaning and handling for the project "Energy Rationing, Water Scarcity, and Impacts on Labor Force Composition: Evidence from Gujarat's 'DarkZones'," in collaboration with an Assistant Professor at LUMS.• Created an 8-year panel dataset utilizing the annual school data from KPK, known as EMIS. This accomplishment demonstrated my ability to organize and manage large quantities of data.• Digitized and produced panel datasets from cross-sectional data on malarial fever, vaccination, and plague dating back to the British Empire era. This work showcased my skills in handling historical data for contemporary analysis.• Estimated an approximate parcel count in shapefiles of non-tax areas of Lahore for the "Water and Sanitation Survey of Urban Punjab" project. This demonstrated my ability to apply technical skills to complex data management tasks.

• Marked students’ assignments, quizzes, and term projects. Held regular office hours to assist students in understanding course materials and address their issues on the term projects

Assisted in the development of an electronic database of the industrial and commercial activity of rural Punjab and provided logistical support to the project.

Master'S Degree, Economics

• Term paper on “Linkage between Poverty and Income Inequality in the Case of Pakistan” as part of course on Poverty and Income.

Mitx Micromasters Program In Data, Economics, And Development Policy

Course Passed: Data Analysis for Social Scientists, Political Economy and Economic Development, Microeconomics, Designing and Running.

Bachelor'S Degree, Economics And Finance