Research Associate

Department: Science

Location: Gurugram

Employment Type: Full-time

Role Overview:

The Research Associate will support soil measurement, reporting and verification activities across carbon and regenerative-agriculture projects. The role will focus on soil-sample management, laboratory coordination, digital traceability, data-quality assurance and scientific documentation.

The selected candidate will collaborate with Science, Field Operations, Technology and external laboratory teams to ensure that samples and associated data remain accurate, complete and traceable throughout the measurement workflow.

Key Responsibilities:

• Coordinate the complete soil-sample workflow, from field registration and dispatch to laboratory analysis and result submission.
• Maintain accurate records of sample identifiers, sampling batches, dispatches, laboratory registrations and analytical results.
• Coordinate with field teams and external laboratories regarding sample receipt, analytical progress, reruns, discrepancies and pending results.
• Reconcile field records, laboratory datasets and information recorded in digital traceability platforms.
• Conduct preliminary quality-control checks for missing data, duplicate records, inconsistent identifiers, incorrect units and anomalous values.
• Maintain project trackers, monitoring dashboards, issue logs, standard operating procedures and supporting documentation.
• Support the testing, validation and implementation of digital sample-registration and traceability systems.
• Assist with soil sampling, greenhouse-gas monitoring, sensor installation, laboratory visits and other field activities, as required.

Qualifications:

• Master’s degree in Soil Science, Agronomy, Environmental Science, Agricultural Chemistry or a closely related inter discipline.
• Minimum of one year of relevant experience in carbon markets, soil-carbon projects, environmental monitoring or agricultural research.
• Working proficiency in data analysis, scientific documentation and spreadsheet-based data management.
• Basic proficiency in Python, including the ability to use AI-assisted coding tools for data processing and workflow automation.
• Fundamental understanding of soil-sampling procedures, laboratory analysis and scientific data management.
• Strong organisational, documentation and stakeholder-coordination skills.
• Ability to take ownership of assigned tasks and follow them through to completion.
• Demonstrated attention to detail and ability to manage multiple records and workflows accurately.
• Willingness to travel to field locations and partner laboratories.

Preferred Competencies:

• Previous experience in soil laboratories, agricultural research, carbon projects or environmental-monitoring programmes.
• Familiarity with soil organic carbon, bulk density, greenhouse-gas sampling or related soil measurements.
• Exposure to GIS, R, Python, Power BI or other data-analysis and visualisation tools.
• Experience with QR-code-based sample management, mobile data-collection systems or digital traceability platforms.
• Ability to work effectively across scientific, operational and technology teams.