Field Research Assistant (Contractor) Sri Lanka
Organization: Lead-Acid Battery Recycling Initiative (LABRI)
Duration: 40 hours over 1 week (full working days)
Compensation: $150–$250 for the whole project (40 hours), adjusted based on experience level.
Expenses: Travel and meals covered by LABRI within pre-approved limits
Start Date: As soon as possible.
Application Deadline: Applications are reviewed on a rolling basis until the position is filled.
How to Apply: Please fill out this application form at your earliest convenience to receive priority consideration.
Note: The application and screening process is managed by Health Progress Hub on behalf of LABRI. Shortlisted candidates will be interviewed directly by LABRI.
Note on use of AI: We recognize that AI models are a useful tool in the workplace and we are happy for you to use such models to refine or improve your answers. However, your answers must still reflect your experience and be your own work. We will deduct marks from answers that essentially reproduce AI-generated text.
About LABRI
The Lead-Acid Battery Recycling Initiative (LABRI) is an organization working to reduce lead poisoning caused by unsafe recycling of used lead-acid batteries (ULABs). We partner with governments in low- and middle-income countries to design policies that ensure batteries are recycled safely in facilities with appropriate environmental and health protections.
We estimate that unsafe lead-acid battery recycling is responsible for around 350,000 deaths globally and more than USD 170 billion in productivity losses. A recent study by the Center for Global Development found that battery recycling could account for roughly a third of all lead exposure in low- and lower-middle-income countries, far more than previously estimated. We are working to put an end to this unseen but fully preventable environmental health crisis.
About the Project
This role is part of a multi-country assessment of ULAB recycling that LABRI is conducting across several countries in Asia. The study examines how used lead-acid batteries are collected, traded, and processed. Findings will inform how LABRI and its partners tackle unsafe battery recycling across the region
The Role
LABRI is seeking a short-term Field Research Assistant to support LABRI's scoping exercise in Sri Lanka. We are conducting exploratory research to understand how used lead-acid batteries are collected, traded, and processed in Sri Lanka. Your findings will inform LABRI's study and future work in Sri Lanka.
This is a field-based role. You will spend full days traveling to sites across major cities, talking to people, and piecing together how the battery trade works on the ground. LABRI will cover all travel and fieldwork expenses, within pre-approved limits.
The work suits someone who is comfortable walking into a scrap yard or repair shop and starting a conversation, asking the right follow-up questions, and noticing things that don't quite add up.
What You'll Do
Visit junk shops, battery repair shops, scrap dealers, auto-electrical shops, retailers, and other relevant sites to observe and document how ULABs move through the supply chain.
Talk to traders, shop owners, workers, and other actors to understand how batteries are collected, sold, dismantled, and processed.
Record your findings clearly using LABRI's templates and discuss with LABRI's Co-Executive Director, so the team can act on them without ambiguity.
Who We're Looking For
What matters most:
- You know how to talk to people across very different settings — a mechanic's workshop, a scrap yard, an NGO office — and get useful, honest information out of those conversations.
- You have good judgment about which information actually matters.
- You are reliable: you show up, you document carefully, and you flag when something doesn't make sense.
- You are fluent in Sinhala and/or Tamil, depending on the regions covered. Working-level English is needed for reporting; strong local language skills matter more for the fieldwork.
- You are based in or able to travel to major cities in Sri Lanka, including Colombo.
Valuable, but not essential:
Direct familiarity with informal markets, waste trading, or scrap dealing in Sri Lanka — whether through professional experience, research, or lived knowledge.
Experience in field research, community engagement, or investigative work that required building trust and gathering information in unstructured environments.
How to Apply
Shortlisted candidates will be invited to a brief interview.
For any questions about this opening, you can reach out to ceren@healthprogresshub.org