Sirot worked as a researcher at SMERU in 2008 before pursuing his Ph.D. in 2010. He returned to SMERU in 2019 and began working on, among others, the 2019 Update to the Strategic Review of Food and Nutrition Security in Indonesia and RISE Programme in Indonesia. In the latter, he undertakes a study on the local educational innovations in Indonesia.

Sirot’s research interests include social policy, political economy of development, poverty reduction, and religion. He has a vast experience of conducting fieldwork on the implementation of social policy and poverty reduction in Indonesia.

Before returning to SMERU, Sirot worked as a research assistant for the Office of Institutional Effectiveness of Northern Illinois University and a national consultant for the evaluation of the EU-UNDP Support to the Justice Reform (EU-UNDP SUSTAIN) in Indonesia. He is also a lecturer of politics and research methodology at the Graduate School of Syarif Hidayatullah State Islamic University Jakarta.