Evidence and Insights Manager at Girl Effect

Context of the Role

• The Evidence & Insights team within Girl Effect is a critical team. The team conducts formative research, monitoring & evaluation to support the organisation in designing and developing our work to create the greatest impact for girls. We also work closely with the programmes and social behaviour change (SBC) teams to measure and evaluate our work against our specific objectives and demonstrate our impact to existing and potential donors as well as other stakeholders such as governments and community partners. The team plays a key role in ensuring we are a learning organisation, collecting and using data and insights to understand how we can maximize our reach & impact, and feeding that learning back into the organisation. As Girl Effect continues its implementation in Nigeria, across HPV vaccination, Nutrition, Sexual reproductive health and Economic empowerment, we have an exciting and varied portfolio of research, monitoring and evaluation planned in Nigeria. So, we are looking for an experienced monitoring, evidence, research and learning manager to join our team and to manage the delivery of this range of work in Nigeria.

What you will do

• Lead the design, implementation and synthesis of high-quality research, evaluations, learning agendas to generate actionable insights that inform strategic decisions, program improvement and policy influence.
• Working with the local and global team, implement the market research and knowledge building strategy that effectively informs, monitors, and evaluates the design and delivery of the Nigeria program portfolio.
• With support from the Evidence and Insights team, lead research projects across Girl Effect Nigeria product portfolio, including tool design, data collection, data management and analysis, and report writing.
• Drive data-informed storytelling and Impact Measurement that informs strategic decisions, program improvements, and policy influence.
• Develop and maintain program dashboards and scorecards to visualize performance and progress.
• Build a culture of learning and adaptive management to ensure programs remain adaptive, responsive and evidence-driven.
• Work closely with programmes, SBCC and create managers and communications teams throughout the research process to ensure MERL meets their needs and that findings are shared in engaging and impactful ways.
• Collaborate with SBCC/Create and Programs to translate insights into user-friendly knowledge products e.g. briefs, infographics, blogs etc.
• Facilitate quarterly pause and reflect sessions with program teams to discuss findings, course correct and inform future strategies.
• Develop and maintain evidence and learning agenda aligned with strategic priorities and donor expectations.
• Manage the research budget and prioritize resources to maximize the value of research and evidence generation activities.
• Support the commissioning of research projects and manage research agencies to conduct research activities; write requests for proposals and Terms of Reference for studies, review research tools, advise on sampling strategies and methodologies, and review analysis and reporting.
• Support with quality assurance during fieldwork, with regular supportive supervisory visits and ensure data quality and consistency across sources used in external presentations and reports.
• Provide technical expertise to research, monitoring, and evaluation projects, working alongside our global MERL team as required. You will advise on fit-for-purpose designs, suggesting qualitative and/or quantitative methodologies or other approaches (e.g. using digital methods or secondary data sources) as appropriate.
• Ensure that Girl Effect's ethical and safeguarding standards are upheld, and that field implementation is conducted to the highest standards, through training and oversight of field research partners.
• Ensure that research outputs are accessible, readily understandable, and useful, ensuring they are utilized as much as possible.
• Develop research partnerships with local and international research organisations to maximize opportunities for cost-sharing and joint learning.

This list should not be considered exhaustive; the post holder will be expected to deliver other duties relevant and appropriate to this position.

Organization Accountabilities

• Model Girl Effect's values and professional standards.
• Drive the delivery of organisational and team goals.
• Seek opportunities for continuous improvement within your own areas of responsibility.
• Maintain awareness of and comply with all relevant policies and regulations.

Who You Are (Skills & Experience required)

• Substantial experience of progressive responsibility in public health, social sciences, statistics, applied research and/or monitoring and evaluation in Nigeria or a postgraduate degree in a relevant field together with a few years of progressive work experience focused on gender-transformative programming, preferably global health or development sector.
• Passionate about working with adolescent girls and young women and truly supporting them thrive in challenging environments.
• Demonstrated experience in implementation of high quality qualitative and quantitative research design, fieldwork, data analysis and reporting.
• Experience of commissioning and managing research agencies throughout projects ensuring deliverables are completed on time and meeting the organisational needs.
• Strong qualitative and quantitative data analysis skills; proficient with digital adaptations.
• Demonstrated experience in uncovering new insights and translating these into exciting, engaging reports and research outputs.
• Experience in strategic planning and knowledge management.
• Strong communication skills; able to work effectively across functions and countries.
• Excellent organisation and project management skills; able to develop and drive research processes and timelines.
• Strong cultural awareness and sensitivity about the cultures within which Girl Effect operates.
• Creative and inquisitive mindset with strong communication and organisational skills.
• Commitment to realizing the potential of girls and to the vision and values of Girl Effect.
• Fluent in English, with a high level in writing as well as speaking. Proficiency in another Nigerian language is a plus.

Desirable

• Expertise working with girls on sensitive issues in Nigeria.
• Experience with participatory engagement approaches.
• Technical/theoretical knowledge in one or more of Girl Effect's thematic areas (e.g. gender, sexual and reproductive health, mental health, or economic empowerment)
• Background in evaluating programmes that relate to women and girls.
• Hands-on experience of applied research in emerging markets or developing contexts.
• Experience in training and mentoring others in research methods, data analysis and reporting.