Senior Associate, Program Data Analytics - WCA at Evidence Action

Job Purpose

• The Senior Associate, Program Data Analytics (PDA) analyzes cleaned program data - handed off by the Program Data Management (PDM) team - to generate insights, visualizations, and reports that inform program decisions across West and Central Africa (WCA).
• The Senior Associate collaborates closely with program teams and other MLE units to understand analytical needs and to translate lessons learned from data into decision-ready outputs.
• This position will be an integral part of the Data Analytics and Learning team that operates within Evidence Action's broader Monitoring, Learning, and Evaluation (MLE) team for the WCA Sub-Region. In this role, the Senior Associate will report to the Associate Manager, Program Data Analytics, and will supervise the Associate, Program Data Analytics.

Primary Responsibilities

• Under the supervision of the Associate Manager, Program Data Analytics, take the lead in running statistical analysis and generating reports, visualizations, and publications from cleaned program data
• Ensure adequate information flow within and between program teams and MLE divisions on analytical findings
• Review and experiment with innovative visualization techniques to showcase MLE analytical work effectively
• Design content for in-house mentorship and training sessions for MLE field teams and facilitate these sessions
• Participate actively in organizing in-house MLE meetings and represent the Program Data Analytics department and MLE in internal and external engagements when necessary.

Duties and Responsibilities
Data Analysis:

• Run descriptive and inferential statistical analysis (e.g. summary statistics, cross-tabulations, regression analysis) on cleaned program data using Stata, R, or Python
• Full understanding of program needs for analysis and translating that back to the MLE team, including developing tools that enable clear and effective analytical requests
• Identifying, prioritizing, and communicating program team analytical requests to the MLE team
• Flag data anomalies or emerging trends identified during analysis to the Associate Manager
• Ensure effective information flow and communication of lessons learned from MLE to programs
• Writing and editing reports and presentations with a keen eye for how analytical findings should be phrased based on the viewpoint of the target audiences (i.e. data visualization software, infographics, etc.)
• Collecting and organizing/curating information from various sources (i.e. existing program (primary) research, external (secondary) research, new analyses, management information systems, etc.) to help programs in making decisions
• Participating in the development of informative and eye-catching infographics that aid in guiding data-driven decision making
• Maintaining oversight of MLE dashboards by communicating with dashboard developers to guarantee the best aesthetics and the most up-to-date data are reflected
• Empowering the MLE field team officers to make quality presentations during bi-monthly meetings with programs
• Extracting learnings from analysis and research products that enable program teams to make evidence-based decisions
• Routinely attending meetings within MLE and across various programs as required.

Team Management:

• Managing productivity, professional development, and skill building for at least one Associate, Program Data Analytics
• Contributing to the accomplishment of the program data analytics work plan.

Key Performance Indicators

• Short turnaround time between cleaned data hand-off, analysis output generation, and report development and dissemination
• Analytical rigor: documented, reproducible analysis with minimal errors identified in review
• Introduction of innovative ways, including visualization techniques, to the portfolio of the program data analytics team
• Fluency in articulation of findings both orally and in written form through reports or visuals
• Routine attendance at meetings within MLE and across various programs as required.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's Degree in a Data-oriented discipline (i.e. Statistics, Data Science, Economics, or related fields).
• A postgraduate degree will be an added advantage
• A minimum of 3 years' work experience running quantitative data analysis and generating high quality, clear, thought leadership reports
• Strong working knowledge of statistical software packages such as Stata, R, or Python, with demonstrated experience running descriptive and inferential statistical analysis
• Experience transforming cleaned data into insights and reports, working with large amounts of data/information and seeing the 'bigger picture'
• Proven work experience with data visualization tools such as Power BI or Tableau for interactive dashboards and reporting
• Experience developing infographics using tools/software such as Piktochart, Canva, Snappa, Adobe Illustrator/Photoshop, etc
• Working knowledge of mapping software - either R/R Shiny, ArcGIS, or QGIS
• Personal characteristics: proactive; strong communication skills; creative/thinking out of the box; an eye for detail; and a love for data
• Fluency in English required; working proficiency in French desirable for engagement in Francophone WCA countries
• Demonstrated ability to leverage AI tools and technologies to enhance analytical workflows, automate routine processes, and improve overall productivity.