Job Opportunities at Innovations for Poverty Action (IPA)

Responsibilities 

Embedded Evidence Lab

• The Manager will perform a variety of tasks related to leveraging existing data and developing new research projects to drive greater use of evidence within the regulator. For example, the Manager may conduct activities including but not limited to:
• Mapping the data needs of specific departments within the regulator against the existing data available, complemented with an assessment of its quality
• Assessing existing datasets and indicators according to criteria of relevance, objectivity, and reliability
• Identifying opportunities to test low cost “pilots” of new approaches to data collection and analysis to generate actionable information and analysis
• Developing and executing opportunities to leverage administrative data for analysis to inform key programs and decisions
• Providing technical support through coaching, feedback on Monitoring Evaluation and Learning (MEL) tools, training and other on-site support
• Developing and executing “learning-by-doing” capacity building projects with the goal of strengthening quality and use of data among partners on this project and beyond
• Developing opportunities to leverage administrative data for research; connecting local and international researchers to pursue these openings
• Producing policy reports and briefs based on key insights generated from lab activities
• Developing a policy-driven research agenda for the lab and facilitating the development of research projects to respond to the agenda
• Coordinate the research project development process across all phases: Project design, partnership agreements, budgeting and procurement, implementation and dissemination
• Monitor project implementation to ensure quality control and adherence to the research specifications agreed upon, including supervision of research teams during data collection to ensure high quality and strict adherence to research design
• Support project relationships with local stakeholders, including government authorities, multilateral and bilateral partners, civil society organizations, and private sector firms to facilitate the successful implementation of the research projects
• Contribute to the delivery of high-quality policy and research outputs and activities. These include internal and external communications on the progress and outcomes of the research projects
• Ensure project deliverables, such as reports and financial statements, are submitted on time
• Facilitating events to disseminate lessons learned from implementation of lab activities

Qualifications 

We are seeing three different types of profiles that could fit this position particularly well (and if you don’t fall in any of these categories but feel like you meet the qualifications below, please do apply as well!)

• Management consultants with international development experience who would be excited in a career shift to an entrepreneurial and impact-focused environment leveraging their skillset
• M&E practitioners who are interested in broadening their scope and impact on the field by advising multiple organizations on state-of-the-art M&E practices
• Researchers and research management professionals in international development who enjoy working closely with practitioners and are interested in broadening their scope to all the types of data and evidence that can inform policy and practice.

Required qualifications

• Master’s degree in a related field such as international development, economics, public policy, public health, education policy or social sciences, including significant coursework i in quantitative methods. MBAs also welcome.
• 4-8 years of experience in the development or humanitarian sectors, with experience in monitoring and evaluation
• Experience in the development of MEL plans and tools, including sampling and questionnaire design
• Experience supervising quantitative and qualitative data collection
• Strong client facing and presentation skills, and ability to build relationships of trust with stakeholders at various levels
• Ability to present information in a structured and insightful way, both in writing and orally, to a variety of audiences
• Self-starter, entrepreneurial mindset, versatility and willingness to learn.
• Strong time management and multi-tasking skills • Experience working in developing countries, and preferably in Africa.
• Complete fluency in English

Preferred additional qualifications

• Experience working on research or MEL on programs relating to Human Trafficking, Forced Labor and/or Irregular Migration
• Experience working with government stakeholders
• Experience in management consulting or other professional services
• Familiarity with the concepts surrounding the Theory of Change and the core tools of MEL (both quantitative and qualitative research methods)
• Understanding of causal inference and RCTs
• Ability to use Stata, R or similar statistical software
• Familiarity with SurveyCTO, Open Data Kit or similar survey software
• Demonstrated ability to coach and train others on MEL methodologies data analysis or statistics

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Responsibilities 

• Coordinate the research project development process across all phases: project design, partnership agreements, budgeting and procurement, implementation, and dissemination.
• Monitor project implementation to ensure quality control and adherence to the research specifications agreed upon.
• Draft reports, working papers, briefs, blogs, and other materials to disseminate the findings of research.
• Develop and pilot the survey instruments and manage the translation of the survey into local languages.
• Build and support project relationships with local stakeholders, including government authorities, multilateral and bilateral partners, and the private sector to successfully implement the research projects. Make decisions and take actions to ensure research partnerships progress on track, and those political dynamics are managed to ensure successful outcomes for the research collaborations.
• Ensure all data quality protocols are followed including auditing enumerators and performing daily checks of the incoming data; correct the errors of staff iteratively to ensure the data is of the highest quality.
• Sort, clean, analyze, and report on data and findings from the research projects. 
• Contribute to the delivery of high-quality policy and research outputs and activities. These include internal and external communications on the progress and outcomes of the research projects.
• Ensure project deliverables, such as reports and financial statements, are submitted on time.
• Take joint responsibility for project management, including drafting work plans, budget management, forecasting, and ensuring value for money.

Qualifications 

• 2+ years of relevant work experience in research, international development, and project management.
• Master’s degree in development economics, international public policy, or a related field.
• Experience supervising large data collection research projects, including leading survey design, implementation, and data management; background in randomized control trials.
• Experience working on both quantitative and qualitative data collection.
• Intermediate/Advanced knowledge of statistical packages such as STATA, R, Python.
• Demonstrated capacity to produce high-quality publications.
• Superior analytical, quantitative, and conceptual thinking skills.
• Ability to present information in a structured and insightful way, both in writing and orally.
• Self-starter, entrepreneurial mindset, versatility, and strong multi-tasking skills.
• Experience working on sensitive issues related to gender and social norms.
• Experience with data visualization.
• Significant applied econometrics skills.
• Passion for making data-driven decision-making a reality in the development sector.
• Ability to manage and coordinate diverse teams across stakeholders, including academic researchers, field staff, government and private sector partners.
• Experience working with diverse teams across multiple locations, including extensive remote locations of team members.
• Detail-oriented, flexible, self-motivating, able to manage multiple tasks efficiently and under pressure.