Fresh Jobs at Innovations for Poverty Action (IPA)

• You will work closely with senior country office management as well as the Global Research and Data Science and Right-Fit Evidence units to oversee a portfolio of projects on gender gaps in digital connectivity. You will play a crucial role in IPA's OneIPA approach to project engagement through Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning (MEL), partnership development, coordination with a scientific advisory group, and management of novel impact evaluations to measure the effect of digital connectivity interventions. Your work will span both evaluation, data science, and implementation components and will likely span a range of topical areas that relate to digital connectivity, such as health, education, social protection, agriculture, and others. You will work closely with the country office and the scientific advisory group to IPA's Digital Connectivity and Gender project to ensure effective support is being given to partnership engagement, donor reporting, and research management.

Responsibilities
50% Research Leadership, Team Management, and Technical Oversight

• Coordinate directly with the Scientific Advisory Group for the Gender and Digital-Connectivity project to ensure timely and accurate discussions about project milestones, deliverables, and research development are met.
• Lead 2-3 research studies focusing on digital connectivity and gender gaps
• Oversee research design, sampling strategies, and data management protocols
• Provide technical leadership in quantitative and qualitative research methods

30% Partnership Development and Stakeholder Management
 

• Build and maintain relationships across West Africa with potential and active partner organizations in the Gender and Digital Connectivity project
• Coordinate with and contribute to the Right-Fit Evidence unit digital connectivity engagement strategies
• Guide partners in developing and strengthening Theories of Change (ToCs)
• Supervise research staff and manage project finances
• Ensure timely delivery of high-quality deliverables
• Monitor project budgets and donor compliance
• Manage project workplans and documentation
• Support staff transitions and maintain institutional knowledge
• Support partners in developing monitoring and evaluation frameworks
• Guide partners in data collection and analysis methods

20% IPA-Nigeria CO Management and Support

• Keep the Nigeria Country Director apprised of all developments on the projects in their portfolio, and serve as key link between the field office, project staff, and Principal Investigators
• Contribute to country office initiatives and policy development
• Promote best practices across projects
• Drive adoption of research results through various channels
• Identify opportunities for systematic improvements
• Support organizational learning and knowledge sharing

Qualifications
Required

• A Bachelor’s or Master's degree (Master’s preferred) in economics, statistics, public policy, international development, social science, or related fields.
• At least 3 years of project management experience, with a focus on research management
• At least 3 years of experience conducting social science or economic field research
• Experience supervising data collection, teams of field workers, and survey design and implementation
• Understanding of West African digital ecosystem
• Experience with ICTD and digital inclusion initiatives in West Africa
• Strong written and oral communication skills and complete fluency in English
• Cultural sensitivity and demonstrated ability to work successfully with diverse constituencies

Preferred

• Expertise in international development and/or humanitarian work
• Appreciation for the strengths and limitations of various data collection and evaluation methods and the ability to match the appropriate method(s) to a variety of circumstances
• Familiarity with randomised controlled trials (RCTs) and M&E frameworks
• Proficiency in data analysis tools (Stata, R, Python, Excel)
• Experience with data collection platforms (SurveyCTO or ODK)
• Strong understanding of research methodologies
• Strong budgeting and financial management skills
• Expertise in business development
• Experience with policy engagement and advocacy

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Position Summary

• The (Senior) Policy Manager will support the execution of IPA Nigeria’s evidence-based policy and practice impact and influence strategy, on women’s economic empowerment (WEE) and gender-related topics of priority. He/she will work closely with the global policy team, country office management, and research and policy staff in Nigeria to identify, cultivate, and support strategic policy and practice opportunities that show promise in improving outcomes for women and girls in Nigeria. 
• The strategic goals of the (Senior) Policy Manager will be to work with colleagues to equip partners to use evidence on WEE and gender in policy making and program design; pursue scale-up opportunities of promising programs in the sector; develop embedded evidence labs with government partners in the sector; build strategic partner relationships; and host/manage policy events. The (Senior) Policy Manager will write policy communications materials to inform policy making and program design in the WEE and gender space and will also work closely with the policy team to support the development of funding opportunities to resource strategic policy projects and initiatives across IPA.

Responsibilities

30%

• Build expertise on global and local evidence in the WEE and gender space, and cultivate relationships with key local stakeholders in those spheres
• Work together with the global policy and communications team to lead and/or participate in strategic events in the WEE/gender space for policy purposes, including but not limited to summits, conferences, workshops, technical working groups, and round tables. Support gender-focused researchers and country management to participate in these events.
• Lead policy and stakeholder engagements with WEE and gender sector partners, including building relationships required to engage decision-makers around larger-scale evaluations of promising programs
• In collaboration with researchers and Nigeria's management team, represent IPA locally in policy conversations and at events.
• Support research management staff in executing the “Policy Impact Minimum Must Dos” and in identifying and stewarding high potential partner relationships in the sector, particularly with senior levels within government or large organizations.

40%

• Lead IPA Nigeria in continuously identifying and prioritizing high impact policy opportunities on WEE and other gender topics for evidence to be used
• Manage IPA Nigeria’s relationship with key gender-sector policy partners
• Cultivate relationships with local decision-makers in the WEE and broader gender sector, particularly those with decision-making authority over evidence-to-impact opportunities.
• Launch high impact policy opportunities, including scale-up technical assistance, and either manage small-scale engagements personally with global support, or collaborate with global teams to raise funds to realize these opportunities.

30% 

• Support the Country Director in IPA Nigeria’s business development process.
• Proactively identify business development opportunities and cultivate relationships that lead to developing projects with key WEE and gender sector decision-makers
• Map influential NGO, PIs, and government stakeholders in all the gender sector for the Nigeria office
• Facilitate and participate in proposal development meetings with partners, Principal Investigators, Country Office staff, and the Regional Director.
• Write, edit, and format sections of grant proposals and adapt past proposals to apply to new donors.
• Expand and improve IPA Nigeria’s proposal development resources, information management, and stock language. 
• Together with the Country Director, act as lead steward to key partner relationships and support key research partner conversations in the sector

Qualifications

Required

• Master’s degree in economics, development, international relations, public administration, gender, public policy or a closely related field is strongly preferred. Will accept additional experience in place of master’s. 
• 5+ years of relevant experience analyzing and communicating complex research results to various audiences, including at least 1 year of experience working closely with large NGOs or governments, preferably in the gender space and in a developing country context. 
• Knowledge of and demonstrated experience in the use of rigorous evidence for international development policy required. 
• Exceptional ability to understand academic research studies and analyze bodies of research
• Expertise in leading teams to draw policy lessons from these and communicating them to various audiences 
• Excellent written and oral communication skills, including clear, precise, non-technical written and presentation skills; requires a strong written “voice” and ability to write in various voices as needed as well as effective spoken communication and presentation style
• Experience with business development or fundraising
• Proven ability to multitask and successfully complete projects on tight deadlines with little supervision
• Willingness to work hard, be self-motivated, learn, be a team-player, and adapt quickly will be essential for doing well in this position.
• Experience supervising staff teams and managing multi-country projects 
• Strong ability to manage up and across.