Director, Right-Fit Evidence Unit at Innovations for Poverty Action (IPA)

Innovations for Poverty Action (IPA) is a research and policy nonprofit that discovers and promotes effective solutions to global poverty problems. IPA brings together researchers and decision-makers to design, rigorously evaluate, and refine these solutions and their applications, ensuring that the evidence created is used to improve the lives of the world’s poor. In recent decades, trillions of dollars have been spent on programs designed to reduce global poverty, but clear evidence on which programs succeed is rare, and when evidence does exist, decision-makers often do not know about it. IPA exists to bring together leading researchers and these decision-makers to ensure that the evidence we create leads to tangible impact on the world. Since its founding in 2002, IPA has worked with over 600 leading academics to conduct over 830 evaluations in 52 countries. This research has informed hundreds of successful programs that now impact millions of individuals worldwide.
IPA’s Commitment to Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DEI)

We are recruiting to fill the position below:

Job Title: Director, Right-Fit Evidence Unit

Location: Nigeria
Job Type: Full time

Responsibilities
Lead the delivery of a portfolio of advisory engagements (60 - 70%):

• As the senior point of contact for a wide range of clients, including implementers, funders, and government agencies, you will have a strongly client-facing role with senior-level stakeholders. You will lead multiple project teams to develop tailor-made solutions for their evidence, learning and M&E needs, and support their implementation. As a Director, you will be leading, at any moment, several engagements (e.g., 6-8) that are often the largest and most complex in our portfolio. In doing so, you will have a very high level of or complete autonomy in their delivery. You will likely work across multiple sectors, including education, technology, agriculture, and livelihoods, among others. Depending on your sector expertise and/or interest, we will leverage our staffing flexibility to have you engage with opportunities that match your skills and interest to the extent possible. Specific responsibilities may include:
• Overseeing various types of external evidence-, learning-, and M&E-related workshops, such as theory of change and learning plan development, and of other written advisory deliverables;
• Providing technical assistance to implement learning plans, MEL systems, and to support internal evidence use capability strengthening;
• Leading implementer communities of practice, in collaboration with funders;
• Providing support to a wide array of funders, from high net worth individuals to major global foundations and bilateral aid agencies, on issues such as internal learning systems, initiative design, grantmaking processes, and grant implementation;
• Occasionally leading the design, analysis and write up of various kinds of evaluations and other studies; and
• Advising and supporting IPA policy and country office teams worldwide on their own technical assistance engagements, often with government partners.
• Line manage multiple Senior Managers and Managers working on various engagements, and support their professional development

Provide leadership for new business development and external relationship management (20 - 25%):

• As a leader in RFE, you will have the opportunity to create an exciting lineup of new engagements, providing valuable services to our clients and expanding our impact on MEL practices in development and humanitarian sectors. You will:
• Identify new potential partners and business opportunities and lead the development of a portfolio of new potential engagements, both self-initiated and assigned, at times in collaboration with other IPA teams;
• Interface with active and potential funders, possibly serving as organizational relationship steward, and externally representing RFE, and more broadly IPA, in conferences and other events; and
• Provide significant contributions to RFE thought leadership and global influence through production and dissemination of public goods

Contribute to RFE’s leadership and development (10 - 15%):

• As a member of RFE’s global leadership team, you will be part of driving the growth and development of a dynamic, diverse team of approximately 30 staff based in over ten countries around the world.

You will:

• As a senior member of RFE’s global leadership team, take an active role in the innovation and implementation of various products and services;
• Develop and strengthen internal management systems;
• Provide expertise and mentorship to team in one or more specific areas (e.g., sector, methodology, MEL for systems change, etc.)
• Lead multiple streams of RFE’s annual strategic plan (with specific assignments based on skills and interest);
• Provide leadership to encourage a positive work environment rooted in IPA values, with an emphasis on diversity, equity, and inclusion, as well as well-being and sustainability; and
• Occasionally assume Senior Director responsibilities during absences

Qualifications
Required:

• Master's Degree in International Public Policy, (Development) Economics, or related fields, with coursework in quantitative methods. PhDs and MBAs also welcome
• There are several different profiles that could fit this position well. Here are some examples, but these are not exhaustive so if you do not have these backgrounds but feel like you meet the qualifications below, you are encouraged to apply.
• Consulting professionals with some international development experience who would be excited to apply their skills in an entrepreneurial and impact-focused environment
• Evaluators and M&E practitioners who are passionate about using data for learning and action, and are interested in using their expertise for client-focused advisory services
• International development research management professionals who enjoy working closely with funders and practitioners and who would like to expand their experience and skills to all types of data and evidence that can inform decision-making.
• Minimum of 10 years of relevant work experience, including significant experience working with senior-level professionals across multiple sectors (e.g., funders, government, academia)
• Significant exposure to the design and management of evidence, learning, monitoring, and evaluation strategies and systems
• Superior analytical, quantitative, and conceptual thinking skills
• Significant project and people management experience, and demonstration of associated skill sets
• Demonstrated ability to coach and train others on technical matters
• Strong stakeholder management and client-facing communication skills with ability to present information in a structured and insightful way, both verbally and in writing
• Substantive relevant work experience in low- and middle-income countries
• Familiarity with global debates around M&E and the use of evidence for decision-making
• Entrepreneurial self-starter mindset, adaptability, highly adaptable, and versatile with strong multi-tasking skills
• Ability to travel up to 20% your time
• Passion for making data-driven decision-making a reality in the development sector.

Preferred:

• Prior experience in consultancy or provision of similar professional services
• Expertise in multiple sectors of international development and/or humanitarian work
• Developed networks in the international development and/or humanitarian sectors
• Experience working in philanthropy and/or with government stakeholders
• Experience producing, publishing and/or disseminating public goods for policy influence and advocacy
• Appreciation for the strengths and limitations of various data collection and evaluation methods and ability to match the appropriate method(s) to a variety of circumstances
• Expertise in specific areas of monitoring, evaluation, and learning (e.g., complexity-aware monitoring, systems-level MEL, and participatory MEL)
• Familiarity with M&E technology and exposure to Survey CTO, ODK, or similar data collection software
• Experience with qualitative data collection and analysis
• Experience leading project or program evaluations
• Familiarity with randomized controlled trials (RCTs)
• Working knowledge of French and/or Spanish
• Lived experience in low- and middle-income countries.

Application Closing Date
26th April, 2024.

How to Apply
Interested and qualified candidates should:
Click here to apply online