Associate Director: Right-Fit Evidence - Innovations for Poverty Action

IPA’s Right-Fit Evidence (RFE) Unit is seeking an Associate Director to develop and oversee the delivery of a portfolio of evidence and learning-related advisory services. Overseeing delivery of our services, you will inspire the effective use of evidence for learning for a diverse set of funders, implementing organisations, and government agencies that work across many sectors in development and humanitarian contexts around the world.

You will help organizations transform data into meaningful insights that drive development impact. You will lead teams in designing actionable learning strategies, developing research and testing methods, and building evidence-based decision-making processes that connect data to real-world outcomes.

You will also be a member of the RFE global leadership team and contribute to its strategic development. As an Associate Director, you will primarily report to the Senior Director of RFE, but will also work closely with the other 3-4 RFE Associate Directors and many members of the team across our various advisory engagements.

Responsibilities

Lead the delivery of a portfolio of advisory engagements (65-75%)

As a senior point of contact for a wide range of clients, including implementers, funders, and government agencies, you will lead multiple project teams to develop tailor-made solutions for their evidence, learning and M&E needs, and support their implementation. As an Associate Director, you will be leading, at any moment, several engagements, some of which may be large and complex, and you will have a 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 data insights, analytics, and 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.
• Providing performance management to multiple Managers, and possibly Advisors, working on various engagements, and supporting their professional development.

Contribute to new business development and external relationship management (15-20%)

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:

• Lead the development of a portfolio of new potential engagements, both self-initiated and assigned, often in collaboration with other IPA teams (e.g., sectors, policy, country offices);
• Interface with active or potential funders, occasionally 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 35 staff based in over ten countries around the world. You will:

• Take a proactive role in the innovation and implementation of various products and services;
• Lead at least one stream of RFE’s annual strategic plan (with specific assignments based on skills and interest)
• Strengthen internal management systems; and
• Encourage a positive work environment rooted in IPA values, well-being, and sustainability.
• You will provide expertise and mentorship to the team in one or more specific areas (e.g., sector, methodology, MEL for systems change, etc.)

Qualifications

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 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.
• Analytics professionals from tech companies, startups, or consulting firms who have experience leading teams in designing metrics frameworks, building dashboards, and deriving actionable insights from complex datasets

Required

• Minimum of 7 years of relevant work experience;
• Significant exposure to the design and management of evidence, learning, monitoring, and evaluation strategies and systems.
• Superior analytical, quantitative, structured problem solving, and conceptual thinking skills.
• Experience translating business questions into analytical frameworks and appropriate metrics.
• Strong stakeholder management and client-facing communication skills with ability to present information in a structured and insightful way, both verbally and in writing.
• Significant project and people management experience and demonstration of associated skill sets.
• Demonstrated ability to coach and train others on technical matters.
• 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, highly adaptable, and versatile, with strong multi-tasking skills.
• Ability to travel up to 20% of your time.
• Passion for making data-driven decision-making a reality in the development sector.
• Master’s degree in international public policy, (development) economics, or related fields, with coursework in quantitative methods. PhDs and MBAs are also welcome.

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 the ability to match the appropriate method(s) to a wide range of contexts and needs.
• Expertise in specific areas of monitoring, evaluation, and learning (e.g., data science, AI technologies, qualitative methodologies, etc.)
• Experience in the technology sector and/or with tech-first implementing organizations.
• Familiarity with M&E technology like data management tools (e.g. Salesforce, management information systems), data collection tools (e.g. SurveyCTO, ODK, Taroworks or similar data collection software), and data visualization and insights (e.g. PowerBI, Tableau, SQL).
• Experience with qualitative data collection and analysis.
• Experience leading project or program evaluations.
• Familiarity with randomised controlled trials (RCTs).

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