date: 31 Jul 2015
- Reports to:Senior Director, East
Africa - Location: Lilongwe, Malawi
- Application Deadline:Applicants will be
reviewed on a rolling basis - Start date:June 2015
Innovations
for Poverty Action (IPA) discovers and promotes effective solutions to global
poverty problems. IPA designs, rigorously evaluates, and refines these
solutions and their applications together with decision-makers to ensure that
the evidence created is used to improve opportunities for the world’s poor.
Since our founding in 2002, IPA has worked with over 350 leading academics to
conduct over 450 evaluations in 51 countries. This research has informed
hundreds of successful programs that now impact millions of individuals
worldwide.
Position
Summary:
IPA
seeks a Country Representative/Research Manager in Malawi to manage and lead
IPA’s Malawi country program. The CR/RM will work closely with the Global
Programs team and key stakeholders to initiate and manage the development of
new research projects and oversee ongoing impact evaluations in a range of
sectors, which may include finance and savings, agriculture, health, education,
and others. The CR/RM works closely with the country office to ensure effective
support is provided to projects, and that projects are working within the
relevant policies and procedures. She/he will actively grow IPA’s portfolio in
Malawi through strategic partnerships with researchers, donors, policymakers,
implementing organizations, and others to develop new projects. Successful
staff in the Research Manager position will have the opportunity to transition
to Country Representative.
Responsibilities:
Lead
Country Program development and manage external relations (20-40%)
- Build IPA’s presence and
portfolio of projects in Malawi - Work with IPA Global,
researchers and partners to initiate and manage the development of new
research proposals including both the technical design as well as
identifying and applying for funding support - Identify priority
research questions and key concerns for policy makers in Malawi - Build and manage
relationships with current and potential IPA partner organizations in the
implementation of interventions whose effect we are researching - Develop new
relationships with researchers, government agencies, local organizations,
and others to explore opportunities for collaboration - Represent IPA at
national and regional conferences and events - Liaise with US-based and
local Principal Investigators, IPA headquarters and other country programs - Disseminate results via
local and international presentations, reports, and publications - Lead IPA’s policy impact
efforts in Malawi, by ensuring that policy impact plans of Malawi are in
strategic alignment with IPA’s overall policy strategy of impact through
One Project at a Time, and ensuring all projects create and execute a One
Project at a Time policy impact strategy
Ensure
high-quality research (40-60%)
- Work closely with
project staff to ensure that projects meet all of IPA research and
administrative protocols as well as the quality standards of the
independent researchers (Principal Investigators) - Oversee project design
and budgeting during the proposal stage to ensure evaluations meet IPA
standards - Build systems and
structures to build staff capacity and ensure overall data quality, including
developing computer-assisted interviewing (CAI) capacity in the office - Directly supervise
project research staff, and help with transitions, on-boarding of new
research staff and maintaining institutional memory of project activities - Promote inter-project
best practices and take a lead in sharing best practices with projects
through formal and informal trainings
Oversee
finances and ensure sound operations of IPA Malawi (20%)
- Manage a team of
Research Associates/Coordinators, whose responsibilities include project
design and implementation, data collection, data management and analysis,
and reports - Hire and supervise
additional support staff, as needed - Oversee basic
administrative tasks related to the management of the Malawi office,
create and manage project budgets, participate in grant reporting, and
other financial management tasks - Ensure proper compliance
with financial procedures, approve expenditures, make accurate projections
and ensure overall compliance
Qualifications:
- Graduate degree in
international affairs, international public policy, development economics,
business, or field related to international economic development - Entrepreneurial,
self-starter with a passion for connecting rigorous research to policy makers
and practitioners and communicating what works and what does not work in
development - Experience in economics
or social science research. Field experience very highly valued. - Experience with data
management, econometrics, and advanced knowledge of Stata. - Demonstrated ability to
manage high-level relationships with partner organizations - Experience with
budgeting and project planning - Excellent management and
organizational skills and ability to work independently - Demonstrated ability to
work successfully with diverse constituencies
https://www.poverty-action.org/getinvolved/jobs/Africa/IPAMalawi101462
