🇳🇬 Job Vacancies @ Innovations for Poverty Action (IPA) – 3 Positions

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.

We are recruiting to fill the following positions below:

1.) Associate Director, Research
2.) Policy and RFE Coordinator
3.) Research Analyst

Job Title: Associate Director, Research

Location: Nigeria
Employment Type: Full-time

Job Description

• We seek an Associate Director of Research to support the Nigeria country program. As a member of the country management team, the Associate Director (AD) will work closely with the Country Director to provide strategic direction, research oversight, and capacity building to a team of local and international staff.
• The AD will have a strong focus on research management for the Nigeria office, represent IPA in Nigeria, and provide oversight to a portfolio of impact evaluations that are expected to span across multiple sectors over time: financial inclusion, peace and recovery, social protection, health, education, agriculture,  and enterprise development.
• He/she will contribute to IPA Nigeria’s continued expansion by initiating new partnerships and projects in the country and will support the dissemination of results to development practitioners and policymakers.
• This position provides a unique opportunity to gain high-level management experience in a growing country program, and to be closely involved in policy-relevant research, working with top academics, donors, governments, and other practitioners to foster evidence based-policy making.

Responsibilities
Ensure high-quality research projects in Nigeria:

• Manage a team composed of Research Managers/Associate Research Managers whose responsibilities include project design, management of data collection, data management, and analysis, and writing of research reports, all in close collaboration with the Principal Investigators.
• Ensure that IPA research is implemented according to IPA’s quality standards and Principal Investigators’ direction.
• Lead with transitions, on-boarding/off-boarding of new Research Managers/Coordinators staff, and maintaining institutional memory of project activities.
• Promote inter-project best practices and take the lead in sharing best practices with projects through formal and informal training for staff.
• Work to incorporate best practices and lessons learned in research and data quality by other IPA offices and research affiliates.
• Build systems and structures to build staff capacity and ensure overall data quality.
• Directly manage research project(s), as needed, including providing technical/field support, liaising with researchers, overseeing grant management, data collection and reporting.

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Contribute to IPA's continued expansion by supporting new partnerships and projects in Nigeria:

• Share leadership of business development with the Country Director to grow the two country offices and identify new research and policy project opportunities.
• In collaboration with potential partners and Principal Investigators, identify and develop potential projects with meaningful research and policy implications in line with IPA’s mission.
• Conduct partner outreach, including meetings with interested organizations/researchers and review of new project ideas.
• Participate in research project design and lead budgeting/proposal materials development for new and ongoing projects to ensure evaluations meet IPA standards.
• Review proposal materials, including budgets, in collaboration with Country Director.
• Participate in capacity building of staff on project development tasks and responsibilities.

Policy Impact and External Relations:

• Represent IPA in national and local government agencies and partner organizations
• Develop and maintain relationships with current and potential IPA partner organizations, implementing partners, the government and academia for the country office to maximize its impact
• Engage government partners and other stakeholders to identify research questions of interest and cultivate potential research projects in those areas
• Oversee/participate in capacity building of local development partners in evidence-based policy making and rigorous impact evaluations
• Oversee targeted dissemination, encourage scale up of successful interventions

General Management and Operations Support:

• Work with the Country Director to set the vision and strategic plan for the country program and track progress
• Support the supervision and management of the operations function including compliance, procurement, finance, and administration

Education and/or Work Experience Requirements

• Master's Degree in Project Management, Development Economics, International Affairs, International Public Policy, or field related to international economic development.
• A minimum of 5 years of relevant work experience, including 3 years in a management position; preferably experience in research and policy engagement, ideally in West Africa.
• Strong technical research skills
• Demonstrated ability to lead large teams and multiple projects
• Experience in randomized controlled trials preferred
• Experience developing research projects, experience with budgeting and project planning
• Passion for connecting rigorous research to policy makers and practitioners and communicating what works in development
• Commitment to leading a diverse team in a multicultural environment and building staff capacity
• Ability to communicate effectively across cultures with multiple stakeholders including international and local academic researchers, government officials, NGO partners, enumeration teams, and study participants.
• Experience in people and financial management, including managing funds from multiple donors preferred.
• Experience in grants and contracts management, preferably in a research setting, preferred.
• Excellent management and organizational skills and ability to work independently with proven ability to multi-task.
• Flexible, self-motivating, able to manage multiple tasks efficiently, and a team player.
• Fluency in both written and spoken English is required.

Application Closing Date
Not Specified.

Method of Application
Interested and qualified candidates should:
Click here to apply online

Job Title: Policy and RFE Coordinator

Location: Nigeria
Employment Type: Full-time

Job Description

• We are seeking a Policy and RFE Coordinator to work closely with a financial services regulator in Nigeria. IPA has established an embedded evidence lab with the regulator, putting a strong focus on equipping them to regularly use evidence to improve their decision-making, policies, and programs.
• This position will support these activities, reporting to a Consumer Protection Embedded Lab Manager and dotted line reporting to the Right-Fit Evidence Unit and Policy & External Relations Team.

Responsibilities

• Support mapping of the data needs of specific departments within the regulator against the existing data available, complemented with an assessment of its quality.
• Support the analysis and visualization of both primary and secondary data using statistical software such as Stata or R.
• Support the development, design, implementation, and supervision of pilot projects aimed at generating evidence for policy implementation.
• Work closely with the Project manager, Sector and RFE teams to conduct capacity building “learning-by doing” workshops in data analysis, visualization, and monitoring, evaluation, and learning.
• Contribute to the development and delivery of high-quality policy and research outputs such as policy reports, briefs, concept, and notes.
• Support the project manager to prepare and deliver presentations, briefings and other content to CBN.
• Support a variety of strategic MEL activities, including crafting of theories of change and MEL frameworks for programs, designing indicators and data collection tools, and facilitating the dissemination of findings.
• Contribute to dissemination of results from the various lab activities.
• Support the design and delivery or other potential policy and RFE engagements.
• Manage and coordinate administrative and logistical requirements for the lab. Other Duties
• Perform other duties as assigned.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s Degree in Economics, Public Policy, Social Science, Statistics, or a related field with 2 - 5 years of relevant work experience, including experience in research implementation/ data analytics/ M&E (public sector) or organizational performance/R&D/operational research (private sector)
• Experience in analyzing large data sets using R, Python, Stata.
• Experience in both qualitative and quantitative data collection.
• Superior analytical and conceptual thinking skills
• Familiarity with statistical methods, data analysis, and visualization
• Demonstrated ability to coach and train others in MEL methodologies or data analysis.
• Ability to present information in a structured and insightful way, both in writing and orally
• Self-starter, entrepreneurial mindset, versatility and willingness to learn.
• Passion for making data-driven decision making a reality in the development sector.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Master's Degree in Economics, Public Policy, Social Science, or a related field.
• Experience in management consulting or other professional services.
• Experience with programs relating to financial inclusion and/or consumer protection.
• Experience working in developing countries.
• Familiarity with the concepts surrounding the Theory of Change and the core tools of MEL (both quantitative and qualitative research methods).
• Familiarity with SurveyCTO, Open Data Kit, Kobo or similar survey software

Application Closing Date
Not Specified.

Method of Application
Interested and qualified candidates should:
Click here to apply online

Job Title: Research Analyst

Requisition ID: 1510
Location: Nigeria
Employment Type: Full-time

Job Description

• The Research Analyst will work with the the socio-emotional skills Program Manager, academic researchers (at the World Bank Africa Gender Innovation Lab) and the IPA country office in Nigeria to support data analysis.
• Location of candidate is flexible and full time work can also be an option for the right candidate.

Responsibilities

• Depending on abilities and interests, the RA will work with principal investigators to analyze the results and possible mediating factors.
• Clean and link different rounds of longitudinal survey data;
• Create all necessary indicators/variables;
• Compute summary statistics and perform basic econometric analysis;
• Produce tables with summary statistics and econometric results;
• Draft reports summarizing/discussing statistical tables.
• Support the writing of academic papers and/or policy briefs.
• Assist with data documentation and the public release of data.

Qualifications

• Master's Degree in Economics, Statistics or related field or related field, preferably with a concentration in development economics, impact evaluation and/or applied micro-econometrics, and quantitative research skills are necessary;
• Technical expertise in impact evaluation and econometric analysis (proficiency in STATA is a requirement), particularly working with primary data from large-scale databases. Experience working collaboratively on a large research team is a plus;
• Superior written and oral communications skills in English are essential;
• Superior organization skills and ability to multitask effectively are essential.
• Solid understanding of challenges faced by female entrepreneurs and farmers in Africa.
• Drive for results – Able to take personal ownership and accountability to meet deadlines and achieve agreed-upon results.
• Commitment to teamwork, knowledge-sharing, and ability to collaborate across organizational boundaries. Cooperates with team members and contributes productively to the team’s work and outputs, demonstrating respect for different points of view.
• Strong interpersonal skills and cultural sensitivity to effectively work with global teams across cultures, work styles, and time zones  Experience working in low or middle-income countries preferred, but not required
• Willing to undertake domestic and international travel if required.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Minimum of four years of relevant professional and/or academic experience in private sector, gender and impact evaluations;
• Fieldwork experience in Sub-Saharan Africa executing impact evaluations, including survey design and implementation;
• Behavioral competencies that facilitate dialogue with country partners and country teams, including listening skills, capacity development skills, and ability to adapt advice to the local institutional realities;
• Commitment to teamwork, knowledge-sharing, and ability to influence across organizational boundaries;
• Demonstrated track record of working with economic data and analytical tools and models to conduct economic analyses and produce user-friendly written outputs; understands underlying statistical concepts.
• Knowledge, Learning and Communication - Actively seeks knowledge needed to complete assignments and shares knowledge with others, communicating and presenting information in a clear and organized manner.
• Business Judgment and Analytical Decision Making - Analyzes facts and data to support sound, logical decisions regarding own and others' work.

Application Closing Date
Not Specified.

Method of Application
Interested and qualified candidates should:
Click here to apply online