Research Manager

Innovations for Poverty Action (IPA) is recruiting for a Research Manager in the Rwanda country office. We are seeking an ambitious candidate who will manage education projects that include both research and project implementation components. The Research Manager will have an exciting opportunity to participate in the design and implementation of multiple process evaluations to drive program improvements through testing innovative interventions on the best ways to implement teacher performance contracts that align with learning outcomes, to generate evidence of the value of taking these to scale. The Research Manager will be responsible for overall project management of research projects, including assisting with hiring project management staff, interaction with PIs, and face-to-face coordination with partner organizations and Rwandan local, state and national government stakeholders. The Research Manager will perform a variety of tasks including, but not limited to: designing survey questionnaires, managing survey teams, conducting quantitative and qualitative research, cleaning and analyzing data, writing of project reports and action-oriented presentations to partners, and coordinating with key government and NGO partners. He/she will be a core member of the IPA Rwanda management team and contribute to the establishment of the policies and procedures, development of new projects, stakeholder outreach, and capacity building.

Responsibilities 

• Keep the 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
• Ensure project adherence in the field to general research design, sample selection, data management and analysis, and overall project management
• Oversee project financial management, including creation and monitoring of project budgets, and ensure smooth integration of projects into IPA financial systems
• Work with field office staff to ensure sound human resource and operational management of projects
• Directly supervise project research staff (Research Associates and Field Managers), and help with transitions, on-boarding of new research staff and maintaining “institutional memory” of project activities
• Ensure that project deliverables, such as reports and financial statements, are submitted to donors and partners on time
• Lead training on data management and general project management for new/incoming project research staff
• Represent IPA and attend regular meetings with government officials, donors, and other partners to ensure success of programmatic activities;
• Promote inter-project best practices and take a lead in sharing best practices with projects through formal and informal training opportunities
• Be the point of contact for data management and analysis support for project staff by serving as the link between projects and IPA headquarters
• When requested, support the dissemination of results via presentations and reports to academic and non-academic audiences
• Support the Country Director in the development of new research studies in cooperation with principal investigators and partner organizations
• Liaise with Principal Investigators and Research Manager in the design of survey questionnaires
• Work with the data manager and principal Investigator to program survey tools using SurveyCTO, high-frequency checks and data flows
• Develop data collection protocols and data quality assurance protocol
• Develop a data collection plan (procurement, logistics and route plan) that ensures adherence to data collection budget
• Assist the PI team in data analysis as requested

Qualifications 

• Master’s degree in related field, such as development economics, public policy, public health, or education policy
• At least three years of research or project management experience
• Strong budgeting and financial management skills; experience with writing donor reports and grant proposals
• Experience interacting with partners, government officials and other key stakeholders in a developing country context;
• Strong written and oral communication skills and complete fluency in English and Kinyarwanda is required
• Experience supervising data collection, teams of field workers, survey design and implementation and data management.
• Background in randomized control trials is strongly preferred
• Cultural sensitivity and demonstrated ability to work successfully with diverse constituencies required; developing country experience required
• Quantitative skills; working knowledge of Stata. Knowledge of other statistical packages such as SPSS or R are not required, but are a plus
• An analytical mind, ability to interpret and organize data
• Resourcefulness in coming up with solutions to new challenges, especially, in software and programming.
• Flexible and proactive work ethic with a demonstrated interest in the vision and mission of IPA
• Experience with data management and econometrics. Strong quantitative skills and advanced knowledge of Stata strongly preferred
• Experience with electronic data collection platforms. Knowledge of SurveyCTO a plus.
• Demonstrated ability to manage high-level relationships with partner organizations