IPA seeks a Research Manager to oversee a portfolio of 3 to 5 research projects most of which will be related to Education.
The Research Manager position is a unique opportunity to combine significant management experience with an involvement in cutting-edge development research. The Research Manager will join the very dynamic and passionate IPA Ghana team and will manage a portfolio of three to five research projects, each of which is staffed with a team of one or more permanent staff. Most of these research projects will relate to the education sector.
As part of their supervisory role, the Research Manager will work closely with the various country office teams to ensure that effective support is given to projects and that projects are aligned with IPA Ghana practices. The Research Manager will also participate in IPA Ghana Management discussions and contribute to the development of new projects, policy outreach, and capacity building. This position will be based in Accra, Ghana.
The Research Manager will be responsible for the overall management of a portfolio of 3-5 research projects, most of which will be in the basic education sector and will include wide scale surveys across multiple regions of Ghana. Each of these projects is expected to be staffed with a permanent team of 1 or 2 staff and up to 50-100 short term staff during survey periods.
The Research Manager will work closely with academic researchers, donors, and implementing partners as well the various country office teams to ensure that effective support is given to project staff, that the surveys and other research activities are delivered with high quality and in alignment with the research designs, IPA practices and protocols, as well as budgets and timelines. The Research Manager will also participate in IPA Ghana management discussions and contribute to the development of new research projects and designs, policy outreach, and capacity building.
This position will be based in Accra, Ghana.
Responsibilities
- Manage the projects in the RM’s portfolio and work with Principal Investigators to ensure their adherence to research design, sample selection, data collection, data management and general research protocols, as well as overall project objectives timelines;
- Directly supervise 4 to 8 permanent research staff, including project staff, as well as the cross-project Education Survey Coordinator, with an eye on their professional growth;
- Keep the Country Director apprised of all developments on the projects within their portfolio, and serve as a key link between the field office, project staff, and Principal Investigators;
- Participate in the development of new projects, in coordination with the Country Director and the Education Policy team, as well as potential researchers, implementing partners, and donors;
- Promote inter-project best practices and take a lead in sharing best practices with projects through formal and informal trainings;
- Work with field office staff to ensure sound human resource and operational management of projects;
- Oversee project financial management, including creation and monitoring of project budgets, and ensuring smooth integration of projects into IPA financial systems;
- Oversee documentation and reporting activities for the projects in the portfolio;
- Take part in regular meetings with local government officials and other partners to ensure success of programmatic activities; and
- Coordinate with the IPA Ghana policy team (the lead team for policy outreach activities in the education sector in country); Support the dissemination of interim results via presentations and reports to non-academic audiences.
Qualifications
- Masters in development economics, or a field related to international economic development or education;
- At least 3 years of project/research management experience;
- Experience conducting social science or economic field research; experience in conducting field research in developing countries required. Background in randomized control trials is a plus;
- Experience supervising data collection and teams of field workers, designing and implementing surveys, preferably in education;
- Experience with data analysis. Advanced knowledge of Stata or any statistical package is preferred;
- Cultural sensitivity and demonstrated ability to work successfully with diverse constituencies required;
- Strong quantitative, budgeting and financial management skills required;
- Experience in/knowledge of the education sector is strongly preferred;
- Ability to present research findings, including to non-research focused audiences;
- Strong written and oral communication skills and complete fluency in English is required.
We are looking for a commitment period of three years for this position.
