Vacancy: Senior Research Analyst

Job Description

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  Reports to: Right-Fit Evidence Ghana Manager


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  Location:  Accra, Ghana


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  Length of Commitment: 1-2 years (renewable based on satisfactory performance)


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  Desired start date: As soon as possible


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  Deadline to apply: Review of applications will begin April 29 and continue until the position is filled

Summary:

Innovations for Poverty Action (IPA) is a United States-based research and policy non-profit organization that discovers and promotes effective solutions to global poverty problems. As its core business, 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. IPA has conducted hundreds of randomized evaluations across sectors, learning both whether programs work, and how they can work better.

Complementing this core business, the Right-Fit Evidence (RFE) Unit at IPA is a newer effort aimed at helping organizations build strong and tailored Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning (MEL) systems, which balance the need for information on impact with operational data to support management decisions. In close collaboration with IPA’s sector programs and country office teams worldwide, the unit will provide consulting and direct services to implementers, donors, and governments, with the goal of helping them figure out what reliable data and evidence to gather, how to do it in a cost-effective way, and how to make the promise of data-informed programmatic decisions a reality.

Innovations for Poverty Action’s Right-Fit Evidence Unit is seeking a Senior Research Analyst to take a lead research analyst role to a portfolio of partner organizations on how to develop and implement adaptive Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) systems. In the first year, the Senior Research Analyst will support the Ghana Right-Fit Evidence work with the Ministry of Education to help build government capacity to better collect, analyze, and use data. The Senior Research Analyst will also support data collection and analysis for a joint program involving implementing organizations working on issues surrounding youth employment, SME finance and technical and vocational training. The position may expand to other engagements as the Right-Fit Evidence Unit grows in Ghana.

The position is based in Accra, Ghana. The Senior Research Analyst will report directly to the Right-Fit Evidence Ghana Manager and will receive additional oversight and support from the IPA Ghana policy and management teams, and the Global Right-Fit Evidence unit.

Position Summary

The RFE Senior Research Analyst will provide research and analysis support to the Ghana RFE team. S/he will support the Ghana RFE’s work with implementers from the private, public, and nonprofit sector, to support data collection, verify data quality, analyze large datasets, and support the use of data in decision making. With oversight from RFE management, the Senior Research Analyst will:

• Provide technical support to partners on the development and maintenance of M&E plans, the design of indicators, data collection methods, and data management, working both with administrative and survey data


• Identify strengths and weaknesses in existing data collection and management systems and propose solutions


• Synthesize and analyze qualitative and quantitative data in a structured way to find patterns, with an emerging ability to draw implications


• Train client team members in how to collect, analyze and summarize M&E data 


• Translate data and insights into a meaningful story to drive strategy, action, and decision-making at an executive level


• Assist in the preparation of research reports, briefs and other documents for management, implementing partners, donors and other external parties

Required Skills or Experience

• Bachelor’s degree in mathematics, economics, public policy, social science, or a related field. 


• 2-5 years of relevant work experience, including experience in data analysis or MEL (public/NGO sector)


• Superior analytical, quantitative and conceptual thinking skills with a strong attention to detail


• Experience in applying a variety of statistical modeling approaches to large datasets in real-world settings


• Ability to present information in a structured and insightful way, both in writing and orally


• Self-starter, entrepreneurial mindset, versatility and willingness to learn


• Outstanding interpersonal skills and ability to work effectively in a diverse team and high-level stakeholders


• Strong proficiency in Excel for data management and analysis


• Strong proficiency to use Stata, R or similar statistical software


• Passion for making data-driven decision making a reality in the development sector 

Preferred additional qualifications:

• Master’s degree in mathematics, economics, public policy, social science, or a related field


• Demonstrated ability to coach and train others in statistics, data analysis or MEL methodologies


• Strong client facing and presentation skills, and ability to build relationships of trust with stakeholders at various levels


• Familiarity with the concepts surrounding the Theory of Change and the core tools of MEL (both quantitative and qualitative research methods)


• Sector expertise in education, MSMEs, youth employment, TVET/skills, and/or digital economy


• Familiarity with SurveyCTO, Open Data Kit or similar survey software, SMS or Interactive Voice Response (IVR) technolog