Position Summary
Innovations for Poverty Action (IPA) is a research and policy nonprofit that creates and shares evidence while equipping decision-makers to use evidence to reduce poverty.
With a long-term presence in 20 countries in Africa, Asia, and Latin America, IPA leads the field of development in cutting-edge research quality and innovation. We test promising ideas across contexts and along the path to scale, proactively engage key decision-makers throughout the research process, share findings with the right people at the right time, and equip partners with the skills and tools they need to co-create and use data and evidence. Since our founding in 2002, our research has led to better programs and policies that have made a positive impact on hundreds of millions of people’s lives worldwide.
Complementing the well-known work of IPA in the production and promotion of rigorous impact evaluations, the Right-Fit Evidence Unit is a fast-growing consulting team at IPA focused on helping organizations make better use of data and evidence themselves to learn and adapt their programs and increase their cost-effectiveness. The RFE Unit works in close collaboration with IPA’s sector programs, policy team, and country office teams.
About the Role
If you are looking for a position that allows you to work closely with policymakers and implementers, to inform more effective policy making, and to have an impact, this position is for you!
IPA Ghana is seeking an Advisor in the Right-Fit Evidence Unit (Advisor, RFE) to support IPA Ghana’s provision of evidence and data-driven technical assistance to policy and implementation partners for early childhood education policy implementation and differentiated learning (DL) scale-up in Ghana. This is an exciting opportunity to drive effective education policy in Ghana, by providing evidence-based support to the Ministry of Education and key partners for two key projects:
1. Scale up the evidenced, play-based teacher training package for Early Childhood Education and;
2. Scale-up of Differentiated Learning Pedagogy in 10,000 Primary Schools under the Ghana Accountability for Learning Outcomes Project. Teaching at the Right Level (TARL) is one of the most evidence-based, cost-effective education programs that have been implemented in various
contexts and is now being scaled in Ghana.
Responsibilities
The Advisor will lead the execution of IPA’s Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning (MEL) advisory services and technical assistance for education partners in Ghana. The RFE Advisor will report to the RFE manager in Ghana in the IPA Ghana Country Office and will work closely with the Policy managers in-country as well as with the Global RFE and Policy team. This is a unique opportunity to learn from skill sets across IPA teams.
● Professional deliverables: Own the preparation and presentation of various types of advisory and analytical deliverables, often in slides or well-structured and engaging reports, maintaining the highest standards of communication efficiency
● Provide technical assistance to implementing partners: Prepare and facilitate training sessions to build and strengthen the capacity of implementing partners in MEL.
● Build capacity to refine and test data collection tools in classrooms with government agencies: Provide technical Monitoring and Evaluation expertise to develop and refine monitoring tools that inform local and national decision-makers on key aspects of the education policy. Support
the institutionalization of existing tools and inform strategy of how they can use resulting data to inform program insights for better implementation of the education policy.
● Facilitate data-driven workshops with key-level stakeholders: Liaise with key policymakers and implementers, and academics to plan and facilitate capacity-building workshops such as evidence-sharing workshop and MEL-related workshops
● Workshop design and implementation: Design and facilitate various kinds of external MEL-related workshops, improving the capacity and ownership of partners around long-term MEL practices
● Project management: lead work planning and project management for the MEL technical assistance to ensure effective and timely implementation of our work. Contribute to financial management through strategic prioritization of activities within the given budget.
● Represent IPA Ghana in all engagements and cultivate existing and new stakeholder partnerships: Represent IPA Ghana in stakeholder meetings, host regular check-in meetings with key stakeholders (virtually and in-person in stakeholder offices), and actively seek new partnership opportunities with relevant stakeholders. This includes sourcing relevant contacts, arranging meetings, developing partnership collaboration concept notes/presentations, and any regular upkeep/communication required to move partnerships forward.
● Develop ideas for new IPA partnerships to support the use of right-fit evidence: Contribute to any relevant business development of future IPA and RFE partnerships by identifying and understanding open challenges for potential partner organizations (policymakers, implementers, funders) and working with an internal team to develop solutions that IPA could provide in partnership. Attend and contribute to business development meetings and prepare concept notes or proposals.
Qualifications
The role is open to both Ghanaian and international applicants. IPA Ghana will sponsor work permits/visas for international applicants if hired. We also encourage those with the following profiles to apply as these skills and interests are a particularly strong fit:
● Management consultants with some international development experience who would be excited in a career shift to an entrepreneurial and impact-focused environment leveraging their skillset
● Education/early childhood development project managers who have experience managing large-scale education programs in developing countries, particularly in collaboration with government partners, interested in a role that focuses on innovation/early piloting/large-scale monitoring and evaluation for quality assurance in education
● M&E practitioners who are interested in broadening their scope and impact in the field by advising organizations on state-of-the-art M&E practices
● Research professionals in international development who enjoy working closely with practitioners and are interested in broadening their scope to all the types of data and evidence that can inform decisions
Irrespective of their background, RFE staff tend to learn through their work, and this position is a great fit for anyone with a growth-oriented mindset.
Education and Experience:
o A Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in economics, public policy, education, early childhood development, international development, or related fields and; 2-5 years of relevant work experience, including experience in M&E (public sector), education policy or program management (public/non-profit/private sectors), organizational performance/R&D/operational research (private sector), or experience in management consulting/other professional services. Exceptions may be made for excellent candidates who do not meet this criterion.
● Technical Skills:
o Superior analytical and conceptual thinking skills
o Familiarity with statistics and data analysis (including a strong command of Excel)
o Strong client-facing and presentation skills. Ability to present information in a structured and insightful way, both in writing and orally.
● Stakeholder Management Skills:
o Demonstrated ability to manage relationships with partner organizations;
o Self-starter, entrepreneurial mindset, versatility, and ability to learn at a fast pace.
● Project Management Skills:
o Project/budget management skills; attention to detail;
o Ability to manage and organize various work streams efficiently.
● Other:
o Willingness to travel within Ghana;
o Passion for making data-driven decisions a reality in international development
sector
Preferred additional qualifications
● Master’s degree in education, economics, public policy, social science, or a related field
● Experience working with national government partners on large-scale programs
● Experience living and working in developing countries, particularly Ghana
● Familiarity with the concepts surrounding the Theory of Change and the core tools of M&E (both quantitative and qualitative research methods)
● Familiarity with key global education indicators, particularly for early childhood development
● Familiarity with the global literature in early childhood education
● Familiarity with SurveyCTO, Open Data Kit or similar survey software
● Ability to use Stata, R or similar statistical software
● Familiarity with randomized controlled trials;
● Preparing narratives for donor/external stakeholders;
Reports to
RFE manager in Ghana
Location
Accra, Ghana
About IPA
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. In recent decades, trillions of dollars have been spent on programs designed to reduce global poverty, but clear evidence of which programs succeed is rare, and when evidence does exist, decision-makers often do not know about it. IPA exists to bring together leading researchers and these decision-makers to ensure that the evidence we create leads to a tangible impact on the world. Since its founding in 2002, IPA has worked with over 600 leading academics to conduct over 900 evaluations in 52 countries. This research has informed hundreds of successful programs that now impact millions of individuals worldwide.
IPA’s Commitment to Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion (DEI)
As an organization, IPA is dedicated to improving the lives of the world’s most vulnerable populations through evidence and policy. We also recognize how important it is for our staff to reflect the diversity of the places where we work and the communities we work with. As such, IPA is committed to hiring from a diverse pool of candidates, from a range of backgrounds, beliefs, experiences, and perspectives. We know that this makes our work stronger and more responsive to the challenges faced by those we work with and for and we encourage people from historically underrepresented groups to apply. Click here to learn more about IPA’s commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion.
Innovations for Poverty Action is an affirmative action-equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, disability, protected veteran status, or any other protected class. IPA will endeavor to make a reasonable accommodation to a qualified applicant with a disability unless the accommodation would impose an undue hardship on the operation of our business. If you believe you require such assistance to complete this form or to participate in an interview, please contact us at jobs@poverty-action.org or via phone at 1-202-386-6200. The above statements are intended to describe the general nature and level of the work to be performed by the specified position. The statements are not intended to be an exhaustive list of all possible duties, tasks, and responsibilities. Management reserves the right to amend and change responsibilities to meet organizational needs as necessary. Please note that IPA will never request any form of payment from an applicant. Applicants are encouraged to confirm the information listed above with IPA prior to releasing any extensive personal information to the organization. Please direct questions to jobs@poverty-action.org. Please note that only qualified applicants will be contacted by the hiring manager.
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