Research Jobs – Junior Monitoring and Evaluation Associate – Innovations for Poverty Action (IPA)

Job Title:    Junior Monitoring and
Evaluation Associate

Organisation: Innovations
for Poverty Action (IPA)

Duty Station: Based
in Kampala, Uganda with about 5% field work

Reports to: Senior
M&E Associate

Commitment:  1 year, with the possibility of extension

Desired Start Date: August 1, 2019        

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 on 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 tangible impact on the world. Since its founding in 2002, IPA
has worked with over 575 leading academics to conduct over 650 evaluations in
51 countries. This research has informed hundreds of successful programs that
now impact millions of individuals worldwide. The IPA website:
www.poverty-action.org

Background to the Study:

Innovations for
Poverty Action’s Right-Fit Evidence Unit is seeking a Junior M&E Associate
to work on a consulting engagement to strengthen the way that our clients in
Uganda use data. The successful candidate will work alongside the Senior
M&E Associate to advise our clients on how to develop and implement
adaptive Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) systems, and collect and analyze
data to inform their decision-making where needed. The Junior M&E Associate
will initially work on a project in the Early Childhood Development (ECD)
sector, and is expected to work on other engagements as the unit grows. The
position is based in Kampala and will report to the Senior M&E Associate in
Kampala, with additional oversight from the global Right-Fit Evidence
leadership.

Complementing this
core business, the Right-Fit Evidence Unit at IPA is a new 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.

Job Summary:  The Junior M&E Associate will work
alongside a Senior M&E Associate to deliver M&E technical support for a
two-year ECD program of grants. In particular, the Junior M&E Associate’s
work will include coordinating a shared classroom quality monitoring effort
among five ECD implementers. This will include supporting the data collection,
analysis and reporting for classroom quality against internationally recognized
standards, with oversight from the Right-Fit Evidence unit and academic
advisers.

Key Duties and Responsibilities: With oversight from the Senior M&E
Associate, the Junior M&E Associate will:

·        
Support
ECD implementers to correctly record, store and transmit classroom videos of a
sample of their classrooms for monitoring purposes, and ensure the quality and
consistency of those videos

·        
With the
guidance of the Senior M&E Associate, train, manage and oversee a team of
IPA enumerators to analyze classroom videos against an agreed quality
assessment tool

·        
Conduct
the first draft of all quality data cleaning and analysis, including drafting
results briefs for the partners to inform their programmatic management

·        
Contribute
to guidance notes for partners on the design of data collection methods, survey
instruments and data management

·        
Assist
to provide technical assistance to client team members in how to collect, analyse
and summarize M&E data in line with Right-Fit Evidence Principles

·        
Support
the Senior M&E Associate in facilitating Theory of Change workshops,
reflection workshops, and other meetings with external clients as appropriate

·        
Assist
clients to prepare materials, organize logistics and document outcomes for MEL
workshops and meetings

Qualifications, Skills and Experience: 

·        
The
applicant must hold a Bachelor’s degree in statistics, economics, public
policy, public health, social science, or a related field

·        
At least
two years of research project experience at a field research management or
analyst position

·        
Strong
analytical, quantitative and conceptual thinking skills

·        
Proficiency
in Excel for data management and analysis

·        
Ability
to build relationships of trust with stakeholders

·        
Strong
written communication skills;

·        
Excellent
command of English, both spoken and written

·        
Demonstrated
ability to coordinate work effectively over email and phone

·        
Excellent
management and organizational skills

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

·        
Experience
working in developing countries

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

·        
Preferred
additional qualifications

·        
Some
familiarity with SurveyCTO, Open Data Kit or similar survey software

·        
Some
ability to use Stata, R or similar statistical software is a strong plus

·        
Background
in development programs, particularly relating to Early Childhood Development

·        
Familiarity
with the concepts surrounding the Theory of Change and the core tools of
M&E

How to Apply:

Please complete the
online assessment here: Click
Here

To complete the
application, send an email to jobs-uganda@poverty-action.org . Upload your
updated CV including 3 professional referees: Maximum 2 pages in length, 2)
Cover letter: Maximum 1 page in length and 3) your highest level degree or
diploma and copies of the transcript: Maximum 2 pages in length. Due to the
high number of applications, only candidates who successfully passed the CV
screening step will be contacted.

Deadline:  Applications will be processed on a rolling
basis until the position is filled.

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