Innovations for Poverty Action seeks a qualified Embedded Labs Coordinator to collaborate closely with the Ministry of General Education in Sierra Leone to strengthen its capacity to use evidence to improve its programs and policies.
Responding to Ministry’s demand for support beyond impact evaluations, IPA his working to develop an embedded evidence lab with MoE, putting a strong focus on equipping them to regularly use evidence to improve their decision-making, policies, and programs. This position will support these activities, reporting to the IPA Sierra Leone’s Associate Research Manager and dotted line oversight from the Global Policy team.
Responsibilities
The Coordinator will perform a variety of tasks related to leveraging existing data and developing new research projects to drive greater use of evidence within the Ministry. For example, the Coordinator may conduct activities including but not limited to:
- Mapping the data needs of various directorates within the Ministry against the existing data available, complemented with an assessment of its quality
- Assessing existing datasets and indicators according to criteria of relevance, objectivity, and reliability
- Identifying opportunities to test low cost “nudges” to improve service delivery
- Developing and executing opportunities to leverage administrative data for analysis to inform key MoE programs and decisions
- Developing and executing “learning-by-doing” capacity building projects with MoE counterparts
- Developing opportunities to leverage administrative data for research; connecting local and international researchers to pursue these openings
- Producing “policy briefs” on key policy questions that can be answered using the Ministry’s own data
- Developing a policy-driven research agenda for the lab and facilitating the development of research projects to respond to the agenda
- Sharing existing evidence to inform MoE program design and delivery
- Advising MoE directorates on developing and maintaining MEL plans
- Deliver capacity building trainings on M&E, impact evaluations, etc.
- Provide guidance to MoE directorates’ ongoing monitoring activities, including by recommending implementation quality indicators and data sources
Qualifications
- Master’s degree in international public policy, education, social science, or related fields.
- 2-5 years of relevant work experience
- Hands-on experience supporting Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning systems. Familiarity with the challenges surrounding causal attribution
- Experience in quantitative and qualitative data collection, management, and analysis
- Experience working in the education sector of a developing country, ideally in close interaction with government stakeholders
- Demonstrated ability to coach and train others in MEL methodologies
- Superior analytical, quantitative, and conceptual thinking skills
- Strong client-facing and presentation skills
- Cultural sensitivity and demonstrated ability to work successfully with diverse constituencies
- Ability to present information in a structured and insightful way, both in writing and orally
- Self-starter, entrepreneurial mindset, versatility, and strong multi-tasking skills
- Passion for making data-driven decision a reality in the development sector
Deadline for application : 09th