Research Manager, Nigeria at Innovations for Poverty Action (IPA)

Innovations for Poverty Action (IPA) is recruiting for a Research Manager in the Nigeria country office which opened in 2019. We are seeking an ambitious candidate who wants to take part in establishing and shaping a new country program and portfolio of research studies in Nigeria. The position will be based in Abuja, Nigeria with extensive travel to project sites around the country.

The Research Manager will oversee the initial portfolio of projects and will be responsible for the overall management of a portfolio of three to five RCTs, including assisting with hiring project management staff, interaction with PIs, and face-to-face coordination with partner organizations and Nigerian local, state and national government stakeholders. These projects will include large scale surveys across several Nigerian states. Each of these projects is expected to be staffed with a permanent team of 1 or 2 staff each and up to 30-50 short term staff during survey periods.

This position is a unique opportunity as the successful candidate will play an integral role in working with IPA’s country, regional, and global teams to put into place the research management and administrative structures for the new IPA Nigeria country office. He/she will be a core member of the IPA Nigeria management team and contribute to the establishment of the policies and procedures, development of new projects, stakeholder outreach, and capacity building.

Responsibilities 

• Work with the Country Director, regional and global teams to ensure a strong administrative setup of the Nigeria office, including assisting with hiring of key project staff, creation and implementation of sound human resource, financial, and operational policies and procedures, and compliance with organizational and Nigerian laws, standards, and research ethics requirements;
• 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;
• Directly supervise project research associates, and lead transitions, onboarding of new research staff and maintaining institutional memory of project activities;
• Ensure project adherence to general research design, sample selection, data management and general research protocols, and overall project management timelines;
• Ensure that project deliverables, such as reports and financial statements, are submitted to donors and partners on time;
• Build systems and structures to build staff capacity and lead training on data management and general project management for new / incoming project research staff;
• Promote inter-project best practices and take a lead in sharing best practices with projects through formal and informal trainings;
• Oversee project financial management, including creation and monitoring of project budgets, and ensuring smooth integration of projects into IPA financial systems;
• Represent IPA and attend regular meetings with government officials, donors, and other partners to ensure success of programmatic activities;
• Respond to existing calls for proposals in coordination with PIs and IPA’s Business Development team and support the development of new projects for the Nigeria office by establishing relationships with researchers, implementers, and funders, and developing opportunities and proposals.

Qualifications 

• Masters in development economics, public policy, global health, international education or a related field;
• At least three years of experience in managing multiple projects with increasing responsibility;
• Experience supervising data collection, teams of field workers, survey design and implementation and data management; background in randomized control trials;
• Advanced knowledge of quantitative data collection relevant to measurement and instrument development;
• Advanced skills in Stata or any statistical packages preferably R and/or CSPro;
• Strong quantitative, budgeting and financial management skills;
• Experience interacting with partners, government officials and other key stakeholders in a developing country context;
• Experience with presenting research findings at public forums, including to non-research focused audiences Experience with data management, econometrics, and electronic data collection platforms;
• Strong attention to detail, with a quality-focused mindset;
• Ability to work independently and problem-solve, as well as enlist the support of other teams within the organization;
• Cultural sensitivity and demonstrated ability to work successfully with diverse constituencies;
• Demonstrated experience in writing project proposals and/or grants, preferably for international field research;
• Strong written and oral communication skills and complete fluency in English is required.

Application Instructions 

Complete the J-PAL/IPA common application. After completing a brief registration, choose the Research job category, then select “Research Manager, Nigeria”. Applications require you to include a statement of purpose (cover letter), and CV. 

Given the volume of applications received, only shortlisted candidates will be contacted for an interview.