Summary

IPA Côte d’Ivoire is seeking a Right-Fit Evidence and Policy Advisor to collaborate closely with the Ministry of National Education (MENA) in Côte d’Ivoire. The Government of Côte d’Ivoire, the Jacobs Foundation, UBS Optimus Foundation and 15 cocoa and chocolate companies are setting up the Child Learning and Education Facility (CLEF), a co-financing facility to ensure access to quality education as one essential tool for promoting children’s rights and fighting child labor in Côte d’Ivoire. CLEF aims to provide quality education for 5 million children and influence the behaviour of 10 million parents. To achieve this goal, CLEF is expected to bring effective learning to up to 10,000 primary schools in cocoa growing areas and beyond, and to build  2,500 classrooms and other education infrastructures (etc. bridge classes, etc.).

Right-Fit Evidence and Policy Advisor will support implementers to strengthen their Monitoring-Evaluation system and Learning.

We particularly encourage Ivorian nationals to apply, although the role is open to international applicants. 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
• M&E practitioners who are interested in broadening their scope and impact on 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.

You will report directly to the Right-Fit Evidence and Policy Manager and benefit from additional support from the Policy and RFE teams at global. You will also interact with the IPA embedded team supporting the Ministry of Education to build a culture of evidence-based decision-making via the “Laboratory for Education” (Ed Lab).

Responsibilities

You will lead the implementation of RFE advisory engagements, working closely with the stakeholders and other teams within IPA’s country office to develop tailor-made solutions for their data and evidence needs, and support their implementation. This includes the following responsibilities: 

• Strategic and technical contribution: provision of advice and tools to advance partners’ learning goals in their programs, such as:
  • Designing learning-oriented process evaluations
  • Assisting clients to identify M&E questions to test the assumptions in their theory of change, and to design cost-effective approaches to rigorously test these assumptions
  • Providing technical advice, to partners on the development and implementation of M&E plans, the design of indicators, data collection methods, and data management
• Research design and analysis: Take part in the design, implementation, and analysis of data collection and other evaluative work that sometimes complement RFE’s advisory work (including in this first engagement mentioned above)
• Project management: Support work planning and project management (including human and financial resources) for the Monitoring-Evaluation and Learning (MEL) technical assistance to ensure effective and timely implementation of our work
• Stakeholder communication: Maintain strong communication and partnership with key stakeholders, including direct stakeholder management with leadership staff from partner organizations and MENA. Cultivate relationships with key local top-level decision-makers in the education sector and ensure the project has their buy-in
• Workshop design and implementation: Design and facilitate various kinds of external MEL- and research-related workshops, improving the capacity and ownership of government around long-term MEL and research practices
• Professional deliverables: Own the preparation and presentation of various types of advisory and analytical deliverables, maintaining the highest standards of communication efficiency
• Coordinate activities with IPA embedded staff at the MENA to meet the data needs in support of policy implementation and analysis;
• Communicate findings of analyses to stakeholders and provide technical assistance to use findings to inform policy and program implementation

Qualifications

• A Bachelor’s or Master's degree in economics, public policy, international development, or related fields and; PhDs are also welcome.
• 3-5 years of relevant work experience in related fields, including experience in M&E policy development and/or in education, project design and management with multiple stakeholders across various sectors and have good skills to work closely with Education sector partners. Exceptions may be made for excellent candidates who do not meet this criterion.
• At least 2 years of proven experiences in a MEL-focused role within international development
• Superior analytical and conceptual thinking skills
• Strong client-facing and presentation skills. Ability to present information in a structured and insightful way, both in writing and orally.
• Demonstrated ability to manage relationships with partner organizations;
• Self-starter, entrepreneurial mindset, versatility, and ability to learn at a fast pace.
• Excellent project management and organizational skills; attention to detail;
• Familiarity with statistics and data analysis (including strong command of Excel)
• Willingness to travel within Côte d’Ivoire;
• Capability to manage multiple tasks efficiently;
• Full fluency in French and professional proficiency in English
• Passion for making data-driven decisions a reality in the international development sector

Preferred Qualifications:

• Master’s degree or PhD in economics, public policy, social science, or a related field
• Familiarity with the Education Sector
• Experience working with government
• Experience living and working in developing countries, particularly Côte d’Ivoire
• Familiarity with the concepts surrounding the Theory of Change and the core tools of M&E (both quantitative and qualitative research methods)
• Familiarity with Kobo, Open Data Kit, SurveyCTO, or similar survey software
• Ability to use advanced Excel functions, Stata, R or similar statistical software and Data Visualization tools
• Familiarity with randomized controlled trials

Application Instructions

Apply now

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 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.

Reports to

Country Director

Deadline to apply

Rolling basis

Desired start date

ASAP

City

Abidjan

Country

Côte d’Ivoire