NORRAG Job board: Research Manager

The IFE-2-Leave No One Behind project will conduct impact evaluation research to assess the contribution of innovation in education financing to bringing in more and better financing to educate the most disadvantaged and marginalised groups. NORRAG will implement the research project from December 2021 to December 2026. The project will be supported by research partners – the Bertha Centre, University of Cape Town, in South Africa and the Tata Institute of Social Sciences – Centre for Education Innovation and Action Research, in India. The project will focus on Innovative Financing initiatives implemented by UBS Optimus Foundation and Volta Capital in Ghana, India, Kenya, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Tanzania, and Uganda  –  Lending for Education in Africa, Impact Bond Innovation Fund, Quality Education India Development Impact Bond, Sierra Leone Education Innovation Challenge, and Ghana Education Outcomes Project. The research design will utilise mixed-methods impact research on whether and how Innovative Financing mechanisms, arrangements, and programme elements will likely produce educational benefits for marginalised and vulnerable student populations. The TRANSFORM research initiative of the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) and the five research and implementation partners co-funded the project.

As part of this mandate, NORRAG is recruiting a Research Manager who will be responsible for the research coordination and data management for the research project.

As part of the IFE-2-Leave No One Behind project team, the main responsibilities will be:

• Coordinate, consolidate and manage data from individual innovative financing initiatives within IFE-2-Leave No One Behind project –  Lending for Education in Africa, Impact Bond Innovation Fund, Quality Education India Development Impact Bond, Sierra Leone Education Innovation Challenge, and Ghana Education Outcomes Project.
• Provide analytical input on financial instruments in use in financing education initiatives.
• Ensure methodological approaches and analytical lenses are consistent across different research teams
• Take the lead in data extraction, data review, data cleaning and validation and monitoring of the quality and completeness of data for documenting program performance.
• Provide feedback to the field teams, in case of questions and gaps, to ensure any qualitative inputs are consistent and accurate.
• Monitor planning to ensure data is received in time and can be processed in time to comply with the overall project objectives.
• Identify strengths and weaknesses in existing data collection and management systems and propose solutions.
• Provide regular reporting to the IFE-2-Leave No One Behind project team:
  • Develop periodic dashboards related to programmatic ratings and KPIs
  • Provide qualitative reporting and analysis related to programmatic performance
• Support the initiative implementation teams to ensure inputs and reviews are captured and contextualise the data collection and analysis.
• Present and communicate results and ideas clearly and concisely to the research team members.
• Support the research team in clarifying aspects of the financial and legal structure and results with experts from the private sector partner teams.
• Contribute to and provide relevant data points for knowledge products- research papers, articles, presentations and blogs.
• Support the review process of key research deliverables.

 

• Master’s level degree in economics, finance, statistics, data science, international development, or project management.
• 3 to 5 years of professional experience in finance, monitoring and evaluation, research management, management consulting or as a program analyst.
• Demonstrated basic understanding of financial instruments (debt/equity) and accounting (Profit & Loss and Balance sheet)
• Experience in database management, information analysis, research techniques and methodologies and report writing. Grant-making and/or program management experience are a plus.
• Experience in the education field is a plus
• Demonstrated analytical and assessment skills in quantitative and qualitative data.
• Strong analytical and qualitative problem-solver; able to quickly get up to speed on a new area, and identify issues and key focus areas.
• Strong partners and stakeholder relationship management skills
• Strong written and oral communication skills in English (additional languages like German, French and Spanish a plus)
• Strong MS Office skills including advanced Excel and PowerPoint skills. Additional statistical software skills are a plus.
• Comfortable working with a wide range of partners including private foundations, academic researchers, and other development stakeholders.
• Team-oriented, flexible working style, able to manage multiple priorities simultaneously.
• Possessive of superior work ethic; willingness to work proactively and independently in a demanding environment.

We are an equal-opportunity employer and value diversity at our company. We do not discriminate on the basis of age, marital status, disability status, race, national origin, color, gender, sexual orientation or religion.