Embedded Lab Officer At Development Aid

DRS is looking for an Embedded Lab Officer for an INGO whose mission is to promote effective solutions to global poverty problems. It 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.

Job Title: Embedded Lab Officer

Contract: 1-year contract

Location: Freetown, Sierra Leone

Starting date: as soon as possible

Position Description:

INGO 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, INGO is 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 INGO Sierra Leone’s Associate Research Manager and dotted line oversight from the Global Policy team.

Key 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 for 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-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 the implementation of quality indicators and data sources

Education:

• Master’s degree in international public policy, education, social science, or related fields.

EXPERIENCE:

• At least 2 years of experience in data analysis, monitoring, and evaluation 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;
• Background in development programs relating to education;
• Familiarity with the concepts surrounding the Theory of Change and the core tools of MEL (both quantitative and qualitative research methods);
• Familiarity with SurveyCTO, Open Data Kit or similar survey software, SMS or Interactive Voice Response (IVR) technology (an asset);
• The ability to use Stata, R or similar statistical software will be considered as an advantage.

LANGUAGE SKILLS:

• Excellent spoken and written communication in English.

OTHER SKILLS:

• Superior analytical, quantitative, and conceptual thinking skills;
• Ability to present information in a structured and insightful way, both in writing and orally;
• Demonstrated ability to coach and train others in statistics, data analysis, or MEL methodologies will be an advantage;
• Strong client-facing and presentation skills;
• Cultural sensitivity and demonstrated ability to work successfully with diverse constituencies;
• Self-starter, entrepreneurial mindset, versatility, and strong multi-tasking skills;
• Passion for making data-driven decisions a reality in the development sector.