Research & Evaluation Officer, Global At Internews Europe

Job Title: Research & Evaluation Officer, Global

Duration: 12 – months fixed term contract

Location: London, UK (Nairobi, Kenya may also be considered as a location)

Funding: Direct

Reports to: Global Director of Impact

Department: Impact

Term & LOE: Full-time 100%

Salary range: £34,770 – £40,564 p.a. (C1-C3)

Supervises: As required.

About Internews:

At Internews we are committed to implementing rigorous monitoring, research, learning and evaluation which helps us understand and evidence the impact of our work to build healthy information ecosystems, and yields data, analysis and learning which is of genuine use to our partners and our global community of stakeholders.

We have big ambitions in this department and seek people with the energy to help us identify the solutions enabling independent media to thrive so that all have access to it, reduce the impact of poor information on social, political, economic and humanitarian outcomes, and explore new ways of realising the potential for media and information to deliver positive change in the world. Our projects are at the cutting-edge, and our partners are some of the most impressive journalists and civil society actors working today.

We are looking for natural collaborators with endless curiosity and energy, a drive for solving difficult problems, outstanding organisational and relationship management skills, and experience of a range of social science research methods. We ideally seek solid quantitative and qualitative data collection, analysis and reporting skills, as well as the ability to design, cost, plan and implement multi-method research projects and evaluations which reflect our Theory of Change, deliver to project logframes and strive to amplify the voices of the communities and populations our partners serve.

The role includes working closely with distributed project teams to develop and budget monitoring and evaluation frameworks which are realistic, actionable and relevant at proposal stage, supporting projects to embed – and benefit from – these frameworks within their activities, developing appropriate data collection, analysis and reporting methods and commissioning research and evaluation products from external suppliers where needed.

You will have had experience designing research instruments and sampling techniques, as well as commissioning and quality assuring the work of research consultants and agencies. You will have the ability to use qualitative and quantitative data analysis software and deliver high quality reporting of findings and insights in formats which meet the needs of stakeholders. Ideally, you also have enthusiasm for developing exciting and innovative partnerships with academic institutions to drive our research agenda forward.

Building organisational buy-in as well as research and evaluation literacy and capacity is a core function of the Impact Team, and the successful applicant will apply their understanding of the pressures experienced by project implementation teams to engage those teams in research and evaluation activities and deliver research output which meets their needs and priorities, as well as the necessary levels of quality and rigour required within the sector. We are always seeking improvements in our impact measurement practice, and welcome applications from people committed to innovation and advancement. If you are talented, hard-working, collaborative and entrepreneurial you will fit right in. Working proficiency in French will also be an advantage.

Our commitment to a culture of belonging:

Internews is passionate about our core values and about supporting positive change in the world. We pride ourselves on our commitment to innovation and flexibility. We believe that diverse teams are strong teams, and work to support an ethic of belonging, dignity, and justice for all people. Our current team includes a mix of genders, parents and non-parents, the self-taught, and people of multiple races, nationalities, ages, sexual orientations, and socio-economic backgrounds. We are an Equal Opportunity Employer and encourage candidates of all races, genders, ages, abilities, orientations, ethnicities, and national origins to apply, and actively welcome those with alternative backgrounds and experiences.

ESSENTIAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES include the following, other duties may be assigned:

• Act as the dedicated Impact lead for specific projects, including multi-year, multi-country programmes focused on health and civic space outcomes.
• Support or undertake the design of monitoring, research and evaluation strategies, logframes and activities at proposal development stage, effectively balancing the Theory of Change, the needs of partners, donors and the Internews research agenda to deliver research activities which demonstrate impact and yield meaningful data.
• Advocate for high quality, useable monitoring, research and evaluation to be embedded across the organisation, including helping to build research and evaluation literacy, interest and concrete skills where these are needed. Create opportunities for programme teams to review and learn from data across the programme lifecycle and identify and present back relevant insights and findings to the wider organization and sector.
• Plan and monitor resource needs on projects to which you are assigned, including ensuring that budgets are appropriate, that research activities are properly staffed, and that roles and responsibilities are clearly outlined.
• Lead or support the development of research projects and plans, research instruments and sampling design, including developing ToRs and commissioning agencies for qualitative and quantitative research, qualitative and quantitative analysis and interpretation, reporting and dissemination of research findings on time, to budget and to high quality.
• Provide mentoring and support to colleagues in research, management and data analysis and reporting skills.
• Support and implement the global evaluation framework, which includes a Theory of Change, global indicators and the roll out of a global database.
• Help to shape the Internews research agenda by identifying gaps in data and evidence linked to the 2025 strategy, identifying opportunities to conduct research to meet those gaps across different projects within the global portfolio, and designing research projects which sit outside or enhance donor obligations.
• Identify and share research findings through internal or external fora which exemplify project or programme impact or contain insights which are useful for internal or external learning, ensuring high quality, relevant research is put into wider use.
• Ensure the appropriate selection of Internews’ existing monitoring, research and evaluation tools and approaches, and that these are implemented to the highest standard, exchanged for more appropriate tools where needed and continually developed on the basis of feedback and the needs of partners.
• Lead or contribute to the development of guidance notes which ensure that Internews’ tools and approaches are appropriately budgeted and implemented.
• Contribute to the design of the Programme Insights Database.

Essential Knowledge, Skills and Experience

• Strong qualitative and quantitative research skills, and experience of designing and managing mixed methods research in support of implementation of health, humanitarian and governance work, including the design of logframes, indicators and appropriate data collection methods.
• Strong quantitative data analysis using SPSS or similar software, including multivariate and segmentation techniques.
• Knowledge of or aptitude for grasping common organisational methods such as social network analysis, organisational capacity assessments and digital analytics.
• Strong qualitative analysis including use of qualitative analysis software.
• Experience of planning, coordinating and implementing research and analysis with multi-disciplinary teams.
• Experience of undertaking or managing fieldwork and adapting methods to challenging and resource-constrained conditions.
• Experience of conducting and applying research to support practical outcomes.
• Project management skills, including planning, budget and resource management.
• Experience of delivering research training and building research capacity both in-person and remotely.
• Ability to communicate technical concepts to colleagues.
• Strong presentation skills and experience of adapting oral and written research outputs to present in non-technical language to diverse audiences at different levels of the organisation, including colleagues, non-researchers, academics and donors.
• Excellent interpersonal skills and the ability to engage appropriately with audiences, journalists, local researchers, contractors, senior project staff and donors.
• Track record of delivering research findings on time, on budget and to a high standard.
• Excellent written and fluent spoken English, working knowledge of French highly desirable.

Recruitment Timeframe:

Closing date for applications: 25 September 2021

Candidates must submit a succinct covering letter of no more than 2-pages explaining how they satisfy the requirements of the person speciation in addition to a CV highlighting relevant experience. The successful candidate will also be asked to provide three professional referees, one of whom must be from their most recent employer.

The above noted job description is not intended to describe, in detail, all the tasks that may be assigned but rather to give the job holder a general sense of the responsibilities and expectations of his/her position. As the nature of business demands change so, too, may the essential functions of this position.

Please note that this position is based in either the London office or in Nairobi, Kenya therefore the successful candidate will need to be able to both be present in either location for the duration of the employment and demonstrate their right to work in the chosen location before the start date.