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Administrator/Research Manager, Incubator of Impact Evaluations (Mexico)

Administrator/Research Manager, Incubator of Impact Evaluations (Mexico)

Latin America

•Country: Mexico
•Start Date: August 1st, 2012
•Application Deadline: June 22th, 2012
•Commitment Length: 18 months
•Experience: Master’s degree with 3-years relevant management and research experience

Innovations for Poverty Action (IPA), a US-based, non-profit research organization, seeks an Administrator/Research Manager to assist in providing overall management and research support across activities for the Incubator of Impact Evaluations in Mexico. IPA works with development partners and academic researchers to create and evaluate approaches to solving development problems, to communicate what works and what does not work in development and to scale up successful projects in a variety of fields, including microfinance, agriculture, education, health, nutrition, and governance.

The Mexico’s Administrator/Research Manager will be responsible for a variety of activities including financial management, human resource support, technical support for research projects and impact evaluation training workshops, multi-sector policy advice, and assisting with evaluation design and implementation. The Administrator/Research Manager will play a senior role in the IPA Mexico country office and report directly to the Country Director. Research projects will cover a number of sectors including income-generating activities, education, public health, nutrition, financial literacy, infrastructure, and energy. The position will be based in Mexico City.

Project Description

Philanthropists, investors, and policymakers must always be aware of the opportunity cost of funds for development and seek to finance and support the most cost-effective initiatives amongst competing ideas to achieve a given social goal. Whether a particular program achieves its objectives in a verifiable and measurable way is a question that has an answer, one that must be pursued through impact evaluation. IPA is interested in building capacity and promoting evaluation in government, foundations, and NGOs to be able to conduct evaluations in the medium run in order to hold accountable public social spending on programs and to make social policy more efficient.

IPA will work with government to incubate impact evaluations. Incubation will be a multichannel process. The Incubator has three main components: a) training, b) policy dissemination, and c) feasibility/design/implementation of impact evaluations.

The Administrator/Research Manager will work closely with a research manager, country director, and expert researchers in all three efforts of the Incubator; particularly in the feasibility/design/implementation of evaluations and in the overall administration of funds and tasks.

Responsibilities

General Management (40%)
•Assist with administrative tasks, including managing administrative staff
•Develop and implement accounting procedures across components of the Incubator and across institutional partners, including financial reporting, approving certain payments, managing cash flow needs, and ensuring compliance with finance protocols and audits
•Assist with developing and implementing Human Resource procedures, including updating and documenting policies, leading annual performance reviews, and supporting the onboarding of new staff
•Ensure the legal and fiscal compliance of the project and of the Mexico office
•Support the implementation and monitoring of research protocols
•Work with the Country Director to circulate office/project updates
•Develop and monitor weekly, monthly, and annual work plan related to all tasks, deliverables, and payments across components of the Incubator
•Coordinate the agenda of the project and coordinate meetings with all institutional partners and researchers
•Budgeting evaluation projects

Research activities (60%)
•Provide day-to-day technical support to Project Associates for a portfolio of research projects and impact evaluation related activities
•Lead feasibility analysis of rigorous impact evaluations across dozens of Mexican social programs
•Work with researchers in the design and implementation of evaluations, including: literature review, sampling and power calculations, questionnaire design, budgeting, data collection, econometric analysis, and report writing.
•Provide expert advice to the team for the elaboration of policy memorandums, related to different poverty and development issues
•Participate in basic and advance impact evaluation training workshops

Qualifications
•Master’s degree in economics, business, public policy, international development, or related field. Graduate level coursework in econometrics, statistics, management, accounting, and development economics required.
•A minimum of 3 years prior relevant management experience and a track record of success managing complex projects with multiple stakeholders. At least 1 year of research experience.
•Knowledge of financial and human resource management.
•The ability to present positions and to negotiate with senior officials.
•Excellent interpersonal skills. Meticulously organized approach, attention to detail without losing sight of the big picture, ability to prioritize and manage multiple assignments simultaneously with minimal supervision.
•Flexibility, self-motivation, team player.
•Excellent oral and written communication skills. Fluency in both Spanish and English required.
•Experience living and working in Latin America required. Experience in Mexico preferred.
•Strong quantitative skills and familiarity with randomized controlled trials
•Knowledge of Stata (strongly preferred), SAS, or other data analysis software. Experience managing datasets is a plus.

How to Apply

1. Please send an email to jobs-mexico@poverty-action.org, copying jobs@poverty-action.org, following these instructions exactly:
•In the subject line, copy exactly the following position line: 100675 IPAMexico, Administrator/Research Manager, Incubator of Impact Evaluations (Mexico)
•Attachments: Please attach ONLY your CV in Spanish, Resume in English, and cover letter.
•In the email body: Put your full name, first (given) name followed by last (family) names

2. Complete the J-PAL/IPA common application indicating that you are interested in applying for a "Type 3" position. Please note: you are not required to include transcripts or letters of recommendation upon initial submission. After submitting, you can edit your application at any time and may add these materials, if requested.

Please do not include any text besides the position line(s) in the body of the e-mail. Adding extra text will interfere with the processing of your application.

If you are applying to multiple positions, you can put multiple positions lines in the same email. And you may send multiple such emails. However, please do not do this for more than 10 positions per every 6 month period. So, if you put 10 position lines in one email, then that counts as ten. Or if you put 4 in one email, and 6 in another, that also counts as ten.

Applications will be interviewed on a rolling basis. Only short-listed applicants will be contacted.

DISCLAIMER: The above statements are intended to describe the general nature and level of the work being performed by the Administrator/Research Manager. 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-info@poverty-action.org.

IPA is an Equal Opportunity Employer (EOE), adhering to the laws that prohibit discrimination in the terms and conditions of employment. The IPA EOE policy provides equal employment, volunteer, and service opportunities to all qualified persons without regard to race, color, national origin or ancestry, religion, creed, sex, age, sexual orientation, gender identification, marital status, veteran status, disability (including HIV/AIDS), or any other status protected by applicable law