Learning Manager, Deworm the World Initiative

• Reports to: Associate Director 
• Location: Bangalore, India
• Application Deadline: July 31, 2013 (applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis)
• Desired Start Date: Immediate

Innovations for Poverty Action (IPA), is an international non-profit research organization. Based in New Haven, CT, with offices in Washington, D.C. and worldwide, IPA works with development partners and academic researchers to create and evaluate approaches to solving development problems, to communicate “what works” in development and to scale up successful projects in a variety of fields, including health, education, microfinance, governance and agriculture.

Evidence Action is a new organization working in partnership with an existing non-profit (Innovations for Poverty Action, IPA) to scale proven interventions to improve the lives of the poor in Africa and Asia. Rigor, evidence, and action are all part of our values. We are looking for a dynamic, engaged team member to help us document and share best practices around monitoring and evaluation, training, and learning, for our deworming work.

About Evidence Action:

Evidence Action assumes management and growth responsibility for two programs currently making a difference in the lives of millions of people in Africa and Asia:

1.) Dispensers for Safe Water is an entrepreneurial program scaling the chlorine dispenser system – a proven innovation that dramatically expands access to water treatment at an extremely low cost. This year the program will reach over one million people in Africa providing safe drinking water to vulnerable populations.

2.)The Deworm the World Initiative actively supports the scale-up of school-based deworming programs worldwide to improve children’s health, education, and long-term development. Free of intestinal worms, these children can concentrate better and get more out of schooling. We partner with governments to support their work as part of our strategy for financial sustainability and in order to ensure integration with other health and education initiatives.

IPA has played in important role incubating the Dispensers for Safe Water program and the Deworm the World Initiative. Now the management, strategic planning, and evolution of this work are transitioning to Evidence Action.

In India, Evidence Action and IPA partner with inKlude Labs, a Section 25 company based in Bangalore. Because this position is Bangalore-based, the Learning Manager would be employed by InKlude Labs but maintain dotted line reporting to global Deworm the World management based in the US.

Position Summary:

A motivated individual who is passionate about documenting and sharing best practices and inspired by the transmission of lessons learned (instead of seeing them gathering dust on a shelf) is perfect for this role. The ideal candidate has exposure to best-in-class knowledge management practices, a facility in effectively imparting core institutional knowledge and engaging external partners, and a public health background.

The Deworm the World Initiative has committed extensive resources historically to developing monitoring and evaluation protocols and practices, tools and manuals for training teachers and other deworming stakeholders, and has learned many lessons along the way about what makes for a cost-effective, high quality school-based deworming program. These documents, materials, and lessons have not been fully disseminated or shared systematically. We are fortunate to have received support for a purposeful knowledge management and external engagement effort to change this situation and actively expand our networks, contacts, and engagement on these topics.

Responsibilities:

The Learning Manager, Deworm the World Initiative will: 

• Systematically institute a knowledge management system for the Deworm the World Initiative that documents best practices and lessons learned
• Support the integration of this knowledge management system into Deworm the World Initiative strategic planning
• Create and maintain a web-based and paper-based thoughtfully curated collection of tools, manuals, forms, and protocols along with guidance sufficient to constitute Deworm the World Initiative “in a box” that can easily be adapted to local context for others to access and use
• Actively engage in the dissemination of these materials and the lessons that they represent in international fora, including with local governments and the international neglected tropical disease community
• Actively engage with the Deworm the World Initiative staff implementing programs to ensure that lessons learned are captured thoughtfully and meaningfully and that the knowledge management function is relevant to programmatic staff
• Through training and onboarding support, equip existing and new Deworm the World Initiative staff with the knowledge and resources to provide high quality support to governments interested in implementing school-based deworming programs.

Desired Qualifications and Experience: 

The Learning Manager, Deworm the World Initiative will be a dynamic high-energy professional with at least three years of experience in the space of lesson learning, dissemination, and distillation in public health. A demonstrated commitment to rigor, evidence, and a client-focused style of working is critical. Experience with active and explicit knowledge management preferred; demonstrated ability to work with local partners for training and knowledge transfer essential.

The Learning Manager, Deworm the World Initiative will have the following experience and attributes:

• Demonstrated track record of effectively serving internal and external clients to adopt training materials, knowledge management practices, and best practices more generally is essential;
• Experience creating curated collections of disparate materials that are aesthetically appealing, practically useful, and easy to maintain required;
• Facility and exposure with key issues, considerations, and debates in school health and/or neglected tropical diseases programming preferred;
• Bachelor’s degree, advanced degree preferred, in social sciences, library sciences, or public health related field;
• A passion for Evidence Action’s core values, mission, and programs;
• Sense of humor;
• Hindi language skills preferred, not essential;
• Ability to travel internationally 10 percent of time as driven by programmatic needs.

How to Apply:

Please follow the application instructions below.  Any applications or CVs submitted outside this process will not be considered.  Note, only short-listed candidates will be contacted for an interview. Applicants will be reviewed on a rolling basis.

1. Send an email to jobs@poverty-action.org and cc jobs-dtw@poverty-action.org following these instructions:

• In the subject line: Copy the following position line: 100960EAIndia, Learning Manager, Deworm the World Initiative
• Attachments: Please attach Only your CV and cover letter
• In the email body: Put your full name, first (given) name followed by last (family) name.

Please do not include any text besides your name in the body of the e-mail. Adding extra text will interfere with the processing of your application

Evidence Action and IPA are an Equal Opportunity Employer/Affirmative Action Employer.

All persons shall have the opportunity to be considered for employment without regard to their race, color, religion, national origin, ancestry, alienage or citizenship status, age, disability, sex, sexual orientation, veteran status or any other characteristic protected by applicable federal, state or local laws.

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@evidenceaction.org.

DISCLAIMER: The above statements are intended to describe the general nature and level of the work to be performed by the Learning 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@evidenceaction.org.