About Village Enterprise
Village Enterprise's mission is to end extreme poverty in rural Africa through entrepreneurship, innovation, and collective action. Our programming equips people living in extreme poverty with the resources to create sustainable businesses and achieve financial independence. We are scaling our work across Africa through partnerships with leading international and local nonprofits and NGOs, governments, and private sector companies. Our goal is to end extreme poverty for 20 million people by 2035.
Position Overview
Village Enterprise is seeking a Senior Director of Research and Learning to advance the organization's mission by ensuring the rigor, quality, and relevance of the organization's research portfolio, which includes externally conducted impact evaluations as well as internally conducted analyses. This is a senior leadership role that requires someone with both strong technical research skills and interpersonal skills to manage multiple complex projects simultaneously with a diverse range of teams and partners. The selected candidate will be a proactive, all-hands-on-deck team member with a collaborative spirit who will own the broader organizational research strategy and lead on internal evidence integration and external dissemination. In addition to overseeing all ongoing studies, the Senior Director of Research and Learning will serve as the organizational focal point for cost-effectiveness strategy, owning the organizational guidelines and analyses that allow Village Enterprise to credibly assess and communicate the value of its programming. While not directly responsible for program monitoring, evaluation, and learning (MEL), this role will collaborate closely with the MEL team and contribute to the development and execution of organizational learning agendas.
Responsibilities
Key Responsibilities:
Research and Development
- Develop Village Enterprise's broader research and learning strategy, ensuring the organization's research agenda remains relevant and aligned with the evolving evidence landscape in the poverty graduation and livelihoods sector.
- Proactively identify opportunities to elevate Village Enterprise's research profile through publications, conference presentations, policy briefs, and partnerships with leading academic and research institutions.
- Develop and execute a research communications strategy that translates Village Enterprise's evidence base into compelling narratives for donors, policymakers, and peer organizations.
- Build and maintain relationships with academic, research, and policy networks to keep Village Enterprise at the forefront of the field and strengthen its reputation as a thought leader.
- Liaise with the communications and fundraising teams to ensure research findings are packaged and disseminated in ways that support both programmatic learning and external positioning.
Knowledge Management
- Develop and implement Village Enterprise's knowledge management strategy, ensuring that research findings, program learning, and organizational knowledge are captured, organized, and accessible.
- Establish and oversee a centralized knowledge hub for research, evaluations, tools, case studies, technical resources, and organizational learning.
- Facilitate the integration of research findings, program learning, and best practices into organizational strategy, program design, and decision-making.
- Work closely with Programs, MEL, Technical Assistance, Government Engagement, and Communications teams to identify, document, and disseminate key lessons and evidence.
- Develop knowledge products, including learning briefs, case studies, technical notes, and evidence summaries for internal and external audiences.
- Promote a culture of learning and knowledge sharing across the organization through training, workshops, and learning events.
- Support Village Enterprise's thought leadership by ensuring evidence and learning are effectively shared with donors, governments, partners, and the broader development community.
Thought leadership
- Serve as the primary liaison for all external research partnerships, including academic institutions, evaluation firms, and research consultants.
- Ensure that all research conducted aligns with Village Enterprise's strategic objectives and feeds into the organization's key evidence gaps to inform programming.
- Ensure that all research complies with ethical standards and obtain ethical approvals as necessary.
- Manage the design, implementation, and dissemination of externally conducted research studies, including randomized controlled trials (RCTs), as well as internal research, which may include quasi-experimental evaluations or randomized A/B testing.
- Oversee the development of research protocols, data collection procedures, and analysis plans in collaboration with external partners.
- Facilitate the integration of research findings into organizational strategy and programmatic decision-making.
- Implement targeted training and knowledge-sharing initiatives to strengthen internal and partner team capacity to productively engage with Village Enterprise's rigorous research programming.
- Supervise and mentor a Research Manager, providing clear direction and ongoing support to build their capacity to contribute effectively to Village Enterprise's research portfolio.
Cost-Effectiveness
- Serve as the organizational focal point for cost-effectiveness analysis, leading Village Enterprise's approach across programs and research activities.
- Own and regularly update the organization's internal guidelines for cost-effectiveness, maintaining alignment with best-practice frameworks from leading researchers and donors in the poverty alleviation and livelihoods space.
- Design and conduct cost-effectiveness analyses in partnership with program and finance teams, ensuring findings are integrated into strategic and programmatic decision-making.
- Support the development and maintenance of an economic costing framework, ensuring it is methodologically rigorous and consistently applied.
- Develop and maintain communication guidelines for presenting cost-effectiveness findings to both internal stakeholders and external audiences (donors, research partners, policymakers).
- Monitor developments in the broader cost-effectiveness and development economics literature.
External Engagement, Fundraising, and Communications
- Represent Village Enterprise in partnership/fundraising meetings and events.
- Lead on the research and evidence sections of proposals, engage directly with technical donors, and cultivate research partnerships.
- Own and manage annual budget allocations for research activities.
Safeguarding
- Safeguarding is everyone's responsibility at Village Enterprise, and it begins with me
- Continuously sensitize program participants on safeguarding.
- Ensure compliance with Village Enterprise's safeguarding policies
- Report any incident of safeguarding in program operations for appropriate action/follow up.
Required Skills and Experience
- Advanced degree (Master's or Ph.D.) in Economics, Development Economics, Public Health, Statistics, Development Studies, International Development, Public Policy, Design Thinking, or a related field.
- 8+ years of experience in research management, preferably in international development or poverty reduction.
- Demonstrated expertise in designing and managing RCTs and other causal evaluation methods.
- Proven ability to manage complex stakeholder relationships, including with external evaluators, academic institutions, and donors.
- Experience designing or conducting cost-effectiveness analyses, including familiarity with costing methodologies used in international development.
- Expertise in organizational knowledge management.
- Excellent written and verbal communication, and strong interpersonal skills, with the ability to collaborate successfully with a range of partners from diverse backgrounds.
- Strong analytical skills, with a track record of translating complex research findings into programmatic recommendations for both technical and non-technical audiences.
- Demonstrated ability to work independently, manage competing priorities, and take initiative in ambiguous or fast-moving environments.
- Experience working in cross-cultural settings, particularly in Sub-Saharan Africa.
- Proficiency in statistical software such as STATA or R.
Core Competencies
- Strategic Thinking: Ability to align research initiatives with organizational priorities and long-term goals.
- Leadership: Proven ability to lead cross-functional teams and external partnerships.
- Adaptability: Comfort working in a dynamic, fast-paced environment with evolving priorities.
- Collaboration: Strong interpersonal skills and ability to work effectively across teams and cultures.
- Innovation: A passion for identifying and testing new approaches to solving complex social challenges.
For complete job description and to apply, visit:
https://villageenterprise.careers.flair.hr/positions/a78Jw00000DuofNIAR
HOW TO APPLY:
To Apply:
Interested and qualified candidates who meet the set criteria are invited to send their Cover Letter and CV (Maximum 3 pages) including 3 referees, on the online platform.
https://villageenterprise.careers.flair.hr/