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Responsibilities

Country Office Oversight - 35%

• Providing strategic and inspiring leadership to the country offices in East Africa and Asia

• Provide oversight to the overall financial and operational health and sustainability of country offices with a focus on award/ project financial management and high-quality program delivery.

• Supervise and mentor a team of Country Directors and recruit country office leadership when required, with responsibility over the leadership of country offices during transition periods (both planned and unplanned).

• Provide individualized support and mentorship to country leadership with an emphasis on staff retention and development and organizational structure innovation.

• Guide and oversee Country Programs with annual planning and budgeting and oversee country teams throughout the year to ensure that plans are executed successfully and KPIs are met.

• Collaborate with IPA’s functional teams to support and advise Country Programs on strategic, managerial, and operational issues, contribute to, roll out, and ensure compliance with operational manuals and policies to standardize operations across country offices.

• Regularly review IPA’s presence in East Africa and Asia, conduct systematic assessments (risk, safety and security, sustainability, etc.) of existing country offices, and recommend and actively support expansion of IPA into new geographies.

• Act as the main point of contact on safety and security and crisis management for the East Africa and Asia region.

Business/Project Development Guidance - 15%

• Oversee the development of new research projects in East Africa and Asia ensuring that they align well with IPA’s mission and standards and that new projects are adequately planned and budgeted for; review all project budgets before submission for accuracy and precision.

• Support strategic project development opportunities across the region to refine and develop IPA’s presence in East Africa and Asia, looking for opportunities to grow, including in new countries;

• Encourage communication and collaboration between IPA Country Offices, the Policy team, the Right Fit Evidence team, and Sector Programs and help to facilitate matchmaking of potential implementing partners, researchers, and donors.

• Help coordinate cross-country and cross-regional project development efforts and act as the main point of contact for donors, partners, and researchers.

Research and Policy Development and Quality - 15%

• Work with Country Programs to refine their research focus and grow their sector approach with key stakeholders and to set a corresponding agenda for policy engagement and project development.

• Collaborate closely with the Policy and Right Fit Evidence teams to support the training of managers and Country Directors and the roll-out of joint projects in West Africa.

• Promote high-quality research and support the roll-out of innovations in research methods.

• Stay abreast of IPA/J-PAL evidence and support linkages between global and local research agendas.

• Present on evaluation and about IPA and IPA’s research and policy projects to internal and external audiences.

IPA Global Programs and Cross-functional Leadership - 20%

• Contribute to and champion global priorities including IPA’s Strategic Ambition and ensure that global goals are part of country plans and priorities.

• As a member of IPA’s senior leadership, lead cross-functional special projects across the organization that seek to address unexpected crises and/ or to solve long-standing organizational pain points.

• In coordination with IPA’s Global Operations Director, play a focal point liaison role between the Global Programs team and IPA functional support teams to ensure strong coordination and integrated support across the organization and at the regional level. Strengthen regional support centers that provide administrative support services across country offices.

• Coordinate with internal teams to achieve results for Country Programs and provide Country Programs’ perspective to functional team leads.

• Promote IPA’s principles and values across Country Offices and oversee a strong culture for effective teamwork and performance.

  
  

External Representation and Partnerships -15%

• Advise on the development and management of external relationships with donors, researchers, and partners in the region and closely coordinate activities, both in the development and implementation of country research and policy agendas and projects.

• Create new and strengthen existing donor relationships and perform the role of steward for selected donors.

• Provide advice and support to Country Office teams in developing and building the capacity of partners on the ground to undertake impact evaluations.