Company Profile

Innovations for Poverty Action (IPA) is a United States-based non-profit organization dedicated to discovering, and promoting effective solutions to global poverty problems. IPA designs, rigorously evaluate and refines these solutions and their applications together with decision-makers to ensure that the evidence created is used to  improve opportunities for the world’s poor.

Job Description

• Title: Deputy Country Director (Southern Ghana)
• Type:  JOB
• Reports to (title):  Country Director
• Commitment: 2 years
• Location:  Accra, Ghana
• Desired start date (month/year): September 2015

Essential Duties and Responsibilities

IPA seeks a Deputy Country Director (DCD) based in Accra, Ghana to support the Ghana country program. This position provides a unique opportunity to gain high-level management experience in a large country program in a phase of growth in size and visibility, and to be closely involved in policy-relevant research, working with top academics, donors, government and other practitioners to foster evidence based-policy making.

As a member of the IPA Ghana management team, the Deputy Country Director for Southern Ghana will work closely with the Country Director and the Deputy Country Director for Northern Ghana to provide strategic direction, operational support, research oversight and capacity building to a team of over 80 full-time local and international staff. The DCD will oversee several impact evaluations which are expected to span across multiple sectors over time: health, education, financial inclusion and enterprise development.

The Deputy Country Director will also oversee the operations and finance functions of IPA Ghana as a whole. He/she will contribute to IPA’s continued expansion by initiating new partnerships and projects in the country, and will support the dissemination of results to local practitioners and policy makers.

Responsibilities:

Oversee a portfolio of 3 to 5 high-quality research projects:

• Provide day-to-day support and guidance to 5 to 10 research project staff on several ongoing studies to ensure work plans and timelines are met and data quality is high
• Liaise with academic researchers and on the ground research teams to ensure that the research teams adhere to the study design and research protocols
• Ensure that IPA research is implemented according to IPA’s quality standards and Principal Investigators’ direction

Participate in the development of new projects:

• Identify priority research questions and key concerns for policy makers, and initiate and manage the development of corresponding new research proposals
• Lead and initiate a portfolio of project development efforts with researchers, funders and partner organizations
• participate in project design and budgeting during the proposal stage, ensure evaluations are policy relevant and meet IPA standards

Provide oversight to the Operations and Finance functions of IPA Ghana:

• Supervise the Operations Manager: the Operations Manager is leading a team of 9 in charge of human resources, legal compliance, IT, procurement, office management and other operational support in both IPA Ghana offices (Accra and Tamale).
• Supervise the Finance Manager: the Finance Manager is leading a team of 5 staff in charge of accounting, financial projections, advances and payments, and ensuring overall compliance with financial procedures.
• Coordinate support to project teams with respect to budget management
• Perform regular audits/checks of compliance with finance and operations protocols
• Coordinate office meetings and trainings
• Facilitate office communication and promote IPA knowledge management tools

Support the Country Director in representing IPA Ghana with external stakeholders

• Develop new relationships to enhance the relevance and influence of IPA Ghana’s research, oversee targeted dissemination of research findings, encourage scale up of successful projects
• Manage relationships with current and potential IPA partner organizations in the DCD’s portfolio.
• Manage relationships with Principal Investigators in the DCD’s portfolio.
• Participate in capacity building of local development partners in evidence-based policy making and rigorous impact evaluations

Required Skills or Experience

• Masters degree in international affairs, international public policy, development economics, project management or field related to social science and economics research or international development
• A minimum of 5 years of relevant work experience
• Strong technical research skills, including quantitative analysis skills preferred.
• Familiarity with randomized controlled trials preferred
• Experience with financial and operations management
• Experience with managing large teams
• Ability to communicate effectively across cultures with multiple stakeholders including international and local academic researchers, government officials, NGO partners, enumeration teams
• Experience managing funds from multiple donors preferred
• Excellent organization and multitasking skills, ability to work under pressure
• Excellent English communication skills
• Experience living and working in a developing country.
• Commitment to leading a diverse team and building staff capacity
• Passion for connecting rigorous research to policy makers and practitioners
• Innate curiosity, analytic reasoning, and a sense of humor are required.