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Head of Research, Reflection & Evaluating (Hybrid / Remote)

Head of Research, Reflection & Evaluating (Hybrid / Remote)

DataFinWorkFromHome, Free State, South Africa
30+ days ago
Job type
  • Remote
Job description

Overview

ENVIRONMENT : LEAD research programmes & projects in a relatively new and exciting Innovation & Learning portfolio as the next Head of Research, Reflection & Evaluating sought by a Community Upliftment Programme based in Johannesburg. You will explore and seek new knowledge and introducing what’s valuable to the programme appropriately, manage research & evaluation assets while designing appropriate (often mixed methods) approaches and adapting these over time. Applicants will require a Masters Degree or equivalent with relevant experience, preferably PhD with practical experience with at least 8 years’ relevant and diverse experience in complex organisational-systemic contexts incl.

4 years in senior role(s) successfully leading functions and managing teams. You must also have experience of social impact initiatives, programmes and / or organisations, thoughtful familiarity with M&E / MEL / MERL approaches and practices & a track record of, and strong appetite for, seeing patterns and building coherence amid complexity.

Duties

Leading and developing approach(es) to identifying, creating, nurturing and sharing knowledge (know-how & know-that) for use across the network and ecosystem –

  • Explore and seek new knowledge and introducing what’s valuable to the programme appropriately.
  • Collaboratively question key assumptions.
  • Collaboratively identify, create, and package knowledge for use & sharing –
  • Lead an asset-based orientation to knowledge.
  • Create, distil and / or package knowledge from people’s experience and expertise, with an orientation towards people’s agency & diversity, and “positive deviance”.

Co-create the network-wide conditions for more deeply reflective practice and evaluative thinking (with the rest of the Innovation & Learning portfolio) -

  • Reflective practice : asking questions & questioning assumptions about one’s own work and ways of working (standing on the balcony outside the dance, double loop learning, reflexivity, etc.).
  • Evaluative thinking : “an attitude of inquisitiveness and a belief in the value of evidence”…

    • Leading and developing approach(es) to researching and evaluating -

  • Lead and manage an iterative, multi-question, multi-year agenda focused on use / utilisation.
  • Build wider understanding across the programme of the nature and value of questioning, researching & evaluating — incl. evaluating as integral to practice; and research as informed by & informing practice.
  • Lead the programme using research in evaluating and using both in learning.
  • Build and sustain research-practice partnerships to realise the programme’s approach.
  • Manage research & evaluation assets.
  • Researching : Curiously and creatively formulate, prioritise, and inquire into questions with appropriate discipline(s) and diligence — yielding conclusions and new questions.
  • Evaluating : “Any systematic process to judge merit, worth or significance by combining evidence and values”. More specifically : “Evaluation science is systematic inquiry into how, and how well, interventions aimed at changing the world work.”

    • Leading scoping, designing and managing research and evaluation programmes and projects –

  • Design appropriate (often mixed methods) approaches and adapting these over time.
  • Develop appropriate terms of reference and requests for proposal for independent evaluations.
  • Lead and manage research and / or evaluation programmes and / or projects.
  • Conduct research and / or evaluations.

    • Requirements

    Qualifications –

  • Minimum Masters Degree or equivalent with relevant experience; preferably PhD with practical experience.

    • Experience / Skills –

  • Min. 8 years’ relevant and diverse experience in complex organisational-systemic contexts incl.
  • Min. 4 years in senior role(s) successfully leading functions and managing teams.
  • Experience of social impact initiatives, programmes and / or organisations.
  • Comfort and confidence leading sophisticated research and evaluations.
  • People-and-user-centered approaches to research and evaluating.
  • Thoughtful familiarity with M&E / MEL / MERL approaches and practices.
  • A track record of, and strong appetite for, seeing patterns and building coherence amid complexity.

    • Advantageous –

  • Fluency in one or more African languages.
  • Proficiency in / with –
  • Tools suited to relevant research methods.
  • Developmental evaluation.

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