Country Director Job Vacancy at IPA Zambia

Job Title:Country Director (Zambia)

Africa/Middle East

IPA is looking for a Country Director to manage operations in Zambia. IPA Country Directors help IPA grow by initiating new partnerships and projects in their countries. We arecurrently expanding projects in IPA Zambia, particularly with the Ministry of Health, with significant opportunity for research with large policy impact. This provides a unique opportunity to be closely involved in cutting-edge research and to work with top academics. Country directors oversee project evaluations and manage IPA staff. Country Directors also play a key role in disseminating our results to local practitioners and policy makers, as well as in building local research capacity. The position therefore provides the opportunity toboth spend significant time on the field, but also to interact with key players in development organizations, donors, academia, and governments. The position will start in summer 2012.

Current research projects in Zambia draw on behavioral economics and sociology in their designs, and include research on the optimal way to distribute health products, understanding male preferences in family planning choices, and technology adoption in both health and agriculture.

Job Description:

The Country Director manages the research activities of the IPA Zambia office in the following ways:
Initiate and manage the development of new research proposals including both the technical design as well as identifying and applying for funding support.
Contribute to research design of projects, with particular emphasis on tailoring research to the local context. Ensure compliance with research design and communicate closely with PIs.
Manage relationships with current and potential IPA partner organizations in the implementation of interventions whose effect we are researching.
Disseminate results via local and international presentations, reports, and publications.
Manage a team of Project Associates/Coordinators, whose responsibilities include project design and implementation, data collection, data management and analysis, and reports.
Liaise with US-based and local Principal Investigators and IPA headquarters.
Oversee basic administrative tasks related to the management of the Zambia office, oversee project budgets, ensure compliance with Zambian legal and regulatory requirements, participate in grant reporting and other financial management tasks.

Qualifications Required:

Graduate degree in international affairs, international public policy, development economics, or field related to international economic development.
Experience and ability to work with government.
Significant management experience in prior positions.
Very high level of proficiency in English. Strong oral and written communications skills.
Excellent management and organizational skills and ability to work independently.
Experience in conducting field research in developing countries, cultural sensitivity, and demonstrated ability to work successfully with diverse constituencies.
Experience in economics or social science research. Field experience very highly valued.

Preferred

· Experience with data management, econometrics, and advanced knowledge of Stata.
· Experience with randomized controlled trials.
· Prior experience in Africa.

Start Date: Preferred June or July, 2012

How to Apply:

If you are interested, please do two things:

1. Complete the J-PAL/IPA common application at http://apply.povertyactionlab.org/apply/login indicating that you are interested in applying for a "Type 3" position. Pleasenote: you are not required to include transcripts or letters of recommendation upon initial submission. After submitting, you can edit your application at any time and may add these materials, if requested.
2. Send an email to jobs@poverty-action.org AND cc klevin-russell@poverty-action.org, following these instructions exactly:

In the subject line: Put your full name, first (given) name followed by last (family) name.
Attachments: Please attach your resume and cover letter.
In the email body: Copy exactly the following position line: 100294 IPAZambia, Country Director

Please do not include any text besides the position line(s) in the body of the e-mail. Adding extra text will interfere with the processing of your application.

If you are applying to multiple positions, you can put multiple positions lines in the same email. And you may send multiple such emails. However, please do not do this for more than 10 positions per every 6 month period. So, if you put 10 position lines in one email, then that counts as ten. Or if you put 4 in one email, and 6 in another, that also counts as ten.

J-PAL and IPA work closely together to conduct rigorous impact evaluations to test and improve the effectiveness of poverty reduction programs. Only short-listed candidates will be contacted for an interview.