Assessment & Research Manager at Save the Children Nigeria

Save the Children is the leading independent organization for children in need, with programs in over 120 countries. We save children’s lives. We fight for their rights. We help them fulfil their potential. Save the Children is working in Nigeria because one in five children in Nigeria dies before their fifth birthday. About 40% of children miss out on school and have to work to survive while nearly 2 million children have lost one or both parents to an AIDS-related disease.

We are recruiting to fill the position below:

Job Title: Assessment & Research Manager

Job ID: 210004I8
Location: Abuja (FCT)
Grade: 3
Team / Programme: MEAL, PDQ
Employee Status: Fixed Term
Reports to: Head of Monitoring Evaluation Accountability & Learning

Child Safeguarding

Level 3 – The responsibilities of the post may require the post holder to have regular contact with or access to children or young people.

Role Purpose

The Assessment & Research Manager has the primary responsibility of planning, facilitating, and managing all assessments research and evaluation studies carried out by the Nigeria office.
The job holder will collaborate with the MEAL and Operations team to provide strategic input and guidance on all assessments, research and evaluation studies, directly contributing to or managing: research goals, planning, design, analysis, reporting, distribution, and training.
The post holder will support in building systems and staff capacity to ensure that all assessments, research and evaluation are of high quality and meet SCI and donor timelines and guidance

Scope of Role
The job holder will be responsible for the following:

Determine the purpose and type of assessment, evaluation or research that may be needed when designing and budgeting for a project.
Formulate key research questions that will help to advance the evidence base, and lead design of targeted assessment, evaluations and operations research.
Contribute to the development of a ToR for all assessment, research and evaluations.
Support field teams, partners and consultants in the development and review of study methodology, processes and tools for data collection and analysis. Monitor the data collection process and review assessment reports
Effectively manage assessments, baseline and evaluation study processes, putting in place a functional Activity Tracking Table
Ensure that for all study activities that involve human participants, ethical and risk assessment are done.
Ensure that adequate training, procedures and referral options are in place to address any child safeguarding issues that may arise for all study activities
Actively contribute to the process of learning, evaluation, capturing and disseminating lessons from country projects for continuous improvement of project performance and overall outcome
Directly contribute to and manage creation of assessment and research reports and presentations, including drafting the findings report and presentation, and collaborating with stakeholders on design and production. Collaborate with team on key assessment and research talking points.
Manage the process and ensure assessment and research findings/reports/presentations are announced and distributed. Seek and manage the development and distribution of new/innovative methods for sharing the findings with internal and external stakeholders
Support in building our evidence base, in line with our learning agenda, on what works for children, e.g. researching new common approaches or updating/ refining existing common approaches
Promote capacity building of MEAL and program teams on research methodologies and processes through trainings, coaching, and mentoring.
Submit information on designing, planning or implementing an evaluation or assessment onto the Global Evaluation and Assessment Pipeline.
Upload finalised assessment, baseline survey or evaluation report onto the Global Evaluation and Assessment Repository or the Global Thematic Library

Skills and Behaviors (Our Values in Practice)

Accountability:

Holds self-accountable for making decisions, managing resources efficiently, achieving and role modelling Save the Children values.
Holds the team and partners accountable to deliver on their responsibilities – giving them the freedom to deliver in the best way they see fit, providing the necessary development to improve performance and applying appropriate consequences when results are not achieved.

Ambition:

Sets ambitious and challenging goals for themselves (and their team), takes responsibility for their own personal development and encourages others to do the same.
Widely shares their personal vision for Save the Children, engages and motivates others.
Future orientated thinks strategically.

Collaboration:

Builds and maintains effective relationships with their team, colleagues, Members and external partners and supporters.
Values diversity, sees it as a source of competitive strength.
Approachable, good listener, easy to talk to.

Creativity:

Develops and encourages new and innovative solutions.
Willing to take disciplined risks.

Integrity:

Honest, encourages openness and transparency.

Qualifications, Skills and Experiences

A minimum of five years of conducting assessments, evaluation and research humanitarian and development contexts, preferably with solid experience in more than one of the Save the Children priority sectors: education, protection, rights governance, health and nutrition, and emergencies
Extensive experience in research and monitoring and evaluation methodology and analysis (qualitative, quantitative, participatory) including design of systems and tools, data analysis and report writing
Experience in strategic thinking and planning skills, ability to set priorities, prepare manageable plans and to evaluate progress.
Excellent written and oral communication skills including proven success in ability to present ideas and concepts effectively and persuasively.
Excellent analytical and project management skills including demonstrated ability to set and manage priorities and multiple tasks. Outcomes and deadlines oriented.
Excellent attention to detail. Organized and process-oriented
Ability to establish and maintain conducive collegial relations and perform effectively as a member of a team.
Willingness to travel and work in hard-to-reach areas, occasionally under strenuous conditions.
Computer literacy with experience in the use of data analysis software like SPPS, STATA
Highly developed cultural awareness and ability to work well in an international environment with people from diverse backgrounds and cultures

Additional Job Responsibilities:

The duties and responsibilities as set out above are not exhaustive and the role holder may be required to carry out additional duties within reasonableness of their level of skills and experience.

Child Safeguarding:

We need to keep children safe so our selection process, which includes rigorous background checks, reflects our commitment to the protection of children from abuse.

Safeguarding our Staff: