R4D is rapidly expanding its work in monitoring, evaluation, and learning through a growing portfolio of projects that work with in-country partners to design, test, adapt and evaluate interventions to improve their social impact. We call this our Learning Lab, and are seeking a Program Associate/Senior Program Associate to support the growing Learning Lab team.

As an integral member of the Learning Lab team, the Senior Program Associate will support the Learning Lab team across multiple projects by providing research, project management, and administrative support. This position supports a new and growing team and thus is a great opportunity for a talented person who wants to get in on the ground floor and creatively contribute and eventually take on ownership over components of the Learning Lab’s important and exciting work.

Summary of Qualifications:

The ideal Senior Program Associate will be a highly motivated individual with outstanding credentials, analytical ability, and communication and presentation skills. The Senior Program Associate must be able to function with some supervision, complete duties creatively and effectively, and have a strong commitment to excellence. The ideal candidate for this position will possess the following qualifications:

1-4 years of relevant work experience in international development at a research organization, academic institution, government, bilateral or multilateral development agency, consulting firm, NGO, or think tank
A demonstrated knowledge of global development issues, with interest and experience in evaluation and learning
Excellent writing, editing, presentation, and inter-personal skills; strong oral and written communication skills, including the ability to prepare compelling presentations and present data in a way that is easily understood
High level of organization and attention to detail
Ability to set priorities and handle competing time and resource demands
Ability to work independently and as a team member
Willingness to travel
Enthusiasm, energy, good judgment, and humor

Additional Requirements:

Experience living and working in a developing country is a plus
Knowledge of Stata or other data analysis software is a plus
Professional proficiency in a foreign language is a plus

Summary of Job Description:

Responsibilities of the Senior Program Associate would encompass a range of research, project management and administrative tasks across multiple projects including:

Conducting background research on relevant technical and policy issues and effectively summarizing the findings
Producing highly polished presentations, concept notes, briefing materials, and other products such as blog posts, newsletters, meeting summaries, thought pieces, and e-communications on key topics of interest
Fostering current and future collaborative relationships with country and technical partners
Assisting with data management, cleaning, and quantitative analyses as needed
Participating in relevant conferences, workshops, and meetings; preparing briefing notes and writing summary reports, as necessary
Assisting with a range of project management and administrative responsibilities, including developing contracts, drafting consultant scopes of work, budgeting and expenditure tracking, processing invoices and expenses, organizing meetings and workshops, coordinating travel arrangements, supporting new staff onboarding
Assisting with the development of proposals
Drafting sections of donor reports and coordinates the input of other team members
Supporting outreach activities, including drafting blog posts and coordinating social media campaigns
Providing surge capacity for in-country learning and evaluation activities
Performing other duties as assigned

Successful program and administrative staff at R4D excel along a number of key performance dimensions. R4D’s 7 Performance Dimensions are:

Task and team management, including proactive planning and prioritization, reliable and timely delivery, efficiency, flexibility and adaptability, and resourcefulness in problem solving.
Communication, including structure, clarity, fluency, and creativity of written documents and presentations, effective facilitation of groups, and clarity and enthusiasm in oral communications.
Analysis, including logical structuring of information and analytical questions, effective issue-identification, critical reasoning, quantitative analysis, and ability to synthesize information.
Thought-leadership, including development of new ideas and approaches, creation of new knowledge, and reputation as an expert on key topics both internally and externally.
Entrepreneurship, including initiative in identifying and pursuing opportunities for existing projects as well as for new areas of work, development of relationships that lead to new opportunities, and engagement in new business development.
Teamwork and leadership, including positive attitude, responsiveness, active listening, inspiring and motivating others, effective coaching, judgment and integrity, and contribution to overall R4D efforts (e.g., recruiting, fundraising, community service, social).
Partner engagement, including responsiveness to external stakeholders (funders, clients, partners, governments, vendors,) ability to negotiate difficult situations and work with challenging partners, and long-term relationship development.

R4D aims to hire and nurture talented, energetic people who are passionate about making a difference for the poor in developing countries, while capable of taking an analytic and pragmatic view toward development challenges. We seek people who fit well into our organizational model.

How to apply

Please send your cover letter, resume, salary range requirements and 2 writing samples to jobs@r4d.org and csynowiec@r4d.org. Include ‘Senior Program Associate (Learning Lab) – Your Name’ in the Subject line. In addition to detailing your qualifications and interest, please also mention your start-date availability.

Applications will be considered on a rolling basis until the deadline of October 16, 2015.