Position Title: Senior Research and Evaluation Specialist

Status: Regular, Full Time

Location: Seattle

Classification: Exempt (Not Eligible for Overtime Pay)

Date: June 2015

Job Summary: The Senior Research and Evaluation Specialist (Senior Specialist) is an experienced professional who will lead and/or support the design and implementation of gender-sensitive and nuanced research, monitoring and evaluation activities to expand knowledge and test innovative approaches for strengthening the rural poor’s access and rights to land.

Reporting and relationships: The Senior Specialist reports to the Senior Director of Research and Evaluation.

Availability: The Senior Specialist will be expected to work a standard workweek of 40 hours plus additional hours as necessary to get the job done. This position requires substantial international travel between 40 and 100 days per year.Evenings and weekends will be required at times.

Essential Job Functions: The Senior Specialist will be responsible for supporting Landesa’s mission, strategic objectives, and its programs by carrying out a wide range of land-related research, monitoring and evaluation activities such as:

Providing organization-wide support by helping identify knowledge gaps and ways to address them;

Working closely with Landesa staff as well as partners at universities, research institutions, development agencies, government offices, and NGOs who will help create or use land-related research, monitoring, and evaluation findings;

Leading the research, monitoring, and evaluation components of Landesa’s interventions and managing research, monitoring, and evaluation projects;

Designing and carrying out formative field-research using techniques such as participatory rural appraisal, field assessments, community mappings, key informant interviews, focus group exercises, and stakeholder analysis;

Designing and implementing research, monitoring, and evaluation strategies to create land-related knowledge or to help enhance interventions designed to strengthen the land rights of the rural poor;

Enhancing the efficiency and consistency of Landesa’s learning by contributing to the development of standardized and gender-sensitive research, monitoring and evaluation tools that can be used across projects;

Writing and reviewing proposals or sections of proposals relevant to research, monitoring, and evaluation;

Preparing terms of reference, supporting, and supervising research, monitoring, and evaluation partners;

Designing and testing research, monitoring, and evaluation tools;

Training data gatherers and supervising fieldwork activities;

Designing databases and supervising data entry and data cleaning activities;

Analyzing primary and secondary quantitative and qualitative data using software such as Stata and Nvivo;

Producing clear, compelling, and methodologically robust reports, journal articles, policy briefs, slide presentations, and other ways of making research, monitoring, and evaluation results available and accessible to Landesa audiences;

Presenting research, monitoring and evaluation finding and recommendations to key target audiences, including policy makers, rural communities, civil society, researchers, and funders;

Representing Landesa at conferences and policy, advocacy, and research workshops; and,

Supporting efforts to build land-related research, monitoring and evaluation capacity of Landesa and its partners.

Required Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities:

Strong foundation in statistical methods and analysis of quantitative data;
Passion for work that seeks to alleviate poverty and foster social justice;
Experience designing and implementing rigorous research;
Ability and commitment to apply a gender-sensitive approach in his or her work;
Self-motivated and able to set and meet goals;
Strong conceptual and analytical skills;
Ability to work effectively as both a team member and a team leader and move easily between the two roles;
Rigorous attention to detail;
Working knowledge of budgets and financials;
Flexibility and ability to work simultaneously on multiple projects;
Ability to work in support of and collaboratively with a range of people cross-culturally and at all levels, including Landesa employees both foreign and domestic, Landesa and Project management teams, Landesa donors, Landesa partners including senior government officials, civil society organizations, visitors, contractors and subcontractors, outside vendors and services suppliers, and other administrative staff members;
Superior ability to communicate well in writing, orally, and non-verbally. Includes an ability to make and use distinctions as to types, frequency, tenor, and levels of communications, depending upon the circumstances, audience, recipient, and content; and,
Experience working with Stata, SPSS and Nvivo preferred.

Education and Experience:

Graduate degree in Economics, Sociology, Natural Resources Economics, Agricultural Economics or closely related field, with a strong foundation in statistical methods;
At least five years of progressively responsible experience in performing most or all of the duties described above; and,
Experience carrying out rural development gender-sensitive work in cross-cultural settings preferred.

Work Environment and Working Conditions for Travelers to Developing Countries: While performing the duties of this job, the employee may be exposed to working conditions and hazards which are prevalent for the location and/or country of assignment. The noise level in the work environment is usually moderate. Work is primarily performed indoors with some potential for exposure to safety and health hazards related to electronics work. The employee may be required to travel overseas and domestically. When traveling in a developing country, the employee may be exposed to: Physical Hazards (illnesses, noise, extreme temperatures, wet or humid climates, etc.). Road Hazards (unfinished/dirt roads, potholes, traffic-related accidents, etc.), and Atmospheric Conditions (odors, dust, fumes, smog, etc.).

Additional Comments: The above job description is not intended as, nor should it be construed as, exhaustive of all responsibilities, skills, efforts, or working conditions associated with this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made in appropriate circumstances to enable qualified individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions of this job.

How to apply

Qualified candidates may apply by submitting a resume and cover letter to jobs@landesa.org, with the title “RME-I” in the subject line. No phone calls please. Landesa is an Equal Opportunity Employer.