Research Manager

The Research Manager seeks to understand the problems that schools, teachers and students in East Africa face and to find innovative ways to improve our work. The workstream oversees and develops research to test new initiatives, the effectiveness of pilot interventions, and ways to improve the delivery of our Goals. This research is hugely important for shaping the future strategy of the charity. You will be an active member of the Logistics and Delivery Committee, and the role involves recruiting, nurturing and managing a team of volunteers and associates from the pool to assist you in the delivery of your objectives.

Each year EPAfrica aims to have a number of Project Researchers (PRs), either for desk-based research during the year or for in-country research during the summer. PRs are recruited and supported by the Research Manager, who will work with the Training and Summer Operations Managers to ensure that any in-country researchers are fully trained and integrated into the summer programme. Ultimately the Research Manager aims to publish research findings on our website, and works closely with the M&E and Programme Managers to ensure that any pilots and new interventions are closely monitored and that the necessary data is collected and analysed.

The Research Manager is involved in designing and developing EPAfrica’s research projects, and therefore plays a key role in helping EPAfrica to understand how we can improve the work that we are doing, and what we might do in the future. This is a great opportunity to lead a team and develop research management skills in a practical setting, with the aim of delivering outcomes that can inform EPAfrica’s strategy.

Key responsibilities include:

• Engagement and deployment of Associate volunteers within the Logistics and Delivery ‘pool’
• Recruitment of Project Researchers
• Overseeing the methodology and design of researchers’ projects throughout the year
• Liaising with the Monitoring and Evaluation and Programme Manager to develop research projects that can inform EPAfrica’s strategy and understanding of our work.
• Supporting researchers during the ethical review process
• Providing on-going support to Project Researchers when they are in-country by answering questions and providing advice
• Guiding researchers during the analysis and writing up process of their research to ensure that their outputs are of high quality and useful for the charity’s work, and managing strict deadlines for submission.

Competencies