The Associate Director, Program Evidence oversees the Program Evidence team, which is responsible for global strategy and guidance for monitoring, evaluation, research, learning, and adaptation (MERLA) and strengthening data management, analytics, and data use across the Ipas Network. Program Evidence is part of the Technical Exchange Collective (TEX), a global team of SRH experts that works to foster technical innovation, learning, and exchange across the Ipas Network and among partners to advance reproductive justice and abortion access and rights globally. The Associate Director, Program Evidence is a member of the TEX leadership team, which works to create greater country program impact by supporting the use of technical strategies and tailored interventions designed to meet the needs and preferences of priority stakeholders and in alignment with Ipas’s Sustainable Abortion Ecosystem and strategic framework.
The Associate Director of Program Evidence is a subject-matter expert on MERLA approaches that enhance and highlight the impact of Ipas’s work globally. They are responsible for strategic guidance and decision-making to ensure that evidence-based programming and improvements are the cornerstone of our work throughout the organization. They provide technical leadership for conceptualizing and designing evidence indicators, approaches to data collection and analysis, and data use. They lead a team of MERLA experts to ensure that data are generated and used to robustly demonstrate country program impact and outcomes, as specified in the Ipas Strategic Plan. They oversee the team’s response to network requests in a timely manner while managing global scopes and priorities, and maintain high-level strategic external partnerships to strengthen health outcomes for women and girls.
Hiring range for a US-based candidate is $123,500 to $137,500.00. Compensation for this position will be determined by the prevailing market rate in the employee's country* and the applicable statutory laws, in addition to Ipas's own pay philosophy and other factors, such as the employee's experience level and expertise.
*This position may work remotely from any of the following US states: AZ, CA, CO, DC, FL, GA, IL, MD, MA, MI, NJ, NY, NC, PA, SC, TX, VA, WA. Additionally, the position may work remotely from any of the following countries outside of the US: Bangladesh, Bolivia, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Cote d’Ivoire, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Kenya/Alliance locations, Malawi, Mexico, Mozambique, Nepal, Nigeria, Pakistan, South Africa, and Zambia.
Strategic Leadership & Oversight
- Leads the development of the measurement approach for the organizational strategy and collaborates closely with directors and global staff to monitor and report progress.
- Provides strategic-level oversight to the Program Evidence team to maximize learning from Ipas interventions, monitoring data analysis, and evidence-based practices.
- Works closely with the TEX leadership team to ensure integrated, well-coordinated scopes that drive high-impact, network-wide initiatives and strategies.
- Responsible for communicating the global M&E strategy, metrics, systems, and data to Ipas leadership, the Board of Directors, donors, and external partners.
Program Learning, Research & Evidence
- Oversees the development of the organizational program learning and research agenda.
- Ensures documentation and dissemination of trends, lessons learned, and best practices across countries and regions, and to key stakeholders including the Board, donors, and external audiences.
- Oversees the team's coordination of learning events and technical knowledge-sharing initiatives (e.g., communities of practice, webinars, trainings).
- Oversees documentation and publication of programmatic outcomes and research, including supporting country program staff in publishing.
- Builds external partnerships with evidence-related experts and peer organizations to strengthen impact and advance Ipas’s mission.
Technical Quality & Standards
- Sets network-wide quality standards for MERLA and leads the Program Evidence team in developing tools and resources to support country teams in meeting these standards.
- Identifies, prioritizes, and assigns technical support across the team, ensuring alignment with network quality standards.
Team Leadership & Operations
- Accountable for the recruitment, hiring, supervision, and professional development of Program Evidence team members.
- Oversees support for global recruitment and onboarding of in-country technical staff.
- Accountable for financial management and ensuring appropriate staffing levels.
- Ensures the team functions efficiently and effectively to meet deliverables within scope, timeline, and budget.
Minimum Requirements
- 12+ years of relevant work experience with increasing responsibilities in management of teams
- Relevant graduate-level degree or comparable experience in leading and managing global health strategies and teams
- Experience supervising, coaching and motivating high-level technical staff in a multi-disciplinary team, with focus on encouraging continued growth, shared leadership, and peer support.
- Demonstrated strengths in strategic organizational leadership
- Subject matter expertise relevant to monitoring, evaluation, research, and learning in international health and sexual and reproductive health and rights
- Knowledge and experience in international development and reproductive health and rights
- Ability to represent Ipas externally, including communications and negotiations with partners
- Demonstrated cross-cultural communication and trust-building skills essential (across technical disciplines and societal norms)
- Demonstrated fundraising experience and donor relationship management
- Fluency in written and spoken English
- Ability to travel 20%
Preferred
- Fluency in one or more languages commonly spoken in Ipas program countries other than English
- Experience in the provision of high-impact virtual and in-person technical support and collaboration related to monitoring, evaluation, research, and learning for development programs
- Demonstrated experience in the achievement of goals in global and matrixed organizational structures
- Training in data collection, data analysis and use of data for decision-making
- Strong advocacy and public speaking skills
Competencies
Visionary Implementation- You are able to inspire a shared vision for team. You have successfully helped your staff learn, grow, and thrive in their work. You are known as a visionary whose feet are on the ground. You think big with others and have what it takes to see it through.
Critical Guidance and Conflict Management
Has the skills to face conflict and provide critical guidance with empathy and facts. Can deliver difficult feedback with care. Encourages team members to share their concerns directly and helps develop the skills to make it a productive and valued experience. Understands the benefits of conflict and supports colleagues to embrace different perspectives, learn from others, to understand themselves and co-create new ideas. .
Humble- You realize what you don’t know is a lot more than what you know, and you don’t care who gets credit for real progress. You relish the challenge of driving change through persuasion and influence, not delegation.
Self-Awareness. Demonstrates a high degree of self-awareness and capacity to notice and address the overt or subtle impact of how personal socialization and workstyle affects others. Understands power dynamics and continuously seeks to dismantle patterns of neocolonialism with grace and compassion. Welcomes feedback and provides it with skill.
Simplify- You quickly distill complexity to essential and simple concepts and approaches.
Ipas se compromete firmemente a proporcionar un entorno de trabajo que esté libre de todas las formas de acoso, discriminación e inequidad. Contratamos, empleamos, capacitamos, promovemos y compensamos a nuestro personal sin distinción de raza, edad, sexo, religión, nacionalidad, color, religión, ascendencia, ciudadanía, casta, origen étnico, identidad regional, identidad tribal, estado civil, condición de veterano, servicio militar, discapacidad, información genética, identidad de género, expresión de género, condición de transgénero, orientación sexual o cualquier otra característica personal protegida por la ley o detallada en la política de Ipas. Ipas reconoce que estas características personales pueden ser distintas en diferentes contextos.