Senior Manager, Evidence and Insights(Ethiopia)

About this role

Who We Are

Girl Effect is an international non-profit organization dedicated to addressing challenges faced by adolescent girls and youth in Ethiopia. Operating in the country since 2013, the organization leverages Social and Behavior Change (SBC) strategies, combining media and on-the-ground interventions to tackle various societal issues and empower young people. Girl Effect Ethiopia created the youth brand Yegna in 2014, since reaching over 10 million people through multiple products, outreach programs, girl networks, and research pieces done all for the betterment of adolescent lives.

We create safe spaces for girls, sharing facts and answering questions about health, nutrition, education, relationships, etc. And we use innovative technology so we can reach girls at scale. We arm girls with the skills to negotiate and redefine what they are told is possible, so every girl can choose to be in control of her body, her health, her learning and livelihood.

When a girl unlocks her power to make different choices that change her life, it inspires others to do so too. She starts a ripple effect that impacts her family, community, and country.

That’s the Girl Effect.

Context of the Role

Girl Effect Ethiopia's programs only work if they are built on real evidence rather than assumption. This role sits at the center of that principle: it is responsible for designing the tools and methods we use to gather insight from adolescent girls, young people, and the communities we serve before a program is designed, while it is being delivered, and on an ongoing basis, so that everything we build starts, and continues, from evidence of people's actual needs, behaviors, and realities.

The Evidence and Insight function does not sit downstream of programming as a reporting exercise; it sits ahead of, and alongside, it. In practice, this means designing rigorous quantitative and qualitative research tools fit for challenging and varied contexts; staying on top of insight as it comes in from the field across our program regions, including hard-to-reach and pastoralist communities; and turning what is learned into clear, well-evidenced analysis that is presented back as a direct input into program design, adaptation, and decision-making, not as a report that arrives after the fact.

The role also carries responsibility for the regular and active evaluation of Girl Effect's products, services, and projects, not as a periodic compliance exercise, but as a continuous discipline that keeps our programming accountable to the people it serves and to the impact we have committed to delivering.

What you will do

• Working with the local and global team, design the tools, methods and knowledge-building strategy used to gather insight from adolescent girls and young people,before, during, and after program design, that effectively informs, monitors and evaluates the design and delivery of Yegna & other Girl Effect programs in Ethiopia against their objectives.

• Lead the implementation of the research and evidence strategy, providing strategic oversight and quality control of all research and insight activities, survey and tool design, data collection, analysis, and reporting, and stay closely on top of incoming insight so that findings are surfaced quickly enough to shape live program decisions, not just retrospective learning.

• Present analysis and findings as a direct input into program design and adaptation, translating evidence into clear recommendations for program, gender, and safeguarding colleagues and for senior stakeholders.

• Lead regular and active evaluation of Girl Effect's products, services, and projects, ensuring performance and outcome data are tracked continuously rather than assessed only at set reporting milestones.

• Manage the market research budget and prioritize resources to maximize the value of research and evidence generation activities.

• Collaborate department level managers and communications colleagues to ensure the effective coordination of research and uptake of learnings.

• Develop research partnerships with local and international research organizations to maximize opportunities for cost-sharing and joint learning.

• Work closely with the various teams; Programme Leads, Gender and SBCC manager, Safeguarding, Create Team.

• Work closely with the create team in collaboration with Gender and SBCC manager and Safeguarding in creating impactful and measurable products.

This list should not be considered exhaustive; you will be expected to deliver other duties relevant and appropriate to this position.

Who you are

You are an individual who…

• Is confident in designing complex quantitative and qualitative research projects to meet challenging briefs, particularly relating to measuring social and behavior change

• Has experience in managing fieldwork processes for data collection, for both qualitative and quantitative research projects

• Is versatile and flexible in managing moving and changing timelines and briefs, in a busy and challenging environment

• Lateral thinking and an ability to bring fresh approaches to traditional issues or problems.

• Shows excellent attention to detail and prioritizes quality and rigor in their work

• Can clearly relay research findings to an audience without research expertise, whilst bringing to life the results in a way that resonates with key stakeholders

• Is interested in the experiences of adolescent girls across the world, and believes in supporting them to meet their full potential

• Oral and written communication skills in English and Amharic

• Use of Microsoft Office suite

• Strong communications and organizational skills, and the ability to work effectively with people from different professional disciplines in the private and public sectors

• Can-do, positive attitude and ability to take initiative

• Capable of mentoring and coaching team members

• Forward thinking and strategic mindset

Minimum experience…