Head of Research, Reflection & Evaluating (Hybrid/Remote)
Other
KwaZulu Natal – South Africa, Johannesburg – Gauteng – South Africa, Western Cape – South Africa, Remote
ENVIRONMENT:
LEAD research programmes & projects in a relatively new and exciting Innovation & Learning portfolio as the next Head of Research, Reflection & Evaluating sought by a Community Upliftment Programme based in Johannesburg. You will explore and seek new knowledge and introducing what’s valuable to the programme appropriately, manage research & evaluation assets while designing appropriate (often mixed methods) approaches and adapting these over time. Applicants will require a Masters Degree or equivalent with relevant experience, preferably PhD with practical experience with at least . 8 years’ relevant and diverse experience in complex organisational-systemic contexts incl.
4 years in senior role(s) successfully leading functions and managing teams. You must also have experience of social impact initiatives, programmes and/or organisations, thoughtful familiarity with M&E/MEL/MERL approaches and practices & a track record of, and strong appetite for, seeing patterns and building coherence amid complexity.
DUTIES:
Leading and developing approach(es) to identifying, creating, nurturing and sharing knowledge (know-how & know-that) for use across the network and ecosystem –
- Explore and seek new knowledge and introducing what’s valuable to the programme appropriately.
- Collaboratively question key assumptions.
- Collaboratively identify, create, and package knowledge for use & sharing –
- Lead an asset-based orientation to knowledge.
- Create, distil and/or package knowledge from people’s experience and expertise, with an orientation towards people’s agency & diversity, and “positive deviance”.
- Co-create the network-wide conditions for more deeply reflective practice and evaluative thinking (with the rest of the Innovation & Learning portfolio) –
- Reflective practice: asking questions & questioning assumptions about one’s own work and ways of working (standing on the balcony outside the dance, double loop learning, reflexivity, etc.).
- Evaluative thinking: “an attitude of inquisitiveness and a belief in the value of evidence”…
Leading and developing approach(es) to researching and evaluating –
- Lead and manage an iterative, multi-question, multi-year agenda focused on use/utilisation.
- Build wider understanding across the programme of the nature and value of questioning, researching & evaluating — incl. evaluating as integral to practice; and research as informed by & informing practice.
- Lead the programme using research in evaluating and using both in learning.
- Build and sustain research-practice partnerships to realise the programme’s approach.
- Manage research & evaluation assets.
- Researching: Curiously and creatively formulate, prioritise, and inquire into questions with appropriate discipline(s) and diligence — yielding conclusions and new questions.
- Evaluating: “Any systematic process to judge merit, worth or significance by combining evidence and values”. More specifically: “Evaluation science is systematic inquiry into how, and how well, interventions aimed at changing the world work.”
Leading scoping, designing and managing research and evaluation programmes and projects –
- Design appropriate (often mixed methods) approaches and adapting these over time.
- Develop appropriate terms of reference and requests for proposal for independent evaluations.
- Lead and manage research and/or evaluation programmes and/or projects.
- Conduct research and/or evaluations.
REQUIREMENTS:
Qualifications –
- Minimum Masters Degree or equivalent with relevant experience; preferably PhD with practical experience.
Experience/Skills –
- Min. 8 years’ relevant and diverse experience in complex organisational-systemic contexts incl.
- Min. 4 years in senior role(s) successfully leading functions and managing teams.
- Experience of social impact initiatives, programmes and/or organisations.
- Comfort and confidence leading sophisticated research and evaluations.
- People-and-user-centered approaches to research and evaluating.
- Thoughtful familiarity with M&E/MEL/MERL approaches and practices.
- A track record of, and strong appetite for, seeing patterns and building coherence amid complexity.
Advantageous –
- Fluency in one or more African languages.
- Proficiency in/with –
- Tools suited to relevant research methods.
- Developmental evaluation.