Regional Technical Coordinator/Manager, Kenya at Innovations for Poverty Action (IPA)

The Regional Technical Manager is an expert in survey programming, data management, and data analysis, whose primary objective is delivering high quality technical products across projects and countries in the East Africa region. The Regional Technical Manager will also supervise, and build the capacity of, a Kenya-based team of regional technical specialists. This position is part of a global network reporting to IPA’s Global Research and Data Support (GRDS) team based in New York City. The Regional Technical Manager’s role will include, but not be limited to, the following activities:

Responsibilities 

• Partnering with project teams to deliver high-quality technical products (40%)
  • The Regional Technical Manager will work directly with research project teams to code high-quality technical deliverables, such as complex digital surveys, data flow and data quality control systems, advanced statistical analysis, or technical reports.
  • The Regional Technical Specialist will work mainly in SurveyCTO and Stata. 
• Supervising a team of regional technical specialists (40%)
  • The Regional Technical Manager will oversee a small team of regional technical specialists based in Kenya.
  • This will include day-to-day management, as well as code reviews, troubleshooting support, and capacity building.   
• Contributing to technical resource development (10%)
  • The Regional Technical Manager will work with the Global Research & Data Support network on technical resource development.
  • This might include piloting or debugging new technical tools (such as Stata-based data analysis tools), writing documentation, networking with other regional technical teams, or even developing new technical tools for regional and global research staff.
• Supporting other research-related activities as necessary (10%)
  • The Regional Technical Manager may be asked to e.g. troubleshoot technical products, write documentation, or assist with strategic projects and initiatives.
  • The Regional Technical Manager will perform any related duties assigned by the Associate Director.

Travel requirements

Note that this position requires willingness to travel regionally throughout East Africa (and potentially internationally) up to 40% of the time.

Qualifications 

Required qualifications

• Undergraduate degree in economics, statistics, computer science, engineering, or related fields; master’s degree preferred
• Three or more years of relevant work experience, such as programming complex surveys, performing advanced statistical analysis, or managing a highly technical monitoring and evaluation project; additional management experience preferred
• Demonstrated advanced experience with data collection platforms and technologies; ODK/SurveyCTO experience strongly preferred
• Demonstrated advanced statistical programming and data management skills; Stata experience strongly preferred

Preferred qualifications 

• Experience living or working in East Africa
• Experience supervising field or technical teams
• Experience conducting field research in developing countries
• Experience training staff or developing training content
• Experience working with GIS data / maps
• Experience working with academic researchers, especially economists