Regional Research and Relationship Manager – East Africa
Primary Duties and Responsibilities:
Palladium is seeking a Regional Research and Relationship Manager for an upcoming project with FCDO to support the commissioning, production and dissemination of operationally relevant primary research to inform policy and programmes.
The 3 year global programme will create a single coordinated, research and evidence platform that supports urgent, mid- and longer-term knowledge generation, synthesis, translation and engagement.
The programme will inform how best to reduce global poverty – primarily through commissioning of different types of evidence to ensure that decisions, programming, and policies are achieving intended development impacts, with maximum value for money.
The programme will present an opportunity to:
* Maximise the impact of FCDOs investments and capture learning across programme;
* Build capacity by engaging strategically with local and regional suppliers and markets; and
* Strengthen research uptake and inform programme and policy decisions.
Responsibilities
The Regional Research and Relationship Manager will lead, develop and manage an effective, responsive pool of Research Providers, comprised of local and international specialised research organisations, who can meet FCDO’s research and evidence needs.
The Regional Research and Relationship Manager will play a pivotal role as the main point of contact for the programme in the region they represent, and will work closely with other members of the core team to maximise the programme’s impact:
* Alongside the Financial and Contracts Manager the postholder will provide day to day management of projects with the pool of Research Providers. They will design tailored outreach strategies to encourage applications from diverse local and regional supply markets, promote equitable partnerships and strengthen the ability of local and regional research organisations to bid for and conduct FCDO research programmes.
* Alongside the MEL and Evaluation Leads they will perform the monthly monitoring of progress against the key performance indicators and programme milestones and advise the Team Leader on progress and delays in progress. They will be the main point of contact for information requests from research organisations and other interested stakeholders.
* Alongside the Communications Lead, the postholder will utilise their extensive regional networks and their understanding of effective communication methods to disseminate and showcase the project’s products and to raise the visibility and profile of The Evidence Fund.
The Research and Relationship Manager for East Africa will:
* Closely engage with FCDO’s country and regional offices to understand requirements from the perspective of the audience and users of the evidence.
* Identify and propose studies to tackle cross-regional priorities which are relevant to the local contexts of all teams
* Offer regionally tailored strategic advice and support the global communications strategy, and complement the pool of Research Providers’ dissemination and uptake strategies – and maximise the impact of evidence investment throughout the project cycle
* Respond in a flexible manner to strategically relevant, high impact, high quality proposals from countries outside the current focus of the Regional Research Hub as and when required.
Required Qualifications:
* Regional programme management experience, particularly in relation to FCDO and other institutional donors’ research programmes
* Understanding of the use of different research methodologies, including qualitative and quantitative approaches, and the ability to assess efficacy for a range of research projects
* Extensive experience of relationship management and external engagement working with international donors in relation to research programme delivery
* Strong network and access to a pool of potential Research Providers and a deep regional understanding of markets to respond to research needs
* Strong understanding of research and evidence use and uptake and dissemination in policy and programme design and delivery
More Information
- Job City Nairobi
