Senior Director of Research

The Airbel Impact Lab – the International Rescue Committee’s (IRC’s) research and innovation team –

designs, tests, and scales life-changing, cost-effective solutions for people affected by conflict and disaster. By applying deep technical expertise and field experience with a range of skills from research to human-centered design, we take a multi-disciplinary approach to problem solving in humanitarian contexts. We are a leading contributor of impact evaluations and other research in humanitarian settings. Our portfolio consists of nearly 300 research and innovation projects across 40 countries; and we’ve collectively published over 150 journal articles in peer-reviewed publications on education, nutrition, violence prevention, health and economic programs. We use this research to increase the IRC's impact and to change the way humanitarian aid is delivered around the world.

The Senior Director of Research will lead the organizational vision for conducting research to improve impact and scale across IRC programs and influence the humanitarian sector to uptake research results and findings. They will continue to build organizational capacity and systems for research, drive ambitious research agendas across IRC technical sectors, and lead research teams and projects to answer the most pressing questions to improve humanitarian impact and scale.

Major Responsibilities:

Oversee research agendas and manage teams to deliver high quality research.

• Refine and oversee technical research agendas with IRC technical units driving towards improving IRC impact, equity, influence and scale across outcomes.

• Lead high performing research teams to develop research projects and deliver on ambitious workplans to carry out research agendas.

• Oversee workforce planning to deliver the research agendas and proactively identify and fill staffing gaps where needed.

• Cultivate and support passionate team members, creating a space of belonging, professional development, and research excellence across a geographically dispersed team.

• Oversee community of practice for research across IRC countries

Build and support data science team. Strengthen organizational systems to carry out high quality, ethical analysis.

• Support country and regional program teams to streamline and carry out high quality data collection for research priorities.

• Strengthen and continuously improve our research systems, including standards and support for high quality data collection, cleaning, coding, analysis, writing and dissemination, including to participants and communities involved in research.

• Strengthen systems for data storage, cleaning, sharing and analysis, as well as for version control and reproducibility.

• Serve as IRC’s Institutional Review Board Chair. Support teams to maintain high ethical standards in research.

Develop strong partnerships and represent research internally and externally.

• Develop and maintain effective partnerships for research priorities at country, regional and global level that will amplify IRC’s ability to generate evidence and influence targeted policy and practice.

• Present, publish and represent IRC research and innovation at events and meetings to influence key stakeholders.

• Cultivate strong relationships across departments within IRC. Represent the Airbel Impact Lab with senior leaders across the organization.

• Collaborate with Technical Units, Communications and Advocacy on strong research communications to key audiences.

Fundraise and ensure strong financial management of research team

• Raise funds needed to support IRC’s research agenda and research systems

• Oversee budgets and the financial health of research teams, initiatives and projects. Identify and communicate gaps or concerns in a timely manner, and proactively seek out viable solutions.

Job Requirements:

Education: Ph.D. in field related to development and humanitarian intervention (e.g., economics, epidemiology, political science)

Work Experience: 10+ years in research, with significant experience in humanitarian or development contexts

Demonstrated Skills and Competencies:

• Extensive experience in designing research and managing research teams in low resource environments.

• Fluency in translating the use of empirical evidence to support technical and implementing teams to know what works best to achieve meaningful results for people.

• Demonstrated success in business development for research projects with public and private donors.

• Experience developing and driving research strategy and learning agendas across a large, complex international organization.

• Strong record of publication and authorship/co-authorship of peer-reviewed articles.

• An existing and strong professional network in humanitarian and development research communities.

• Very strong leadership and management competencies including the ability to bring people from divers backgrounds along with a stated vision and strategy, and capacity to communicate effectively with IRC leadership, technical peers, and colleagues in fundraising, communications and advocacy.

• Excellent public speaking and writing skills.

Language Skills: Fluency in English is required; Proficiency in French, Arabic or Spanish is a plus.

Working Environment: Travel up to 25% of the time

The IRC is an equal opportunity employer and we value diversity. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, sex, gender, gender expression, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, or disability status. We will ensure that individuals with disabilities are provided reasonable accommodation to participate in the job application or interview process, to perform essential job functions, and to receive other benefits and privileges of employment. Please contact us to request accommodation.

The IRC and IRC workers must adhere to the values and principles outlined in IRC Way - Standards for Professional Conduct. These are Integrity, Service, and Accountability. In accordance with these values, the IRC operates and enforces policies on Beneficiary Protection from Exploitation and Abuse, Child Safeguarding, Anti Workplace Harassment, Fiscal Integrity, and Anti-Retaliation.

Compensation:

Posted pay ranges apply to US-based candidates. Ranges are based on various factors including the labor market, job type, internal equity, and budget. Exact offers are calibrated by work location, individual candidate experience and skills relative to the defined job requirements.

Commitment to Diversity and Inclusivity:

IRC is committed to building a diverse organization and a climate of inclusivity. We strongly encourage applications from candidates who can demonstrate that they can contribute to this goal.

Equal Opportunity Employer:

We are an equal opportunity employer and value diversity at our company. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, sex, gender, gender expression, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, or disability status. We will ensure that individuals with disabilities are provided reasonable accommodation to participate in the job application or interview process, to perform essential job functions, and to receive other benefits and privileges of employment. Please contact us to request accommodation.

US Benefits:

We offer a comprehensive and highly competitive set of benefits. In the US, these include: 10 sick days, 10 US holidays, 20-25 paid time off days (depending on role and tenure), medical insurance starting at $145 per month, dental starting at $7 per month, and vision starting at $5 per month, FSA for healthcare, childcare, and commuter costs, a 403b retirement savings plans with up to 4.5% immediately vested matching contribution, plus a 3-7% base IRC contribution (3 year vesting), disability & life insurance, and an Employee Assistance Program which is available to our staff and their families to support counseling and care in times of crisis and mental health struggles.

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