Associate Director, Right-Fit Evidence Unit

About the role

The Associate Director will lead a portfolio of evidence and learning advisory engagements for funders, implementers, and governments, turning data into decisions through learning strategies, M&E systems, and outcome‑focused evidence. The role sits on the Right‑Fit Evidence Unit’s global leadership team and reports to the RFE Director.

Key responsibilities

• Lead delivery of a portfolio of advisory engagements (65‑75% of time), managing multiple complex projects across sectors such as education, health, agriculture and finance.
• Serve as senior point of contact for implementers, funders and government agencies, designing tailor‑made evidence, learning and M&E solutions.
• Oversee workshops on theory of change, learning plan design and produce written advisory deliverables.
• Provide technical assistance for learning plans, cost‑effectiveness analyses, A/B testing and strengthen MEL systems.
• Lead implementer communities of practice in collaboration with funders.
• Support funders on internal learning systems, grantmaking processes and portfolio‑level learning.
• Advise IPA policy and country office teams on technical assistance engagements.
• Contribute to business development, public presence and external relationship management (15‑20%).
• Drive thought leadership, produce public goods and lead streams of the unit’s annual strategic plan.

Required profile

• Master’s degree in international public policy, development economics or related field (PhD/MBA welcomed).
• Minimum 7 years of relevant experience managing senior‑level engagements and business development.
• Strong analytical, quantitative and structured problem‑solving skills.
• Extensive experience designing evidence, learning, monitoring and evaluation strategies.
• Proven stakeholder management and client‑facing communication abilities.
• Significant project and people management experience, including coaching and training.
• Experience working in low‑ and middle‑income countries and willingness to travel up to 20%.
• Fluent English (verbal and written).

Required skills

• Quantitative methods and statistical analysis.
• Cost‑effectiveness analysis and A/B testing.
• Salesforce and other M&E data management tools.
• SurveyCTO, ODK, Taroworks for data collection.
• Power BI, Tableau and SQL for data visualization and insights.
• Data science and AI technologies.