Associate Research Manager

Job Summary

IPA Sierra Leone seeks a Research Manager/ Associate Research Manager to oversee 3-6 rigorous impact evaluations across health, education, social protection, financial inclusion, and agriculture while serving as our primary liaison with government ministries, policymakers, and stakeholders. This role uniquely combines technical research leadership with extensive policy engagement, requiring someone who can actively deliver evidence-based insights and proactively engage in policy dialogue to inform evidence into practice. You will represent IPA in national policy forums, technical working groups, and research events, building trusted relationships with government partners and other key stakeholders. As technical lead, you will ensure methodological rigor throughout the research cycle while directly supervising project teams, managing budgets, and ensuring timely donor deliverables. You will also support business development by identifying opportunities, writing proposals, and cultivating partnerships. We seek a Sierra Leonean national with exceptional technical skills in impact evaluation methodology, particularly randomized controlled trials and quasi-experimental designs, combined with strong policy acumen and relationship management abilities.

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Responsibilities

Research Oversight & Project Management

• Manage relationships with investigators across multiple research institutions, funders, and implementing partners to ensure project success

• Supervise research project teams in the delivery of high-quality technical outputs, including complex digital surveys, data flow systems, quality control processes, statistical analysis, and technical reports

• Oversee the full research implementation cycle, including survey planning, data quality assurance, cleaning, analysis, and impact evaluation activities

• Manage project finances, including budget development and monitoring, and ensure smooth integration into IPA financial systems

• Ensure compliance with IPA, donor, and in-country policies and procedures

• Serve as the primary point of contact for data management and analysis support, linking project teams with IPA headquarters; attend meetings with government officials and partners to advance both project-specific and broader IPA programmatic goals

• Champion inter-project learning by identifying and sharing best practices through formal and informal training

• Support dissemination of results through presentations and reports to academic and non-academic audiences as needed

Staff Management

• Directly supervise, coach, and mentor 2–5 Research Associates and Field Managers, supporting their professional development and effective implementation of complex research projects