Global Evaluation and Research Manager

ABOUT THE COMPANY

VisionSpring, an international social enterprise, was founded in 2001 with a mission to broaden access to affordable eyewear everywhere. We establish market access to eyeglasses and vision correction for people living in poverty so that they may enhance their livelihoods, learning, and quality of life. To date, VisionSpring has sold nearly three million pairs of glasses to low income consumers living in emerging and frontier markets, and is working to reach 10 million pairs by the symbolic year 2020. As a social enterprise, social change motivates us first. Our focus on sales and revenue targets serves and advances our mission objective - to correct refractive error with eyeglasses so that low income consumers may experience improved functioning, productivity and income earning potential on a sustained basis. We are working to transform the systemic dysfunction of the optical market which has failed to deliver a 700 year old technology to 644 million consumers who earn less than $4 a day. We serve low income consumers not as beneficiaries but as customers. Our customers expect a high quality, affordable product and are willing to spend limited discretionary income for the immediate and tangible benefits of vision correction. By selling glasses we awaken new demand and seed a viable market. By selling new eyeglasses we are able to serve four times as many people per dollar input than the next alternative of donating recycled ones . To efficiently scale, we must deliver each new unit with less cost. Organizationally, we are a hybrid. We are a registered 501(c)3 non-profit and a Private Limited Company (PLC). We earn revenue and supplement it with contributed income. We hire change makers and pay bonuses and commissions. We run our business on both sales metrics and social impact measures. We exploit a range of organizational forms and practices to get the job done.

JOB SUMMARY

She/he will play a key role in the generation of evidence evaluating programmatic and organizational impact in the countries where VisionSpring operates: currently Bangladesh, Ghana, India, Kenya, Nigeria, Uganda, Vietnam and Zambia.In collaboration with the Senior Lead, Global Evaluation and Research (currently based in our India office), the Global Evaluation and Research Manager, will manage VisionSpring’s portfolio of evaluation and research projects which range in scope from internal evaluations of individual projects to large-scale randomized controlled trial led by international academic teams – and everything in between.The post holder will ensure that our programs are based on the best evidence available – whether that has been generated by VisionSpring or others – leveraging learning to grow our scale and impact. The Global Evaluation and Research Manager will support the Senior Lead, Global Evaluation and Research in representing VisionSpring as a thought leader using evaluation results and data to communicate emerging trends, data, effective practices, and evidence.She/he will actively form and manage strategic partnerships with research institutes, universities, research firms and individual consultants. The Global Evaluation and Research Manager is a member of the Global Program Office reporting to the Senior Lead, Global Evaluation and Research.About YouMission-driven, entrepreneurial leader. You build a mission driven unit to support the delivery of the organization’s long-term outcomes through evaluation and research. You foster ideation, iteration, and learning and you are an analytical thinker. You prize useful, fit-for-purpose evidence over methodological perfection.Curious and passionate about evidence. You are curious about how our programs work and keep asking questions until you understand them well enough to execute high quality evaluation and research that improves their effectiveness and efficiency. You are a passionate advocate of evidence use and infect others with this enthusiasm.Customer centric. You center evaluation and research designs around defined value propositions for evidence users, valuing customer experience and feedback.Scaling champion. You are motivated to leverage data, evidence and learning on a small to scale reach millions of people based on analyses of cost-effectiveness, repeatability, customer demand, and market opportunity.Inclusive player-coach. You mentor and develop people so that VisionSpring becomes an ever-more evidence-led organization. In a diverse, growth-stage organization you create opportunities for participation and increased responsibility. You model vulnerability and accountability, and roll-up your sleeves to deliver when needed.Resource mobilizer. You support to build cases for support rooted in rigorous program design, evidence of impact.Collaborator. You have a track record of delivery, and managing multi-stakeholder research partnerships.RequirementsEssentialA passion for putting data and evidence to use in the service of social good.Extensive formal training in quantitative and qualitative evaluation and research methods. This may come from an advanced degree in fields such as public health, social sciences, statistics, development studies -- or it may come from other formal training courses if your background is in a different field.5+ years of experience in monitoring, evaluation and research roles with evidence of career progressionDeep expertise in either quantitative or qualitative research methods, plus fluency in the other. Experience of mixed-methods designs and integration of findings across data sources.Excellent data analysis skills – comfortable coding qualitative interviews, using pivot tables in Excel, and competence in at least one statistical software package (e.g. SPSS, Stata, R).Experience of communicating evaluation and research findings, for example through summary documents or published journal articlesDesirableDeep expertise in both qualitative and quantitative research methods, together with methods integration expertiseExperience of working in an international development contextExperience of working with philanthropic, institutional or CSR funders – e.g. preparing funding bids or completing funder reportsExperience of working in Sub-Saharan Africa, India, Bangladesh, or VietnamAdvanced Excel skills – proficient in the use of PowerQuery, PowerPivot and PowerBIExperience with Institutional Review Board (IRB) processes

RESPONSIBILITIES

Research and Evaluation Design and DeliveryScope the evidence needs of VisionSpring programs and develop evaluation plans with clearly articulated purpose, research questions, protocols and plans for how the evidence generated will be used. Ensure evidence users will get evidence that they will find useful.Design data collection instruments, from administrative data collection to structured participant questionnaires to qualitative interview guides that enable VisionSpring to answer research and evaluation questions robustly.Manage all the necessary processes for evaluation and research delivery, from the development of Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) to data cleaning to IRB and/or ethical approval processes to the analysis of routine data collection to the day-to-day coordination of the work of enumerators.Ensure that evaluation and research projects are following best practices around data protection, informed consent and research ethics.Lead the external commissioning of specific evaluations or evaluation components (e.g. survey data collection) identifying potential partner organizations and working with colleagues to execute high quality procurement processes and partner management.Analyze data and create research outputs (e.g. reports, one-pagers and presentations) that meet the evidence needs of evidence users – internal and external.Evaluation and Research Strategy and CultureWork with colleagues in the Monitoring, Evaluation, Research and Learning (MERL) team to develop and implement VisionSpring’s MERL Strategy and Framework.Develop related policies, guidelines processes and standard procedures, leading on areas that you have unique expertise or a particular passion.Foster a culture of evidence use at VisionSpring, coaching colleagues to understand how evidence in all its forms can support their work and further the organization’s goals.Knowledge ManagementCreate evidence ‘products’ (e.g. summary notes) that puts high quality, actionable evidence at the fingertips of VisionSpring colleagues.Work with program teams to document program results and lessons learned.Lead by example in your own knowledge management, including how you organize project files in VisionSpring’s SharePoint system.Business DevelopmentActively contribute to generating funds for the organization, particularly for evaluation and research projects. Form strategic partnerships with research institutes, universities, and consultants.Provide data and evidence input to a range of funding bids and donor reports to further support the development of the business.External Engagement and Thought LeadershipSeek opportunities to present evaluation and research findings in forums that will further VisionSpring’s vision and mission. Manage abstract submissions and represent VisionSpring in external forums.Develop publications and disseminate information on successful and promising approaches, lessons learned and other program results to program partners, donors and CSR clients, country governments, and other key stakeholders.Collaborate with Resource Mobilization and Marketing & Communications teams to share findings with key audiences.

REQUIRED SKILLS

Project monitoring and evaluation (M&E), Business development, Collaboration, Qualitative methods, Quantitative methods, Data analysis

REQUIRED EDUCATION

Bachelor's degree