Closing date: September 30, 2023
BACKGROUND ON IMPACT AND REACH
REACH was born in 2010 as a joint initiative of two International NGOs (IMPACT Initiatives and ACTED) and the United Nations Operational Satellite Applications Programme (UNOSAT). REACH’s purpose is to promote and facilitate the development of information products that enhance the humanitarian community’s decision making and planning capacity for emergency, reconstruction and development contexts. REACH facilitates information management for aid actors through three complementary services: (a) need and situation assessments facilitated by REACH teams; (b) situation analysis using satellite imagery; (c) provision of related database and (web)-mapping facilities and expertise.

IMPACT Initiatives is a humanitarian NGO, based in Geneva, Switzerland. The organisation manages several initiatives, including the REACH Initiative. The IMPACT team comprises specialists in data collection, management and analysis and GIS. IMPACT was launched at the initiative of ACTED, an international NGO whose headquarter is based in Paris and is present in thirty countries. The two organizations have a strong complementarity formalized in a global partnership, enabling IMPACT to benefit from ACTED’s operational support on its fields of intervention.

We are currently looking for a Research Manager to support our Ethiopia team.

Department: REACH

Position: Research Manager

Contractduration: 12 months

Location: Kampala, Uganda, with up to 50% travel to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

StartingDate: September 2023

COUNTRY PROFILE
Since 2018, Ethiopia has witnessed an escalation in unrest including large-scale displacement, killings, and destruction of property following domestical political changes. Such unrest has exacerbated the impact of climate-related crises, including the most devastating desert locust infestation in 25 years, which has damaged crops and fostered food insecurity. In early 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic infiltrated Ethiopia leading to lockdowns and transport bans in many regions that restricted access to markets. Then in November 2020, conflict erupted in the northern Tigray region, displacing many Ethiopians, and contributing to an approximate 1.1 million additional people needing assistance in Amhara, Afar and Tigray regions. All of these events have severely disrupted livelihoods, affected the availability of staple market commodities, and threatened to sharply escalate humanitarian need for vulnerable populations across the country.

FUNCTIONS
Under the line management of the IMPACT Country Coordinator, the Research Manager is responsible for overseeing the implementation of research cycles within their unit, including the preparation, data collection, analysis, drafting, dissemination and evaluation stages. Throughout research cycles, the Research Manager engages with partners to promote their participation and maximize their impact. He/she also ensures an efficient and transparent use of resources required for project implementation.

In his/her mission, Research Manager will be hosted by IMPACT’s global partner ACTED and will fall under the direct responsibility and management of ACTED’s Country Director and his/her delegates for all Administrative, Security, and relevant Logistics and Finance issues. S/he will therefore fully abide to ACTED’s Security, Administration, and relevant HR, Logistics and Finance rules and regulations.

RESPONSIBILITIES
IMPACT is seeking an experienced candidate, who has previously managed various teams and implemented projects in a complex humanitarian setting. The candidate should be comfortable representing IMPACT with donors and be able to coordinate and liaise with a range of senior external partners. The Research Manager (RM) will be responsible for overseeing the development and strategy of their unit, under the supervision of the IMPACT Country Coordinator and IMPACT HQ in Geneva. The position is based in Kampala, Uganda with frequent travel to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

The overall goal of the RM will be to ensure the smooth running of activities, and she/he will be responsible for the implementation and completion of the various work streams within the unit. This will include line-management of international and national staff within their assigned to projects within their unit.

More specifically the Research Manager is responsible for the following:

STAFF MANAGEMENT:

Direct management of international and national assessment team members, including recruitment, appraisals, and capacity building;
Day-to-day management of team, including the development of work plans and performance indicators, and development and implementation of capacity training plans to improve efficiency and performance;
Conduct regular check-ins with staff within the unit, and promote team building, productivity and staff welfare; Be available to provide regular support and technical backstopping;
Take on additional work streams and management responsibilities as well as advise in strategic mission decision-making as a member of the Senior Management Team (SMT) as required, in coordination with the other research managers.