Tupande Research and Evaluations Lead

Role Overview

The Tupande Research and Evaluations Lead directs the country’s research agenda, from shaping study questions and methods to ensuring findings are credible, useful, and shared with the teams and partners who need them. The role strengthens how Tupande measures its impact, helps program teams make evidence-informed decisions, and contributes research to the organization’s evolving impact strategy.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead the design and delivery of country-level evaluations and studies, defining theories of change, research methods, data-collection instruments, and field implementation plans.
• Manage the most complex research workstreams directly and oversee the wider portfolio, ensuring projects meet agreed standards for rigor, quality, and delivery.
• Set and refine procedures for data quality assurance, monitoring, analysis, and reporting in coordination with relevant country and global stakeholders.
• Oversee analysis and reporting across the research portfolio, improving analytical approaches and identifying opportunities to streamline data cleaning, automation, and report production.
• Present findings and recommendations clearly to internal and external stakeholders, and work with program teams to turn evidence into practical decisions and actions.
• Shape research priorities in line with Tupande’s impact strategy, including investigating emerging delivery channels and potential areas for greater impact.
• Lead the research and evaluations team, including recruitment, staff development, and performance management.
• Manage departmental budgets and respond to requests for research, evaluation, data-collection, and analytical support; advise senior leaders on impact-related decisions.

Requirements & Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in a relevant discipline, such as economics or statistics; a related master’s degree is an advantage.
• At least five years of demonstrated experience working in a developing-country context, unless you are a national of a country where the organization operates.
• Substantial experience designing and delivering evaluations, analyzing data, managing large-scale data collection, and coordinating field teams.
• Strong command of evaluation methodology, including experimental and quasi-experimental designs and techniques such as propensity score matching, difference-in-differences, and regression discontinuity.
• Proficiency with statistical analysis software such as Stata or R.
• Demonstrated ability to lead a team and manage multiple research projects with varying levels of complexity.
• Strong written communication skills, including the ability to present findings in clear, compelling reports and visual formats.
• Diplomacy and relationship-building skills for working with a range of partners and organizational teams.
• Professional proficiency in English; Swahili is an advantage.
• Willingness to live in East Africa for at least two years in this long-term, career-track position.