Forcier is seeking a Director of Research to ensure the delivery of high-quality research and data collection projects for its clients. Through direct management of Research Officers, Fieldwork Managers and Researchers, the Director of Research is responsible for ensuring the quality of all research-related deliverables generated by their research staff. The Director of Research plays a critical role in managing clients, including providing advice on key decisions related to research design by spelling out both the methodological and practical (i.e. budgetary and logistical) implications of a given decision. In addition, the Director of Research, in coordination with the Senior Director of Research and Forcier’s Global Technical Team, will be responsible for vetting and hiring new research staff and for orchestrating the capacity-building of existing staff. Finally, the Director of Research will work with their office’s business development team to ensure that all proposals are methodologically coherent, locally contextualized, profitable, and are in keeping with the highest standards of research quality.
Ideal Match
Forcier is looking for a highly self-motivated individual with a desire to help grow a team of people dedicated to high quality research in complex settings. The ideal fit has significant experience managing and implementing field research projects in complex settings. Clear, solution-oriented thinking is essential. This person is a great multi-tasker who is able to identify strengths and weaknesses in the team and match them to project needs in the office. They are able to bring a sense of fun to high pressure situations, and set a strong example of leadership when faced with a multitude of competing pressures. They are a patient teacher and mentor and don't miss a detail when it comes to the quality of research. We are looking for a Director of Research who is a proactive leader, strong teambuilder, and passionate about the power of quality research.
Daily Tasks
● Guide key decisions related to research aims and methodological design of projects at the proposal stage and during project implementation;
● Provide expert input on matters of sample design, questionnaire design, and analysis techniques/approaches
● Guide key decisions related to statistical analysis, including choices of appropriate inferential-statistical tests, data structure, weighting, and other adjustments to account for survey design (including stratification and clustering)
● Provide or appropriately delegate/assign the provision of quality assurance and quality control on all research-related deliverables (e.g. research protocols, analytical reports, datasets, and presentations;
● Review proposals and provide feedback to the business development team to ensure that all bids are competitive, methodologically coherent, and can be executed fluently by available staff, within proposed budgets and timelines;
● Actively track all key research staff, their levels of utilization, and their skill sets;
● Actively track all ongoing and incoming/nascent projects, and appropriately match people/teams and their toolkits with projects;
● Provide input on local context and other practical aspects of research execution, both internally and with our clients;
● Learn, teach, and uphold Forcier’s existing systems for ensuring quality research, and aid with the roll-out and adoption of new research-related systems as necessary.
● Serve as the primary point of contact with clients during the proposal stage and continue high-level management of the client relationship during implementation of projects, including planning and attending client meetings as necessary;
● Follow all standard work policies and procedures for the research department and conduct annual performance evaluations of research staff in conjunction with the Director of Field Operations;
● Maintain reasonable workloads and expectations for all research staff;
● Develop professional development plans for research staff to ensure appropriate skill-building and mentoring activities occur.
M.A. degree and at least 3 years of experience, or PhD and at least 1 year of experience. Appropriate graduate level education will be in political science, anthropology, international development, statistics, public health, or a related field. Irrespective of degree field, graduate level training in research methods and statistics is required.
Required Skills
● Graduate-level coursework in econometrics and inferential statistics, ideally including applied regression analysis, survey data analysis, data visualization, and power analysis
● Advanced knowledge of STATA required
● Demonstrated ability to clean and interpret real-world data, generating publishable insights
● Experience in managing teams and human resources to ensure successful completion of projects and objectives
This vacancy is archived.