Research Manager

Research Manager Innovations for Poverty Action (IPA) Professional Services Management,Business Operations,Social Services & Nonprofit Description Job Summary The Research Manager (RM) is responsible for the high-quality delivery of a portfolio of approximately five or more research projects, depending on their size, complexity, and level of management required. The RM provides technical, operational, financial, and people-management oversight across the research lifecycle, from study planning and start-up through data collection, analysis, dissemination, and close-out. Working closely with Principal Investigators (PIs), project teams, implementing partners, and IPA support functions, the RM ensures that projects are scientifically rigorous, delivered on time and within budget, and compliant with IPA standards, donor requirements, ethical approvals, and Ugandan regulatory requirements. The RM also develops research staff, manages project and stakeholder risks, contributes to new research and funding opportunities, and supports learning and continuous improvement across the Uganda country program. Responsibilities

• Manage a portfolio of approximately five or more research projects, depending on project size, complexity, and level of management support required, and maintain a clear view of the status, priorities, and risks across the full portfolio.
• Lead day-to-day project management from start-up through implementation, analysis, dissemination, and close-out, ensuring agreed milestones, deliverables, and contractual obligations are met.
• Develop and maintain realistic project workplans, implementation schedules, staffing plans, procurement requirements, deliverable trackers, and risk registers.
• Monitor progress against agreed timelines and promptly identify delays, implementation bottlenecks, dependencies, and decisions that could affect delivery; develop practical mitigation plans and escalate material risks or delays early.

Autres informations

• Keep the Country Director and relevant leadership informed of significant project developments, emerging risks, delays, financial concerns, and decisions requiring leadership input.
• Coordinate effectively with Finance, Grants, HR, Operations, Procurement, and other IPA functions so that project requirements are anticipated and support is requested in sufficient time.

Formation / Diplômes

• Ensure project information, documentation, and status updates in IPA management systems are accurate, complete, and current, and that technical, narrative, and other deliverables are submitted to donors, PIs, and partners on time.
• Work closely with PIs and project teams to develop project designs into rigorous, feasible, and context-appropriate implementation plans.
• Provide technical oversight of sampling, randomization, survey instruments, field protocols, piloting, survey programming, data collection, monitoring, and data-quality systems.
• Review project tools and procedures before field deployment and ensure that changes to approved research designs or protocols are discussed with the PI, documented, and, as applicable, approved by ethics boards.
• Oversee data-management processes, including data-flow planning, quality checks, cleaning, documentation, secure storage, and preparation of datasets for analysis; may occasionally support statistical analysis and interpretation of findings. Financial, Grant, and Regulatory Risk Management
• Develop or contribute to the development of project budgets, ensuring projects are operationally realistic and appropriately costed, and consistent with approved grant periods, donor restrictions, and available resources.
• Conduct regular budget-versus-actual reviews and monitor expenditure, burn rates, forecasts, commitments, and projected balances throughout the life of each project, identifying potential over- or underspends early and agreeing corrective action with PIs, the Country Director, and relevant leadership.
• Support accurate and timely donor financial reporting, budget revisions, grant amendments, no-cost extensions, accrual planning, and project financial close-out, and maintain documentation to support project expenditure and audit requirements.

Plan for and coordinate timely initial submissions, renewals, amendments, and reporting to relevant IRBs/RECs, UNCST, and other regulatory authorities.

• Ensure assigned projects comply with IPA policies, approved research protocols, donor conditions, and applicable Ugandan legal, ethical, and regulatory requirements.
• Maintain project-level risk registers covering research, operational, financial, regulatory, data, safeguarding, and stakeholder risks, reviewing them regularly with project teams.
• Ensure protocol deviations, adverse events, safeguarding concerns, data incidents, and other significant compliance issues are promptly identified, documented, escalated, and addressed in accordance with IPA, ethics, and other regulatory requirements.
• Maintain complete, accurate, and audit-ready project files, including approvals, agreements, key decisions, reports, and supporting documentation. Team Leadership and Staff Development
• Recruit, supervise, coach, and manage Research Associates, Field Managers, project staff, consultants, and other research personnel assigned to the portfolio.
• Build staff capacity in research implementation, survey design, data quality, data management, project planning, budgeting, stakeholder communication, and professional judgment.
• Review workload and staffing needs across projects and work with the Country Director and HR to address capacity gaps, performance concerns, or periods of peak demand.
• Promote cross-project learning and sharing of good practices through mentoring, peer support, training, and documentation of lessons learned. Research Dissemination and Organizational Contribution

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