Impact Lead at Youth Development Labs: (Deadline 28 April 2023)

Impact Lead at Youth Development Labs: (Deadline 28 April 2023)

Impact Lead

RWANDA (Full-Time Employee) or SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA (Independent Contractor) 

ABOUT YLABS

YLabs is a leading global design and research organization working to improve health and economic opportunity for young people 10–24 years old. Founded in 2014 at the Harvard Innovation Lab, YLabs partners with young people in sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia, and Central America to design, test, and advocate for youth-driven solutions that address key challenges to young people’s health and economic opportunity worldwide. YLabs’ focus areas are sexual/reproductive health, HIV/AIDS, mental health, and economic inclusion. Find out more about our projects here: https://www.ylabsglobal.org/work

Our team of physicians, designers, economists, developers, public health professionals, and educators bring a unique mix of human-centered design, adolescent health, economic and health outcome evaluation, behavioral science, and implementation know-how to the global problems facing youth. We have offices in the US and Rwanda, but are currently supporting our teams to work remotely during COVID-19. This role is fully remote.

YLabs is committed to building teams and policies that promote equity, justice, and belonging at work.  We strongly encourage people from all cultures, races, educational backgrounds, socio-economic classes, sexual orientations, age, gender, and physical abilities to apply. We do not discriminate against any employee or applicant for employment because of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, disability, familial status, marital status, caregiver status, or any other category protected by applicable federal, state, or local law.

JOB SUMMARY

YLabs is seeking an Impact Lead to oversee the design and implementation of a holistic approach to impact measurement for YLabs’ youth programming. Successful candidates will bring proven expertise in monitoring, evaluation and learning (MEL) along with a creative, community-driven, participatory lens to measurement and research activities. This role will integrate best practices in youth-led and community-based approaches to define, measure, and understand transformational change for youth programming in sub-Saharan Africa. Candidates should bring strong training and facilitation skills to support clients and partners in co-designing and refining their impact goals and strategies for data collection.

This role will support our research teams with impact evaluation across our portfolio and lead the development and implementation of YLabs’ new organizational impact strategy. This role will be responsible for working with senior leadership and project teams to select meaningful metrics of success for our digital innovations to inform current and future strategy and also to improve understanding of performance to date. This role will work with our product design team, impact team, and data scientists to build a data infrastructure to support real-time project learning across our digital platforms. Successful candidates will be self-motivated, detail-oriented, and highly organized. 

ABOUT YLABS’ COMPENSATION

YLabs adheres to Project Fair’s principles and standards to establish equity in pay with the overriding principle of “equal pay for work of equal value” outlined in the Sustainable Development Goals. All salary ranges are based on level within the organization and are competitive to regional and national salary benchmarks, based on the respective office location.

PAY RATE

For Rwanda-based candidates, this is a full-time position, fully benefited position based in Kigali, Rwanda. Travel within the region will be required up to 10-20% each year.

For all other candidates based in sub-Saharan Africa, this is a two-year, independent contractor position; no benefits will be provided, however remuneration may be negotiable to accommodate self-administration of benefits and tax withholdings. 

The pay range for this position is 40,000,000 RWF- 52,250,000 RWF per year, commensurate with experience.

YOU WILL BE RESPONSIBLE FOR:

• Leading new approaches towards measuring and communicating the impact of YLabs’ work, in line with our five-year strategic plan
• Developing internal impact strategies and data infrastructure (tools and processes) to track organizational impact within projects, across practice areas, and at an organizational level
• Developing impact strategies for our portfolio of projects (theories of change, indicator selection, and data collection processes) that are community-driven, participatory, and youth-focused
• Providing technical consultation to research teams and partners to help develop project impact strategies, evaluation design, and data collection methods.
• Developing training modules and facilitating participatory workshops with staff and partner on designing and implementing culturally appropriate impact measurements
• Ensuring that project and organizational impact data are consistently tracked and compiled into a clear and compelling overview of YLabs’ impact for a variety of audiences about our work (including all staff, executive team, board, partners, external stakeholders)

YOU HAVE:

• Post-graduate training in MEL, epidemiology, or data science
• At least eight years of professional experience in one of these relevant fields
• Fluency in MEL methodologies, using both quantitative and qualitative research methods
• Experience creating and implementing successful strategies and tools for effective participation of community stakeholders, government and non-governmental partners, teammembers, etc. in impact measurement
• High level of digital fluency is required; experience in developing or commissioning digital data dashboards and data visualizations is desirable
• Experience working on youth programming and an understanding of the specific considerations in conducting ethical and youth-centered research with young people
• A rigorous, detail-oriented mindset, and a methodical approach to work; able to think through complex problems and systems
• Experienced with data management and analysis with a high degree of fluency in R, SPSS, Stata or other statistical platform
• Prior experience designing process, outcome, and impact evaluation at the project, portfolio, and organizational levels
• An ability to travel within sub-Saharan Africa 10-20% of the time

YOU ARE:

• A systems thinker who thrives in turning complex data into concise insights that drive action
• Adaptable with a growth mindset, who has expertise supporting iterative and evolving projects
• Excited about working with a global, multi-disciplinary team across different time zones and geographies
• Able to work well in a team environment, handle multiple assignments, and meet deadlines
• Passionate about improving the health and opportunity of young people globally
• Committed to operationalizing equity in our work and decolonizing global health
• Willing to work flexible hours to accommodate calls with staff in other time zones when needed
• Someone with high attention to detail, and are able to prioritize and manage time effectively, meeting deadlines consistently 

DESIRABLE SKILLS:

• Working proficiency in other languages, such as Kinyarwanda, Swahili, or French
• Educational or professional experience in human-centered design
• Field research experience, with a strong understanding of how to effectively plan and support implementation research in sub Saharan Africa
• Experience with participatory research methods, such as youth participatory action research

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

To apply, send a resume, cover letter, writing sample, and details of your daily rate to [email protected] with the subject line: Impact Lead. All your information will be kept confidential according to EEO guidelines.

This posting will be open until April 28, 2023. Once the application period closes, all applications will be reviewed by our Hiring Committee. YLabs recognizes the effort that goes into submitting an application; all candidates will be notified of their application status once the hiring process begins.

All YLabs offers of employment are conditional on satisfactory background check and criminal record clearances.