Johannesburg: Head of Research, Reflection Evaluating (Hybrid/Remote) posted by Datafin

About the Role

We are seeking an experienced and innovative leader to join our team as Head of Research, Reflection & Evaluating. As part of our Community Upliftment Programme based in Johannesburg, you will lead research programmes and projects that explore new knowledge and introduce valuable insights to the programme. You will have the opportunity to develop and manage a hybrid/remote work environment, leading a team and collaborating with stakeholders to drive meaningful impact.

Key Responsibilities

• Explore and seek new knowledge and introducing whats valuable to the programme appropriately.
• Collaboratively question key assumptions.
• Collaboratively identify, create, and package knowledge for use & sharing.
• Lead an asset-based orientation to knowledge.
• Create, distil and/or package knowledge from peoples experience and expertise, with an orientation towards peoples agency & diversity, and positive deviance.
• Co-create the network-wide conditions for more deeply reflective practice and evaluative thinking (with the rest of the Innovation & Learning portfolio).
• Reflective practice: asking questions & questioning assumptions about ones own work and ways of working (standing on the balcony outside the dance, double loop learning, reflexivity, etc.).
• Evaluative thinking: an attitude of inquisitiveness and a belief in the value of evidence.
• Lead and manage an iterative, multi-question, multi-year agenda focused on use/utilisation.
• Build wider understanding across the programme of the nature and value of questioning, researching & evaluating incl. evaluating as integral to practice; and research as informed by & informing practice.
• Lead the programme using research in evaluating and using both in learning.
• Build and sustain research-practice partnerships to realise the programmes approach.
• Manage research & evaluation assets.

Requirements

• Minimum Masters Degree or equivalent with relevant experience; preferably PhD with practical experience.
• Min. 8 years relevant and diverse experience in complex organisational-systemic contexts incl.
• Min. 4 years in senior role(s) successfully leading functions and managing teams.
• Experience of social impact initiatives, programmes and/or organisations.
• Comfort and confidence leading sophisticated research and evaluations.
• People-and-user-centered approaches to research and evaluating.
• Thoughtful familiarity with M&E/MEL/MERL approaches and practices.
• A track record of, and strong appetite for, seeing patterns and building coherence amid complexity.

Qualifications

• Minimum Masters Degree or equivalent with relevant experience; preferably PhD with practical experience.

Salary & Benefits

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