Research Manager – Inter-sectoral Research Unit Afghanistan , Kabul

BACKGROUND ON IMPACT AND REACH

REACH was born in 2010 as a joint initiative of two International NGOs (IMPACT Initiatives and ACTED) and the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) Operational Satellite Applications Programme (UNOSAT). REACH’s purpose is to promote and facilitate the development of information products that enhance the humanitarian community’s decision making and planning capacity for emergency, reconstruction and development contexts, supporting and working within the framework of the humanitarian reform process. REACH facilitates information management for aid actors through three complementary services: (a) need and situation assessments facilitated by REACH teams; (b) situation analysis using satellite imagery; (c) provision of related database and (web)-mapping facilities and expertise.

IMPACT Initiatives is a humanitarian NGO, based in Geneva, Switzerland. The organisation manages several initiatives, including the REACH Initiative. The IMPACT team comprises specialists in data collection, management and analysis, GIS and remote sensing. IMPACT was launched at the initiative of ACTED, an international NGO with headquarters based in Paris and presence in thirty countries. The two organizations have a strong complementarity formalized in a global partnership, which allows IMPACT to benefit from ACTED’s operational support in its fields of intervention.

COUNTRY PROFILE

Afghanistan has endured 40 years of complex crisis, characterized by conflict, insecurity, regime change, and climate disasters. After the Taliban took over in 2021, the country was further affected by a collapsing economy and uncertainty about the future. The economic situation has stabilized in the years since but remains fragile – humanitarian assistance still provides much needed help for large population groups across the country.

IMPACT has been active in Afghanistan since 2016, launching its flagship REACH and AGORA initiatives in 2018. Working across all 34 provinces, the Afghanistan team’s research supports and facilitates emergency response efforts immediately following conflict or natural disaster as well as more long-term oriented humanitarian planning, prioritization, resilience and recovery activities. IMPACT Afghanistan has three main research portfolios that focus on programming in each of these areas: one portfolio focuses on inter-sectoral research that feeds directly into emergency humanitarian planning and prioritization, the second involves working closely with partners and coordinating bodies to improve and increase the sustainability of programs, and the third uses area-based assessments to support longer-term durable solutions in Afghanistan.

IMPACT Afghanistan’s Inter-Sectoral Research Unit hosts two of the largest, most impactful assessments in the mission. First, the Whole of Afghanistan (WoA) Multi-Sectoral Needs Assessment is one of the largest household assessments done in Afghanistan every year across the humanitarian and development spaces, and serves as the foundational data source for establishing humanitarian need in the Humanitarian Needs and Response Plan (HNRP). In recent years, findings from this assessment have also informed the bi-annual Integrated Phase Classification (IPC) process as well as development documents such as the annual Socio-Economic Outlook. Second, the Humanitarian Situation Monitoring assessment is done on a quarterly basis with key informants across the entire country, and serves as a data source for response-wide seasonal prioritization exercises and the mid-year HNRP revision. In 2024 it will also be a foundational data source for more regular real-time monitoring of the evolution of need over the course of the year. As humanitarian funding continues to decline, the prioritization work of IMPACT becomes more critical for actors looking to be more impactful with less resources, and the leader of the ISRU will be well placed to speak to many of the important prioritization exercises happening on the response in 2024.

IMPACT Afghanistan is looking for a dynamic Research Manager with excellent research skills to head the ISRU, managing both existing research cycles and driving its strategic direction.

We are currently looking for a Research Manager to lead our Inter-Sectoral Research Unit in Afghanistan.

Department: IMPACT

Position: Research Manager

Contract duration: 12 months

Starting Date: as soon as possible

Location: Kabul, Afghanistan

FUNCTIONS

The Research Manager will be responsible for overseeing the development, strategy, and management of the Inter-Sectoral Research Unit, under the supervision of the IMPACT Deputy Country Coordinator, the IMPACT Country Representative, and IMPACT HQ in Geneva. The candidate should be comfortable representing IMPACT with donors and be able to coordinate and liaise with a range of senior external partners.

The role of the Research Manager is to drive the strategy and workstreams of the ISRU at a moment in Afghanistan where it is critical that prioritization exercises for limited funding are based on solid evidence. This position requires a profile that can be both analytical and strategic, as the Research Manager’s job on a daily basis can range from coordinating with external partners (whether data actor, humanitarian cluster, or donor) to analytical oversight of research products to logistics.

The Research Manager responsibilities include:

Staff Management

• Direct management of international and senior national team members, including recruitment, conduct of appraisals, as well as staff career management;
• Development and implementation of capacity training plans for team members;
• Day-to-day management of team members, including the development of work plans and performance indicators.

Project/Research Cycle Management

• Ensure all ISRU assessments and analysis are planned and implemented in a structured and coherent manner, in line with relevant project and strategic objectives, and with global REACH guidelines;
• Oversee all ISRU Research Cycles, including reviewing ToRs, methodology notes, tools, products and dissemination strategies.
• Ensure the writing and production of timely, accurate and analytically rigorous reports, assessments, and factsheets;
• Ensure relevant stakeholders and partners are engaged in assessment design and planning;
• Monitor output achievement and ensure timely completion of the project.
• Actively advocate for the improving of analysis within IMPACT and REACH products, and using common methodologies, tools and analysis frameworks across units where relevant

Grants Management

• Under the guidance of the Deputy Country Coordinator, manage grants in the ISRU, including initial discussions with donors, conceptualisation of new projects, drafting proposals, regular reporting, and M&E;
• Under the guidance of the Deputy Country Coordinator, oversee the financial management of all grants covering ISRU projects, including oversight of budget and expenditure;
• Ensure that contractual obligations are met in terms of programs deliverables.

External Engagement

• In coordination with the Country Representative and SMT, represent IMPACT and REACH with donors, partners, and the wider humanitarian aid community in Afghanistan.
• As the IMPACT representative attending the Inter-Cluster Coordination Team meetings, actively contribute IMPACT and REACH findings to the cluster coordination system and stay up to date with conversations on the response to inform the SMT.

Strategy Development and Implementation

• Under the guidance of the Deputy Country Coordinator and Country Representative, develop the ISRU’s strategy, engagement and involvement with various technical and coordination forums;
• Work with key clusters and partner organizations and working groups to understand the various relevant information gaps within Afghanistan and identify how the ISRU can fill these gaps;
• Contribute to the development and implementation of the IMPACT Afghanistan country strategy;
• Develop and implement dissemination strategies to strengthen the impact of the ISRU programmes;
• Engagement with HQ on ISRU research and/or coordination.
• Provide contextual and technical support and guidance for assessment teams across all units in the mission relating to inter-sectoral research as well as humanitarian planning and prioritization.

The Research Manager will maintain the strictest confidentiality on all data collected and related processes. He/she will actively take measures to prevent the unauthorized sharing of any information and data belonging to IMPACT and its partners, or collected during his/her assignment with IMPACT.

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