Regional Senior Research and Learning Manager (MENA ECD)

About the role

The International Rescue Committee (IRC) is hiring a Regional Senior Research and Learning Manager for its MENA Early Childhood Development (ECD) portfolio. The role coordinates, designs, manages and disseminates research and learning on ECD across Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, the Palestinian territories, Iraq, Libya and Yemen, and supports country teams in collecting, analysing and using evidence. It sits within the MENA regional ECD team and reports to the Regional Research, Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning Lead.

Key responsibilities

• Lead and coordinate the operationalisation of the research and evaluation agenda, including RCT preparation, study design, data management, budget alignment, IRB approvals and quality assurance.
• Conduct or support data cleaning and analysis, and turn research results into briefs, reports and presentations for non-research audiences.
• Design and implement the Regional ECD Learning Agenda and Learning and Reflection Cycle, support country teams, recruit consultants and run learning activities such as workshops and webinars.
• Act as the main point of contact between IRC teams, external evaluators and donors, and link with IRC HQ on learning, strategy and the education sector.

Required profile

• University degree in public health, public administration, statistics, social sciences, education or early childhood development (a Master's degree is a plus).
• At least four years of experience implementing mixed-method research or evaluation in emergency, humanitarian or development settings, including randomised impact evaluations.
• Experience coordinating research across institutional partners and managing large-scale field data collection.
• At least three years of experience in training and facilitation.
• Excellent writing and oral skills in English and Arabic, and experience working in the MENA region.
• Preferred: experience in education or ECD research in low-resource settings, publication in peer-reviewed journals, and experience with measurement and learning systems.

Required skills

• Qualitative data analysis with Dedoose, nVivo or similar software.
• Quantitative analysis with SPSS, Stata or similar packages.
• Knowledge of humanitarian guidelines and principles.

Working conditions: standard office environment with partial remote work possible, about 15% travel, and the position may be based in Jordan or Lebanon.