Responsibilities
Strategic Leadership and Project Oversight
Lead IPA's regulatory engagements in Eastern Africa under the Consumer Protection Research Initiative, ensuring each partnership delivers actionable insights that strengthen supervisory capacity and consumer protection mandates.
Work with regulators to identify priority policy questions and co-design research or data initiatives that apply IPA's technical expertise to their supervisory mandates.
Oversee implementation of regulator-driven pilots and studies, translating evidence and technical findings into practical tools and processes for supervisors.
Support planning and resource management for ongoing and emerging engagements, including scoping, budgeting, and coordination with IPA leadership, academic partners, and funders.
Stakeholder Engagement and External Representation
Serve as the primary liaison with regulators and partners in assigned countries, tentatively including financial regulators in Ethiopia, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zambia
Coordinate technical engagement with regulators on data collection, market monitoring, and SupTech pilots.
Represent IPA in high-level meetings with government partners, communicating findings and supporting evidence used for policy decision-making.
Research Quality and Technical Oversight
Oversee the full lifecycle of research activities, from research design, to data collection, to analysis and dissemination of results.
Ensure adherence to rigorous data standards, ethical protocols, and sound research design.
Support data analysis and interpretation, emphasizing actionable insights for regulatory partners.
Contribute to the production of research deliverables including policy briefs, presentations, and technical reports.
Team Management and Mentorship
Supervise Research Associates and field-based staff working on country projects, providing day-to-day management and professional guidance.
Coordinate with IPA country teams to ensure efficient operations, compliance with IPA procedures, and integration with broader country portfolios.
Support onboarding, training, and performance management for project staff.
Operational and Financial Oversight
Oversee project budgets and expenditure tracking, ensuring adherence to donor and IPA financial procedures.
Ensure timely completion of deliverables, progress reports, and budget forecasts.
Cross-Cutting Organizational Contributions
Document and share lessons learned from regulator partnerships and research implementation across countries.
Contribute to CPRI's knowledge-sharing efforts, including inputs for toolkits, workshops, and dissemination events.
Collaborate with IPA's country and global teams to align activities and share best practices across regions.
Qualifications
Master's degree in economics, public policy, public administration, or another field emphasizing data-driven policy analysis and program evaluation.
At least 3 - 5 years of experience working in the financial inclusion ecosystem, particularly with regulators, policymakers, or consumer protection actors.
Demonstrated ability to credibly engage with senior regulatory counterparts — understanding institutional mandates, navigating bureaucratic structures, and framing evidence in ways that resonate with financial supervisors' priorities.
Experience designing or managing applied research or data analytics projects; familiarity with experimental or quasi-experimental methods and proficiency in tools such as Stata, R, or Python are strong advantages.
Ability to interpret and communicate quantitative findings for policy audiences.
Experience working in low- and middle-income country contexts or in complex multi-stakeholder environments.
Excellent communication and writing skills, including the ability to synthesize technical results for policy audiences.
Highly organized, detail-oriented, and comfortable managing multiple priorities in a fast-paced environment.
Experience working with diverse teams across multiple locations, including extensive remote locations of team members.