Regional Research & Knowledge Management (KMR) Advisor

Eastern and Southern Africa Region

SOS Children’s Villages

(Job Ref: SOS/2/20/23)

Position title:             Regional Research & Knowledge Management (KMR) Advisor

Working location:    Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

Supervisor:                Deputy Regional Director of Program

Region:                      East and Southern Africa (ESAF)

Contract Period:        Indefinite

Context of the Organization

SOS Children’s Villages is non-governmental and non-denominational organization working with communities, partners and states to ensure that the rights of all children are fulfilled in every society. SOS CVI is a global federation working to protect and care for children who have lost parental care, or who stand at risk of losing the care. We respect all religions and cultures and work with trusted partners in places where we can contribute to social development. Everything we do is made possible through the generous support of sponsors and donors, institutional and corporate partners, and loyal friends worldwide.

Everything we do is guided by the firm belief that no child should grow up alone and that we need to improve care for children who are at risk, enabling them to overcome precarious conditions and to succeed in life. To achieve our mission, our strategy for the upcoming decade focuses on ensuring the best care of children, innovation, and effective collaboration with more partners. Our core values guiding who we are and what we do include courage to take action, commitment to keep our promises, trust to believe in each other, and accountability to be reliable partners.

The purpose of the Position

The main purpose of this role is to promote research and knowledge management through generating evidence and sharing knowledge for improving programme quality and reach, as well as  complement evidence-based advocacy initiatives in the region. As a focal point for KMR for the region, the ideal candidate is responsible for presenting independent and robust evidence to various stakeholdres at SOS Children’s Villages so that they make informed decisions on prioritized strategic programme developments and innovations.

The incumbunt is also expected to institute a culture of research and uptake, including the capture and dissemination of operational knowledge and evidence that respond to needs of community members and priorieties of the organization. This will include updating knowledge management strategy and research charter as relevant, leading implementation of key activities of the regional research charter and the knowledge management (KM) implementation plan. The ideal candidate will bring a strong passion for research and learning and a proven ability to manage a wide portfolio of activities through internal teamwork and external partnerships and collaborations.

Main Clients

• Deputy IDR/Regional/Programme Director
• Deputy Programme Director
• National Directors and National Programme Directors
• Evidence, Investment & Learning team at International Office
• Regional Programme Development Advisors
• Regional and national M&E team
• Relevant PSAs

Key Duties and Responsibilities:

Research Management

• Contribute to SOS Children’s Villages thought leadership with research insights on the evidence base on specific priorities and learning questions of interest.
• Lead development of high-quality research products - research protocols, ToRs, reports, summary briefs, methodologies, and tools for an international audience as per SOS Children’s Villages policies and standards, development industry and academia.
• Provide strong analysis and review of qualitative and quantitative data sets, recommendations, and secondary researches.
• Lead on specific pieces of evidence search, literature reviews, evidence mapping to answer specific learning questions as part of the various research initiatives under different funding modalities, including institutional partnership develeopment.
• Support project managers with development of research results chain, progress monitoring and tracking of budget utilization rates.
• Work with implementing partners and consultants on prioritized area of research that can be built into programming and harvest evidence and results.
• Coordinate implementation of research projects/activities (including that of the regional research charter), and support MAs to develop their own research charters, as defined in the regional and global research agenda.
• In coordination with the international office, support the social impact assessments in the region with quality reviews including selection of the external researchers, kick off/validation workshop, and review of reports.

Knowledge Management (KM)

• Implement the recommendations of the knowledge management strategy with a focus on documentation of outcomes, lessons, methodologies, communication, and adaptation.
• Be accountable for the KM strategy implementation by monitoring and reporting on progresses.
• Collect and collate raw data to identify key learnings and package for sharing with internal and external audience.
• In collaboration with the Communications team, produce and disseminate high quality learning products - promising practices, fact sheets, policy briefs, position papers, videos, etc.
• Document promising practices and innovations regularly, and facilitate processes for internal and external knowledge sharing (together with the M&E team) among national programme teams in the region.
• Build/maintain online repository of learning products and ensure effective dissemination to target audience.
• Promote an organizational culture of applying evidence and knowledge on projects and cross-learning for effective implementation of SOS care promise priorities.
• Package and disseminate knowledge for different audiences (colleagues and partners), this includes internal and external communication activities (speaking on workshops and conferences, writing of blogs, articles, case studies, and preparing panel discussions)

Capacity Development & System Strengthening

• Develop/implement coordinated quality assurance standards for the production of learning products in the regional office and MAs.
• Build the capacity of staff and implementing partners on action research and knowledge management strategies.
• Develop/adapt tools for conducting researches, case studies, promising practices, and project lesson write up.
• Support MAs in conducting annual self evaluation of SOS care promise implementation.
• Collaborate with M&E team on managing data quality, analysis and interpretation as an input for decision making and continuous improvement of project planning and implementation.
• Collaborate with the fund development and programme colleagues during designing result chains, progress tracking of results and fund utilization of research and knowledge management tasks.
• Collaborate on establishing a “learning” organization, making sure new knowledge is integrated in organization-wide activities, current practice and future developments.
• Develop/define and institutionalize knowledge management standards, and offering guidance to all colleagues.
• Set/implement standards for ethical, adaptive, and appropriate evidence generation in researches that involve children and young people.

Knowledge, Experience, competencies and skills

Education and Experience required

• Desired qualification is Master’s degree in Social Science or Development studies, and other related studies.
• Relevant experience of at least seven years in the field of research, knowledge management, evaluations or related programme development is essential.

Competencies, Knowledge, Skills and Abilities required

• High level of professional expertise on research/evaluations.
• Should have good knowledge and understanding of children’s rights and rights-based approaches in the development of programs.
• Ability to quickly and competently analyze, consolidate and summarize complex information from multiple sources, including quantitative and qualitative data.
• Skills of creating awareness and understanding of socio economic development issues of the African continent in general and the sub-saharan region in particlar.
• Ability to communicate effectively, listens sensitively, adapts communication to audience and fosters effective communication with others
• Develops new insights into situations; questions conventional approaches; encourages new ideas and innovations; designs and implements new or cutting edge programs/processes
• Understands and keeps up-to-date on local, national, and international policies and trends that affect the organization and shape stakeholders' views; is aware of the organization’s impact on the external environment.
• Adjusts to changing environments whilst maintaining effectiveness and alignment with core organizational policies.
• Documents and distributes lessons learned and good practices to support organizational learning on national, regional and international level

We offer

• A diverse range of interesting tasks in a leading INGO multicultural working environment
• As a responsible employer we provide a range of training schemes and encourage educational enhancement
• A salary that will be commensurate with experience and qualifications

How to Apply

If you believe you are the right candidate for the above position, please send your detailed curriculum vitae (CV), and photocopies of academic certificates. Applications should be submitted electronically through the iCIIMS link provided. All applications should be submitted not later than 1st of March 2023**.**

Applications that are late do not have a CV or certificates attached will be disqualified. Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted.

“SOS Children’s Villages International holds strict child safeguarding principles and a zero-tolerance policy for conducts of sexual harassment, exploitation and abuse in the workplace and other places where the organization’s activities are rendered.  Parallel to technical competence, recruitment, selection and hiring decisions will give due emphasize to assessing candidates value congruence and thorough background checks, police clearance reference check processes”.

Female candidates are highly encouraged to apply.