Pakistan: Impact, Research & Development Unit Manager

Department: Impact, Research and Development
Position: Impact, Research & Development Unit Manager

Contract duration: 6 months, renewable
Location: Islamabad, Pakistan
Starting Date ASAP
I. Background on ACTED

Since 1993, as an international non-governmental organization, ACTED has been committed to immediate humanitarian relief to support those in urgent need and protect people’s dignity, while co-creating longer term opportunities for sustainable growth and fulfilling people’s potential.

ACTED endeavors to respond to humanitarian crises and build resilience; promote inclusive and sustainable growth; co-construct effective governance and support the building of civil society worldwide by investing in people and their potential.

We go the last kilometer: ACTED’s mission is to save lives and support people in meeting their needs in hard to reach areas. ACTED develops and implements programs that target the most vulnerable amongst populations that have suffered from conflict, natural disaster, or socio-economic hardship. ACTED’s approach looks beyond the immediate emergency towards opportunities for longer term livelihoods reconstruction and sustainable development.

With a budget of 164 million EUR in 2014, ACTED is active in 35 countries and implements more than 450 projects a year reaching over 8 million beneficiaries with 400 international staff and 4,300 national staff.

II. Country Profile

Capital Office: Islamabad
Projects: 18 (2014)
Budget: 12.9 M Euros (2014)
National staff: 460 (2014)

ACTED has been present in Pakistan since 1993, when it registered its first office in Peshawar. Since, we have developed extensive experience in programmes focusing on emergency response, local governance and community mobilisation, on and off-farm livelihoods support, education and vocational training, community-based rehabilitation and construction, shelter, water and sanitation and health and hygiene. In addition, ACTED has been providing monitoring, evaluation, information management to a wide range of stakeholders in Pakistan to promote humanitarian coordination and effectiveness.

In recent years, ACTED has provided extensive emergency and early recovery assistance to disaster-affected families in Pakistan. This assistance has included shelter construction, food distributions, the provision of clean water and sanitation facilities, hygiene campaigns and support for the resumption of livelihoods activities through the distribution of seeds, livestock and farming tools, the promotion of home-based micro-businesses for women and cash for work schemes including the rehabilitation of community productive infrastructure.

In 2001-2002, the organisation provided assistance over 20,000 displaced Afghan refugee families in Pakistan. ACTED was a leading actor in responding to the massive 2005 earthquake, which took 75,000 lives and affected over 100,000 others in eastern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK) province and Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK).
In 2009, following the displacement of over three million people in KPK, ACTED provided support to IDP populations throughout Swat, Nowshera, Buner, Lower Dir and Upper Dir districts.
ACTED’s mission in Pakistan expanded into Punjab and Northern Sindh provinces following the unprecedented monsoon floods that swept across Pakistan in July 2010, claiming 1,700 lives, destroying close to 1.8 million homes and affecting a total of over 20 million people across the country. In 2011, as floods in lower Sindh affected a further 9.2 million people, destroying over 315,000 homes and leaving 43% of local populations severely food insecure, ACTED was able to immediately provide emergency relief to flood-affected families drawing upon its strong presence and experience of the local context.

Today, ACTED’s experienced team of 700 national staff and 11 international staff continues to support the relief, recovery and development needs of conflict- and flood-affected communities in four districts of KPK (Swat, Upper Dir, Lower Dir and Kohat), six districts of Sindh (Kashmore, Jacobabad, Shikarpur, Mirpur Khas, Sanghar and Umerkot), one district of Punjab (D.G. Khan) and two agencies of FATA (Orakzai and Bajaur), ensuring access to remote or complex areas and the relevance and effectiveness of our programmes.

III. Position Profile
The Impact, Research & Development Unit Manager will have the following functions :
Lead the development of proposals for impact assessments & research projects / assignments
• Provide oversight and support to the Project Development team during the drafting phase of new R&D-related project proposals or R&D components of project proposals
• Present research study proposals to relevant donors to seek approval for funding. All concept notes and proposals will be well written and submitted within a timeframe that meets designated submission deadline.
• Review and edit R&D-related documents for Project Development and Project Management / Technical Coordination teams.

1. Responsible for the implementation of impact evaluations/impact assessments
   • Collect data for performance measures such as short/medium/long term impact, sustainability, durable Operations & Maintenance, Return on Investment (ROI), outcome measures of project activities, in close coordination with the AME department.
   • Is responsible for developing methodologies and tools to assess the effectiveness and efficiency of ACTED country programs of instruction, and to evaluate project relevance, cost effectiveness and overall impact.
   • Coordinates directly with the MIS team to create templates and reports that can be hosted on ACTED database and web-based platforms in support of impact assessment, research and project tracking activities.
   • Performs site visits as needed to meet project objectives and for data collection according to the research design.
   • Provides in-depth statistical analysis of ACTED project activities when required, using the provided statistical analytics software, and working with university partners/consultants as and when required.


2. Oversight of the implementation of research projects / assignments
   • Directly manages Project Managers/Project Coordinators responsible for research projects, reviewing and following up on quality and progress of project implementation
   • Provides oversight of training provided to personnel that participate and gather data during research projects to ensure that designated research protocols are followed.
   • Assists programme staff in their efforts to plan, coordinate and execute the organisation of impact assessment and R&D conferences, trainings and workshops, in close coordination with logistics and finance teams.
   • Executes details revolving around the marketing and public awareness of events, exhibits, and conferences such as invitations, publications announcements, letters, and printed materials.


3. Contributes to the development & introduction of innovative approaches & methodologies
   • Develops and implements innovative research studies and assist with the development and implementation of research components within funding requests developed by the PD team.
   • Builds a body of research evidence to support the Project Development team in the designing of new projects and targeting of assistance
   • Works with outside sources, such as private sector, public sector, Academia and Research Agencies in country and abroad, to identify future technology for program advancement. These findings will be communicated to the Country Director and Deputy Country Director before being rolled out.
   • Coordinates with Area Coordinators, Project Managers and Technical Coordinators on issues related to testing of new approaches and tools, once approved by Country Director and Deputy Country Director.
   • 5. Responsible for the internal capitalisation process
   • Coordinates with programme managers to compile ACTED programmatic methodologies and project data in support of the AME and MIS teams.
   • Provides and updates content related to ACTED approaches, methodologies and tools as well as final impact assessment and R&D products on the ACTED server and intranet using the stipulated electronic records file plan.
   • 6. Contributes to raising ACTED’s profile and developing new partnerships
   • Assists the Country Director and Deputy Country Directors in promoting ACTED’s sectoral expertise in each of the 3 global programming pillars
   • Helps identify academic, government and private sector partners that can contribute to increase the impact, relevance and attractiveness of ACTED project proposals;
   • Attends/briefs at designated conferences, workshops, and educational facilities to promote and advance ACTED’s approach, expertise and research & development (R&D) works.
   • Attends designated teleconferences and meetings related to the development and execution of R&D initiatives. Provide monthly updates on the status of pertinent objectives.

IV. Qualifications:

• Postgraduate diploma in International Development and (or) relevant Master’s level degree (anthropology, development studies, humanitarian aid, sociology);


• Fluency in written and spoken English


• Proficiency in written and spoken English


• Strong writing abilities and analytical skills


• Skills in political sciences or international relations


• Ability to work efficiently under pressure


• Previous experience in the humanitarian field, proposals development, and donor relations are required


• Previous experience abroad is required


• 1-2 years experience of working with impact evaluations


• Experience designing research studies and methodologies, including qualitative and quantitative analysis


• Strong experience with complex statistical analysis


• Proficiency in statistical analysis software, including SPSS; STATA; Access etc.

V. Conditions

• Salary defined by the ACTED salary grid; educational level, expertise, hardship, security, and performance are considered for pay bonus (salary between 2000€ to 2300€ net per month)


• Additional monthly living allowance


• Free food and lodging provided at the organisation’s guesthouse/or housing allowance (depending on contract length and country of assignment)


• Transportation costs covered, including additional return ticket + luggage allowance


• Provision of medical, life, and repatriation insurance + retirement package