Job Summary: The Senior Research and Evaluation Specialist will be responsible for supporting Landesa’s mission, strategic objectives, its advocacy, and its programs by carrying out a wide range of research, monitoring, evaluation, and learning activities. They will design and apply monitoring and evaluation tools and practices for Landesa programs, carry out qualitative and quantitative research to assess policies and programs for rural land tenure security and access to land in developing countries, and strengthen Landesa’s and partners’ understanding and application of evidence in the land and development sectors.
Reporting and relationships: The Senior Research and Evaluation Specialist will report to the Director of Research, Evaluation & Learning.
Availability: The Senior Research and Evaluation Specialist will be expected to work a standard workweek of 40 hours plus additional hours as necessary to get the job done. This position requires substantial international travel, between 40 and 100 days per year, contingent on COVID-19 policies. Evenings and weekends will be required at times.
Essential Job Functions: The Senior Research and Evaluation Specialist is responsible for supporting Landesa’s mission, strategic objectives, its advocacy, and its programs by carrying out a wide range of technical and policy advocacy, research, monitoring and evaluation activities in a broad range of topics in development and resource economics such as customary land rights, women’s land rights, sustainable land and natural resource management, climate resilient agriculture, governance, and other socioeconomic dimensions of land tenure in developing countries. The Senior Research and Evaluation Specialist:
§ Will lead efforts to deepen the evidence base on linkages between secure and equitable land tenure and climate change through collaborative learning with Landesa projects and collaborate to create a profile of land tenure and climate research
§ Manages projects focused on research and evaluation and leads research, monitoring, and evaluation components of Landesa’s projects focused on implementation of interventions
§ Designs and leads implementation of quantitative and qualitative research processes such as surveys, case studies, community mappings, key informant interviews, and focus group discussions, including through design of data collection tools, training data collectors, and supervision of data collection and processing activities
§ Designs and manages the implementation of gender-responsive and socially-inclusive applied research, monitoring, and evaluation approaches that combine rigorous and contextually appropriate qualitative and quantitative approaches, including formative field-research using techniques such as participatory rural appraisal, field assessments, community mapping, key informant interviews, focus group exercises, and stakeholder analysis
§ Guides the design of monitoring, evaluation, and learning (MEL) plans of Landesa projects to create land-related knowledge and to enhance interventions designed to strengthen the land rights of the rural poor
§ Designs databases, supervises data entry and data cleaning activities, analyzes data using software such as KOBO, Dedoose, NVivo, or Stata.
§ Produces clear, compelling, and methodologically robust reports, journal articles, policy briefs, slide presentations, and other ways of making research, monitoring, and evaluation results available and accessible to Landesa audiences;
§ Works with project teams to prepare reports including summarizing project results, coordinating the reporting of indicators, and success/learning stories Presents research, monitoring and evaluation findings, and recommendations to key target audiences, including policy makers, rural communities, civil society, researchers, and funders;
§ Works closely with Landesa staff as well as partners at universities, research institutions, development agencies, government offices, NGOs and international initiatives who create or use land-related evidence for advocacy, policy or program design
§ Supports efforts to build Landesa’s and its partners’ capacity to create and use land-related, gender-sensitive evidence
§ Writes and reviews project and research proposals
Required Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities:
Education and Professional Experience:
Work Environment and Working Conditions for Travelers to Developing Countries: While performing the duties of this job, the employee may be exposed to working conditions and hazards which are prevalent for the location and/or country of assignment. The noise level in the work environment is usually moderate. Work is primarily performed indoors with some potential for exposure to safety and health hazards related to electronics work. The employee may be required to travel overseas and domestically. When traveling in a developing country, the employee may be exposed to: Physical Hazards (illnesses, noise, extreme temperatures, wet or humid climates, etc.), Road Hazards (unfinished/dirt roads, potholes, traffic-related accidents, etc.), and Atmospheric Conditions (odors, dust, fumes, smog, etc.).
Additional Comments: The above job description is not intended as, nor should it be construed as, exhaustive of all responsibilities, skills, efforts, or working conditions associated with this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made in appropriate circumstances to enable qualified individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions of this job.
Landesa: Landesa, a 501c3 nonprofit organization based in Seattle, works to strengthen land rights for people experiencing poverty around the world – those 2.47 billion chiefly rural people who live on less than two dollars a day. Landesa works with communities, NGOs, corporations, and governments on land-related programs that provide opportunity, further economic growth, and promote social justice. Landesa places special emphasis on establishing and protecting land rights for women and inheritance rights for girls.
Landesa employs a staff of more than 120 worldwide, including senior land tenure specialists with legal, economic, gender, natural resource management, measurement and evaluation, and agricultural expertise. Landesa has offices in Seattle, Dar es Salaam, Washington DC, Yangon, Beijing, Delhi, and Monrovia.
