IT Director

ABOUT THE COMPANY

Innovations for Poverty Action (IPA) is an international non-profit research organization dedicated to discovering and promoting effective solutions to global poverty problems. IPA works in partnership with development partners and academic researchers to create and evaluate approaches potential solutions to poverty problems using randomized evaluations in the fields of health, education, microfinance, governance and agriculture. We also mobilize and support these decision makers to use these solutions to build better programs and policies at scale.

JOB SUMMARY

The IT Director leads IPA's global IT function, setting strategy, developing and owning governance, and building a team capable of delivering reliable, secure, and user-centered technology services across a complex international organization.This is a leadership and management role. The IT Director is responsible for what gets built and how, not for building it directly. Success looks like a well-structured team with clear ownership, a governance framework that actually gets followed, and technology decisions that hold up over time. The right person is energized by developing people, translating organizational needs into technology priorities, and creating systems of accountability, not by hands-on implementation.The IT Director will also ensure that IPA’s IT policies, governance frameworks, and control mechanisms are compliant with applicable regulatory and donor requirements and remain practical, proportionate, and aligned with the organization’s evolving operational needs.Required7+ years in a senior IT leadership role with accountability for the reliability, security, and availability of enterprise systems in production environments.5+ years managing IT teams, including direct oversight of senior technical staff (engineers, architects, system admins) — with a demonstrated track record of developing people and building team capability.5+ years overseeing enterprise system integrations, SaaS platforms and cloud environments (ERP, CRM, data warehouse, or comparable).5+ years as a senior escalation authority for technical or security incidents.3+ years developing or managing IT governance frameworks, policies, and internal controls.3+ years in environments with regulatory, donor, or audit compliance requirements related to data protection or information security.3+ years overseeing IT budgeting, vendor management, and SLA accountability.3+ years leading change management for enterprise technology implementations.Experience communicating technology risks and decisions to non-technical senior stakeholders.Familiarity with enterprise business intelligence environments (e.g., Power BI).

RESPONSIBILITIES

The following outlines the key duties and responsibilities of this role, to be carried out in close coordination with the Global Operations Senior Director and IPA’s Senior Management Team.Define and steward IT strategy and governanceDevelop and maintain IPA's IT strategy, ensuring it adjusts to organizational priorities, resource constraints, compliance obligations and operational realities across a distributed, multi-country environment.Own IPA's IT governance framework — policies, standards, and controls covering security, access management, data governance, acceptable use, vendor management, and emerging technologies.Ensure governance is practical, compliant with regulatory and donor requirements, and proportionate to organizational risk and operational realities. Policies should be enforceable and understood across country offices, not just documented.Advise senior leadership on technology risks, investment decisions, and compliance obligations in clear, non-technical terms.Evaluate emerging technologies — including AI and automation — and recommend responsible, mission-aligned adoption pathways.Lead the IT function and its peopleManage, develop, and retain a team of six IT professionals, including systems administrators, data engineers, and support staff, providing clear direction, regular feedback, and opportunities for growth.Recruit for capability gaps and build toward a team structure where technical domains have clear ownership and accountability, while ensuring there are always enough redundancies on all tasks.Foster a culture of documentation, service orientation, and accountability — where good work is visible and standards are consistently upheld.Set team priorities in coordination with the Senior Director, Operations & Systems, and communicate clearly about trade-offs and capacity.Ensure that IT operates as a service-oriented function, prioritizing responsiveness, clarity, and alignment with operational and research needs.Ensure security, compliance, and risk managementLead IPA's information security direction, ensuring controls are proportionate to organizational risk and resourced appropriately.Ensure compliance with donor, contractual, and regulatory requirements related to data protection and information security.Oversee audit readiness and coordinate responses to security or data incidents, including engagement with legal and senior leadership.Drive organizational alignmentLead change management for significant technology transitions, ensuring staff across country offices understand and adopt new systems and practices.Oversee IT budget planning and financial reporting, ensuring transparency of total cost of ownership and value for money.Qualifications

REQUIRED SKILLS

Service Level Agreement (SLA), IT support, Business strategy, Software architecture

REQUIRED EDUCATION

Bachelor's degree