Research Officer

Requisition ID:  req47463

Job Title:  Research Officer

Sector:  Economic Recovery & Livelihood

Employment Category:  Fixed Term

Employment Type:  Full-Time

Open to Expatriates:  No

Location:  Nairobi - Pangani, Kenya

Work Arrangement:

Job Description

The International Rescue Committee(IRC) responds to the world’s worst humanitarian crises and helps people tosurvive and rebuild their lives. Founded in 1933 at the request of AlbertEinstein, the IRC offers lifesaving care and life-changing assistance torefugees forced to flee from war or disaster. At work today in over 40countries and 22 cities, we restore safety, dignity and hope to millionswho are uprooted and struggling to endure. The IRC leads the way from harm tohome.

General Responsibility

Responsible for maintainingprogram quality and compliance across all business enterprise activities,ensuring program approaches are clearly documented, understood by the programteams and implemented including conducting direct business skills training toclients and guiding clients in developing business plans.

Detailed Responsibilities

Train programbeneficiaries/clients on Business skills and life skills Support beneficiaries indeveloping business plans to be funded. Prepare payment list and verifyMPESA or bank details of the clients to ensure funds are transferred to thecorrect recipients. Support Research monitors inplanning and monitoring client’s business and implementing the RandomizedControl Trial (RCT) interventions as per the study protocol. Follow up on clients whosebusinesses have been funded to offer support in areas of businesssustainability and other areas of concern. Liaise with the protection team toensure refugees who are facing protection challenges are supported. Prepare periodic reports ofprogress of program activities. Assist in context and stakeholdermapping and analysis to contribute to the conceptual development of LivelihoodsResource centers and mobile services. Help conduct outreach to communityand local leaders, private sector partners and other stakeholders as directedby ERD management. Deliver training material toclients as the main trainer/facilitator, and schedule other trainers asnecessary for specific cohorts or sessions. Support other program staff indelivering business and life skills sessions. Working with and training programstaff to register clients, recommend clients for placement in RCTs Provide introduction sessions toRCT (micro enterprise) clients, including on attendance requirements andprotection related issues, drawing in other staff as necessary Conduct bi-weekly meetings withbeneficiaries in the form of calls, interviews or focus group discussion asappropriate. Helps ensure that payment of beneficiaries is accuratelyprocessed. Under the direction of the SeniorResearch Officer /Manager, conduct individual business development sessionswith clients and coach them through the development of a business plan andgrant application where applicable. Support monitoring of activities,conducting site visits and helping to troubleshoot any issues from clients. Coordinate closely with M&Eand data staff on targeting, data collection, data systems and informationmanagement. Contribute to baseline, interimand end line assessment efforts and program reporting, providing clear input onbusiness training, microenterprise development research activities. Coordinate closely with IRClogistics, finance, and grants focal point to ensure timely and compliantprogram activities and expenditures. Linkages of RCTclients to the Urban Savings and Loans Association and Financial ServiceProviders for business growth support (where applicable).

Qualifications
Bachelor’s degree in socialsciences, Public Administration, business administration or equivalent At least 3 years of experience inmicro enterprise development livelihoods or community engagement programs. Demonstrated experience andcapacity in training clients and groups and working with vulnerablepopulations. Strong ability to work independently,organize work, meet deadlines, maintain composure, prioritize work underpressure, coordinate multiple tasks and maintain attention to detail. Experience working with Refugeesin livelihoods programming. Experience managing datacollection and concrete knowledge of open-source tools such as ODK collect,KoBo Toolbox, Survey CTO or CommCare platforms. Experience collecting Qualitativedata , Focus group discussion (FGD), Key informant interviews (KII) andtranscription of audios. Experience supervising field teams Experience in administration andmanagement of grants individuals and groups Excellent interpersonal andproblem-solving skills, creativity, and flexibility NGO experience preferred Personal qualities: promotescollaboration and coordination within and across teams, comfortable in amulti-cultural environment, extremely flexible and adaptable, ability tocontribute across multiple activities and departments. Fluency in English and Kiswahilirequired.

Standards of ProfessionalConduct : The IRC and IRC workers must adhere to the values and principlesoutlined in the IRC Way – Code of Conduct. These are Integrity, Service, andAccountability. In accordance with these values, the IRC operates and enforcespolicies on Beneficiary Protection from Exploitation and Abuse, ChildSafeguarding, Harassment-Free Workplace, Fiscal Integrity, Anti-Retaliation,Combating Trafficking in Persons and several others.

Gender Equality : IRC iscommitted to narrowing the gender gap in leadership positions. We offerbenefits that provide an enabling environment for women to participate in ourworkforce including parental leave, gender-sensitive security protocols andother supportive benefits and allowance.

Kenyan nationals are encouragedto apply. International allowances are not available for this position. Salaryand employee benefits are compliant to the Kenyan NGO Sector.

IRC is an Equal OpportunityEmployer and considers all applicants on the basis of merit without regard torace, sex, color, national origin, religion, sexual orientation, age, maritalstatus, veteran status or disability.

Disclaimer:

Please take note thatInternational Rescue Committee (IRC) does not ask for any fees in connectionwith its recruitment processes.