Senior Advisor, Early Childhood Research, Evidence, and Learning

Staff whose work requires or potentially could require any in-person interaction with Save the Children colleagues, partners, or beneficiaries must be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 unless otherwise required by law. Save the Children complies with federal, state, and local laws with regard to accommodations related to this policy.

Summary

The Senior Advisor (Advisor II), Early Childhood Research, Evidence and Learning will provide technical support to country offices in the generation and use of evidence and leverage external forums and partnerships to elevate the research conducted. The Advisor will lead the activities to successfully measure and report on literacy, numeracy, and social and emotional learning outcomes and their relationships to programming activities. You will lead on evaluation design and use quantitative and qualitative research methods to produce findings and recommendations for evidence-based program design and improvement. You will prepare and disseminate evaluation and research results to Country Offices, the Department of Education and Child Protection (DECP), Save the Children International (SCI) and in technical forums. Working with the Research Team, you will collaborate on multi-site analyses to inform advocacy and program innovation.

What You’ll Be Doing (Essential Duties)

Technical Leadership and Quality Programming (30%)

• Lead research design, analysis, and data use to inform Early Learning, Wellbeing and Protection programs to build the evidence base for Save the Children
• Build SC staff capacity to generate, interpret, and apply findings of research on SC’s Early Learning, Wellbeing and Protection interventions
• Lead the development of and technical assistance to COs on research and evaluation components of education grants
• Work with Early Learning and Protection cluster to develop, implement, and track progress against learning agenda
• Engage in and provide leadership to SC movement facing initiatives related to research and evidence building in the education sector

Program Learning and Innovation (20%)

• Ensure technical quality of learning outcomes measurement in SC ECCD sites, analysis and utilization of findings to realize impact for program, advocacy and fundraising.
• Lead on development and testing of assessments for programs with 0-3 year olds and 3-6 year olds, including learning environments and for continuous program improvement.
• Work with the research team to leverage the variety of assessments currently used towards greater holism and rigor and develop and pilot new instruments (e.g., ReAL).
• Lead technical inputs to global IDELA use, including support of administration and training guidance

Cultivate Public and Private Resources (20%)

• Lead on identifying and submitting proposals for strategic research-specific funding opportunities
• Fundraise and support SC efforts to expand Early Learning, Wellbeing and Protection programming based on evidence.
• Lead on M&E elements of proposal development for Early Learning, Wellbeing and Protection opportunities

External Partnerships and Collaboration (15%)

• Cultivate strategic external partnerships with academic institutions, multilateral organizations, implementing partners, and donors to leverage learning and position SC as a thought leader in the Early Learning, Wellbeing and Protection spaces
• Lead external partner engagement by identifying strategic opportunities for partnership and facilitating complementary contributions to research and programming from partners
• Lead and contribute to external technical discussions on Early Learning and Protection measurement and learning

Management (15%)

• Manage timelines, budgets and activities related to the IDELA website
• Supervise, coach, develop, and manage junior staff and/or temporary staff working on IDELA and ECCD-related projects
• Mentor junior staff to learn and apply early learning assessments with internal and external partners (0-3 and 4-6)

Required Qualifications

• Minimum of a Bachelor Degree or equivalent experience, plus at least seven (7) years of relevant experience

• Proven experience with applied research, preferably in a development setting.

• Proven technical knowledge in research design, utilizing emergent/early reading assessments and quantitative analytic methods as well as training others in same

• Demonstrated experience presenting in internal and external fora on applied research

• Proven experience in contributing to global measurement dialogues as well as quantitative and qualitative research methods

• Willingness and ability to travel up to 20% primarily internationally

• Professional proficiency in MS Office suite, STATA, and electronic data collection

• Professional proficiency in spoken and written English

• Demonstrated ability to communicate and collaborate effectively with individuals and teams at all levels

• Proven experience leading professional teams

• Demonstrated successful organizational, problem-solving, and multi-tasking skills, with proven attention to detail.

• Demonstrated commitment to fostering and maintaining an environment of diversity, inclusion, and belonging

Preferred Qualifications

• Work experience in a developing country context
• Experience in providing input on department and movement strategy on evidence generation and application
  • Proficiency in Power BI
  • Proficiency in French, Spanish, or Arabic

Why you should join the Save the Children Team…

Save the Children US offers outstanding benefits that include health, dental, vision and life insurances, pet insurance, short-term and long-term disability coverage, an Employee Assistance Program, 403(b), generous vacation, personal sick leave, family leave, parental/adoption leave, commuter benefits, dress for your day, and much more.

Click here to learn more about how Save the Children US will invest in YOU!

About Save the Children

Save the Children believes every child deserves a future. In the United States and around the world, we give children a healthy start in life, the opportunity to learn and protection from harm. We do whatever it takes for children – every day and in times of crisis – transforming their lives and the future we share.

*Our work for children and their families requires that we commit—at every opportunity—to work together to identify and dismantle persistent systemic and structural racism, inequality, and any other forms of discrimination in this country and beyond. As an anti-racist organization, Save the Children will not tolerate discrimination in any form—in our employment practices, amongst our staff, in our leadership or toward the people we serve. We stand in solidarity with all people to fight for equal rights, justice, inclusion, and belonging.*

We provide equal employment opportunities (EEO) to all employees and qualified applicants for employment without regard to race, color, religion, gender, gender identity or expression, ancestry, sexual orientation, national origin, age, handicap, disability, marital status, or status as a veteran. Save the Children complies with all applicable laws.

Save the Children is committed to conducting its programs and operations in a manner that is safe for the children it serves and helping protect the children with whom we are in contact. All Save the Children representatives are explicitly prohibited from engaging in any activity that may result in any kind of child abuse. In addition, it is Save the Children’s policy to create and proactively maintain an environment that aims to prevent and deter any actions and omissions, whether deliberate or inadvertent, that place children at the risk of any kind of child abuse. All our representatives are expected to conduct themselves in a manner consistent with this commitment and obligation.

Save the Children is committed to minimizing safety and security risks for our valued employees, ensuring all are given training, support and information to reduce their risk exposure while maximizing the impact of our programs for children and families. Our shared duty, both agency and individual, is to seek and maintain safe working conditions for all.