IDinsight recrute 01 Africa Regional Operations Lead

About IDinsight
IDinsight is an international development consulting organization that helps policymakers and managers make socially impactful decisions using rigorous evidence. We carefully tailor a wide range of analytical and quantitative tools to enable our clients to design better policies, rigorously test those ideas, and take informed action at scale to improve lives. Our services include experimental evaluation methodologies tailored to the priorities of international development decision-makers, monitoring and performance management systems to facilitate continuous data-driven improvement, policy design consulting and scale-up support. Our advisory teams are closely integrated into client organizations, and we strive to provide comprehensive support for clients who want to maximize their social impact through evidencebased policymaking. IDinsight’s vision is to improve millions of lives by transforming how the social sector innovates, learns and improves.

Our diverse client portfolio includes national Ministries across Africa, the World Bank, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, GiveWell/Good Ventures, the National Institution for Transforming India (NITI Aayog), state governments in India, and many international NGOs and innovative social businesses. We work across a range of sectors, including governance, health, education, energy, agriculture, and sanitation.

Please see the IDinsight website for more information on our story, services, values, and team. IDinsight works in India, Southeast Asia, and East and Southern Africa.

About the Africa Regional Operations Lead Role
IDinsight is looking for an entrepreneurial, ambitious problem-solver with experience in Africa to help launch, optimize, and grow a world-class organization. This is an exciting, broad role at a pivotal point in our history.

IDinsight’s Africa presence consists of two large offices (~20 people each) in Lusaka, Zambia and Nairobi,

Kenya, with plans to open two new Africa offices in early 2018 (Johannesburg, South Africa and Dakar, Senegal). We have nearly doubled in 2017, compared to 2016. We continue to build an amazingly talented team full of top talent in the international development field. The Regional Operations Lead will spearhead many aspects of our African operations as we grow, and ensure that the Africa region is run like a worldclass organization.

The Africa Operations Manager will report to the Africa Regional Partner and COO, in close coordination with IDinsight’s Global Operations team. We seek a self-starter who will be able to independently manage a wide range of autonomous work streams, and who is looking for a role that emphasizes execution, inspiring leadership, people management. S/he should have a passion for “getting things done” and will manage a team of administrative staff (potentially hiring more people to the team as needs arise), as well as IDinsight client-facing Associates who may dedicate a portion of their time to organization-building.

The Africa Operations Manager will lead the following work streams:

Oversee logistics and administration of new office launches in Dakar and Johannesburg. Work with local admin and client-facing staff, our General Counsel and Global Operations to ensure all aspects of our new offices are in order, including immigration, new hires/onboarding, office activities.
Ensure IDinsight Africa has best-in-class systems and policies in place — As we grow, we want to stay lean and nimble while also ensuring that information is shared across the offices and staff have the tools they need to do their jobs. He/she will collect feedback from staff on where our current systems and policies are falling short, adapt our systems or design new ones, coordinate the roll-out of these new systems and policies, and ensure adherence. These systems may be in support of IDinsight’s client-facing social impact work, including project management, knowledge management, client development, or internal goal-tracking systems. They may also be people-related, including performance management, benefits, safety and security, and various policies.
Recruit and train excellent employees — The Regional Operations Lead will oversee Africaspecific recruiting events and candidate screening, work with Africa leadership to set and meet hiring goals, especially from regional talent pools. Some elements of our recruiting process, such as interviewing, are managed centrally and will be coordinated with the Global Operations team on high-level talent strategies. The Regional Operations Lead will oversee the running of comprehensive onboarding and training for new teammates.
Ensure IDinsight’s Africa offices are great places to work — IDinsight prides itself on being a great place to work (check out our reviews on Glassdoor) and as we grow, we want to keep the values and culture that have allowed us to provide this positive, efficient work environment. The Regional Operations Lead will directly check-in with staff, coordinate teambuilding and professional development events, design and coordinate changes to the physical office environments, and take other steps to make IDinsight’s Africa offices fantastic places to work.
Problem solve as issues come up — As IDinsight is growing rapidly, various logistical or people-related issues inevitably arise. The Africa Regional Operations Lead will be the go-to person for the region for quick and creative problem solving. S/he is expected to understand the issue holistically, exercise judgment and tact, and develop and execute a clear action-plan. When required, s/he will escalate issues to other senior leadership members for consultation, and provide recommendations on a course of action.
Is it YOU we’re looking for?

We are building a team that is full of ideas, knows a great organization and culture when they see it, intensely focused on their work, and “do it, get it done” types who are bought into IDinsight’s vision to change the world through better social sector decisions. Our Operations teammates will have a proven track record and commitment to the tasks at hand.

Ideal candidates will possess:

5+ years of work experience, ideally with some experience in Africa
Proven ability to lead and motivate teams in a dynamic, multicultural environment
Passion for improving lives through evidence-informed policy
Ability to conceive, execute, and lead strategic initiatives, but also high attention to detail and willingness to get his/her hands dirty on the nuts and bolts of running an organization
Experience in a well-run global organization
Strong communication skills (ability to be clear, yet tactful)
Ability to navigate people and policy decisions with nuance and discretion
Willingness to travel to visit our offices as needed (up to 30%)
Familiarity with MS Office, Google Docs, and ideally other relevant systems such as BambooHR, Asana, Slack, SalesForce, and survey software
Fluency in English. Fluency in African languages a plus
At least a 7 on a scale of 1 to 10 for humor
We hope to invest in outstanding professionals who will grow our team and become the backbone of our Africa operations for years to come. We welcome you to submit an application, if you can demonstrate your passion and relevant experience to our work and our people.

Nuts and Bolts
Location is one of our Africa offices (Lusaka, Nairobi, Johannesburg, or Dakar). Compensation and title will be competitive and commensurate with experience and track record. Start dates are flexible but with a preference for sooner.

To Apply
Please complete this application form, which also requires a CV and cover letter. Applications are rolling and considered as they are submitted with a preference for earlier starts. Please note, only candidates selected for an interview will be contacted