Best Use of Resources Education Analyst

Background/IRC Summary:

The International Rescue Committee (IRC) is among the world’s leading nonprofit humanitarian relief and development organizations. Founded in 1933 at the request of Albert Einstein, our mission is to assist those whose lives and livelihoods have been shattered by conflict and disaster to survive, recover and gain control over their lives. The organization has been at the forefront of virtually every major humanitarian initiative for the last 85 years. At work today in over 35 countries and 26 U.S. cities, we restore safety, dignity and hope to millions who are uprooted and struggling to endure. The IRC leads the way from harm to home.

The Airbel Impact Lab designs, tests, and scales life-changing, cost-effective solutions for people affected by conflict and disaster. By applying the IRC’s deep technical expertise and field experience with a range of skills from the behavioral sciences, human-centered design, research, and multi-disciplinary problem-solving in humanitarian contexts, we work to develop breakthrough solutions that combine creativity and rigor, openness and expertise, and a desire to think afresh with the experience of a large-scale implementing organization. In response to this crisis, the Education Global Research & Innovation Priorities (GRIP) at Airbel in coordination with the Education Technical Unit will implement an innovative program in a number of crisis-affected contexts including — Bangladesh, Colombia, and Nigeria — that reaches last-mile children and parents and caregivers, providing them with quality education solutions. To support this research and innovation agenda, the Best Use of Resources team conducts cost-efficiency and cost-effectiveness analyses as well as scenario modeling and decision support of education projects.

Job Overview/Summary:

To deliver the greatest possible results for our clients, humanitarian actors must be clear about how funds are being used to deliver assistance in a cost-efficient and cost-effective manner. To contribute to this, the Best Use of Resources team conducts analysis on the cost-efficiency (how well we convert inputs into outputs) and cost-effectiveness (how well we convert outputs into outcomes) of key IRC programs. Compiling data on cost-efficiency and cost-effectiveness allows the IRC to learn about what interventions and program designs give the greatest reach and impact per dollar spent, and how the necessary costs are different for different populations and contexts.

This position will provide support specifically to cost analyses and modeling projects in the area of Education, on five years of work during which the team has collaborated with IRC’s Education Technical Unit to develop a standardized costing methodology and tools and map how cost evidence fits into decision-making. Specifically, this position will be asked to support Education Technical Advisors and Researchers with:

-Cost-effectiveness analyses as part of research evaluations

-Cost-efficiency modeling and scenario projections for country teams

-Synthesis of cost evidence around Education programs, and development of programmatic guidance

-Contribution to technical and advocacy documents reflecting IRC’s evidence and lessons

Major Responsibilities:

• Support cost-effectiveness analyses within Education, as part of impact evaluations run by the Airbel Research Team. Work under the supervision of a Senior Advisor to execute research plans, including collation of necessary monitoring data, and cost information from IRC finance system. Maintain relationships with country-based education research counterparts in the execution of these tasks.
• Work with country-based education coordinators and officers to run cost-efficiency analyses to assist in building organizational understanding of efficiency drivers within programs. Develop program-specific databases of cost data on teacher training programs, ECD programs, etc. Relate these cost results with evidence on the effectiveness of education programs generated by the Airbel research team or from the external education literature.
• Contribute to scenario modeling to inform programmatic decision making, including liaising with program counterparts and building models showing the impact of different program designs on cost-efficiency and cost-effectiveness.
• Support strategic projects to apply lessons from cost analysis to decisions about scaling and replicating effective interventions. Work with finance and program teams to review proposal budgets for alignment with workplans and targets.

Key Working Relationships:

Position Reports to:Kayla Hoyer, Senior Advisor for Best Use of Resources

Job Requirements:

• Bachelor degree in economics, public policy, or related field.     
• Familiarity with education programming in development and humanitarian settings, through implementation experience or work on monitoring and evaluation of education projects.
• Knowledge of economic evaluation methods, applications, and the cost-effectiveness and cost-benefit analysis literature in developing countries.
• Ability to be work as part of a remote team across many time zones.
• Excellent communication skills, cultural sensitivity, flexibility, ability to improvise, team player.

Fluency in spoken and written English required; proficiency and/or fluency in French or Arabic preferred.

Working Environment:Standard office work environment.

IRC et les employés de IRC doivent adhérer aux valeurs et principes contenus dans le IRC WAY (normes de conduite professionnelle). Ce sont l’Intégrité, Egalite, le Service, et la Responsabilité. En conformité avec ces valeurs, IRC opère et fait respecter les politiques sur la protection des bénéficiaires contre l’exploitation et les abus, la protection de l’enfant, le harcèlement sur les lieux de travail, l’intégrité financière, et les représailles.