Deputy Program Director, Promoting Impact and Learning with Cost-Effectiveness Evidence (PILCEE)

The Center for Effective Global Action (CEGA) seeks an experienced Deputy Program Director to support its leadership of the USAID-funded program, “Promoting Impact and Learning with Cost-Effectiveness Evidence (PILCEE).” PILCEE will mobilize randomized impact evaluations (with rigorous cost analysis) of USAID programs, and help to facilitate the integration of evidence into USAID activity designs and strategic planning. This is an exciting opportunity for a global development research professional who is passionate about the use of evidence to inform consequential policy decisions and has a strong desire to deploy skills in program management, strategic planning, and partnership development.

About CEGA

The Center for Effective Global Action (CEGA) is a hub for research, training and innovation headquartered at the University of California, Berkeley. We generate insights that decision-makers can use to improve policies, programs, and people’s lives. Our best-in-class academic network includes nearly 200 faculty, 80 scholars from low- and middle-income countries (LMICs)—primarily from East and West Africa—and hundreds of graduate students from diverse academic disciplines who produce rigorous evidence about what works to expand education, health, and economic opportunities for people living in poverty. Our business model involves curating policy-relevant research agendas in collaboration with development leaders, overseeing competitive grant-making to answer critical questions, investing in research capacity, and strategically connecting research and ideas to inform decision-making by governments, NGOs, and the private sector.

CEGA values diversity and seeks to include people from under-represented groups on our team. Read our values statement.

Position Detail

The CEGA-led PILCEE initiative will provide a platform for engaging academics from the social and behavioral sciences to strengthen USAID’s programming by understanding the causal impact per dollar of its programs while advancing the global evidence base. Reporting directly to the PILCEE Program Director/CEGA Executive Director, Carson Christiano, the Deputy Program Director (Deputy) will provide day-to-day management of PILCEE program activities, ensuring high-quality technical contributions from consortium stakeholders (including partners in low- and middle-income countries), building and maintaining strategic partnerships, liaising with USAID’s Office of the Chief Economist (OCE) and Operating Units (OUs) as needed, and serving as a key organizer and thought partner to the Faculty Director, Edward Miguel, and Program Director. The Deputy will be a proactive team player with strong project management experience, partnership development skills, technical experience with impact evaluations in LMICs, and knowledge of the evidence-to-policy pipeline. The position is based in Berkeley, CA with periodic travel to Washington DC and elsewhere, as needed. Specific responsibilities include the following:

Program Implementation (50%)

• Oversee implementation of day-to-day PILCEE activities, identifying and leveraging synergies with other CEGA programs and global development needs.
• Coordinate and hold accountable the PILCEE project team comprising in-house staff at UC Berkeley, consultants, subcontractors, faculty, and graduate students.
• Co-Chair the PILCEE Opportunity Assessment Team (OAT) and engage with relevant members of the consortium to ensure the timely creation and delivery of high-quality research outputs for USAID.
• Coordinate concurrent activities with Activity Managers from various USAID OUs, rapidly deploying relevant staff, consultants, and academics to complete activities and diligently monitor progress.
• Serve as a point of contact with USAID, liaising with the Agreement Officer’s Representative (AOR) and the OCE on matters related to overall program management.
• Mentor PILCEE staff, especially junior colleagues, on work plan design, performance management, and professional development, as needed.

Events and Communications (20%)

• Design and implement PILCEE events and trainings in collaboration with CEGA’s Events and Communications Team and consortium stakeholders, including developing timelines, budgets, agenda, and materials; overseeing logistics; coordinating faculty honoraria; and making intellectual contributions to programming by designing agendas, selecting speakers and participants, and presenting at events as appropriate.
• Develop and coordinate content for a PILCEE online presence including web, newsletter, blog, and other channels, in coordination with communications leads at CEGA, USAID, and consortium partners as needed.
• Coordinate the dissemination of evidence and insights from PILCEE research to policymakers and partners in accordance with approved branding and marking strategies, and consulting relevant stakeholders as needed, including conceptualizing briefing materials and managing their production, coordinating publication support for local PIs, and monitoring media coverage.

Program Reporting (20%)

• Monitor PILCEE progress across all activities to ensure completion of program milestones and project aims.
• Serve as the point person for technical reporting to USAID, in close collaboration with the PILCEE Program Manager, Senior Finance Officer, and UC Berkeley central campus.
• Solicit inputs from in-house staff, subcontractors, and consultants to produce timely, accurate, and high-quality progress reports for USAID.
• Set up systems to continuously track all program outputs against performance indicators and ensure that all data collected through PILCEE is uploaded to appropriate data libraries.

Center-wide responsibilities (10%)

• Actively participate in CEGA-wide activities, including internal working groups, process improvement and documentation, event planning, and performance management.

Required Qualifications

• MA/MS in Economics, Political Science, or related social or behavioral science, or public policy or administration;
• Experience working directly with academics to design, conduct, and/or interpret the results of evidence of impact and cost-effectiveness from randomized evaluations;
• Demonstrated interest in and knowledge of evidence-based policy-making;
• Strong project management skills to be able to effectively deliver against responsibilities outlined above and ensure the delivery of high-quality research and evaluation-related activities and products;
• Strong skills in short-term and long-term planning, analysis, problem anticipation, and problem solving; ability to independently investigate solutions to challenges and anticipate leadership/sponsor needs;
• Ability to manage a large, complex contract with both core funding and buy-ins from OUs across USAID;
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills;
• Ability to think strategically, build trust, and communicate and collaborate effectively and openly with a diverse range of stakeholders, including USG clients, both US- and LMIC-based academic institutions/academic researchers, and other partners;
• Self-directed, intrinsically motivated; proven capacity to manage work independently, multitask, and be responsive to time-sensitive deadlines;
• Strong and effective interpersonal skills in working with colleagues at all levels; ability to use discretion and maintain confidentiality; cultural sensitivity and demonstrated ability to work diplomatically with diverse constituencies; and
• Strong competency with MS Office and Google Suite applications.

 Preferred Qualifications

• Minimum five (5) years of relevant professional experience, preferably with substantial experience related to managing large-scale, multi-country, and/or multi-million-dollar research- or MEL-related contracts;
• Familiarity with USAID; experience working on and, preferably managing, large USAID contracts;
• Deep expertise in the core technical areas relevant to this contract, namely impact evaluation methodology, particularly randomized controlled trials (RCTs), and cost-effective analysis;
• Familiarity with the current global evidence base on measuring intervention effectiveness using RCTs;
• Experience promoting a culture of learning and evidence use;
• Familiarity with journal review processes and academic research grant-making.

Salary and Benefits

Salary is commensurate with CEGA’s compensation model; the approximate annual range for this position is $88,000 – $132,000

For information on the comprehensive benefits package offered by the University visit: http://ucnet.universityofcalifornia.edu/compensation-and-benefits/index.html