Director, Research, Monitoring and Evaluation

Position Overview:

- The Director Research, Monitoring & Evaluation (RM&E) is a new position being created to strengthen Room to Read South Africa’s RM&E portfolio and contribute to the leadership of Room to Read South Africa. The incumbent will lead a Pretoria-based RM&E team, provide strategic and technical leadership, define and implement a research agenda tailored to the country strategy and programming, liaise with government counterparts, academia and sector experts and serve as a thought-leader at the country and global level. The RM&E Director will also build the capacity of the South Africa RM&E team and partner with the South Africa programs team to improve learning and impact. The position will report directly to the Country Director and sit on the Country Management Team. This position will work in collaboration with the Room to Read Global office RM&E team. This position will be based in Pretoria but will require frequent travel to all areas where Room to Read operates and occasional international travel for presentations, conferences, etc.
- Duties & Responsibilities:
- Lead the implementation of the RM&E portfolio for Room to Read’s South Africa Country Office, heading up a small team based in Pretoria.-
- As part of the Country Management Team, contribute to the overall strategy, leadership and decision making for Room to Read South Africa.-
- Collaborate with program and operations departments at the global and country level to design a comprehensive research strategy for the South Africa Country office with a focus on literacy programming.-
- Ensure high quality implementation of research, evaluation and implementation monitoring activities.-
- Lead the RM&E technical design, budgeting, and work planning for new projects within the South Africa portfolio.-
- Conduct complex analyses and create reports for evaluations and research studies.-
- Contribute to the development and implementation of innovative measures related to literacy programming.-
- Oversee implementation of high-quality monitoring and data quality assurance processes in the field.-
- Design an internal learning strategy to increase evidence uptake and action within the South Africa portfolio. Collaborate with global RM&E team members to bring lessons from South Africa to the broader organization.-
- Manage South Africa RM&E budgets, collaborating with global offices to plan and secure human and financial resources to support activities.-
- Design and manage competitive procurement processes for data collection, research partners and consultants.-
- Increase the visibility and uptake of Room to Read South Africa’s evidence and data through high quality publications including working papers, journal articles, participation in sector working groups, presentations, etc.-
- Expand relationships with South African government counterparts with respect to research and evidence building.-
- Contribute to strengthening Room to Read’s research and evaluation methods and technical capacity globally.-
- Motivate, inspire, and support team members and colleagues. Develop capacity of more junior team members.- Qualifications:

- Required:
- Robust knowledge of RM&E for foundational literacy, including frameworks, research and evaluation strategies, measurement approaches, and the existing evidence base.-
- Extensive experience leading the design and implementation of an array of research and evaluation projects in South Africa, ideally with a focus on literacy programming.-
- Strong quantitative analysis skills, with proven ability to work with data software packages such as SPSS/STATA.-
- Ability to design and produce high-quality complex technical reports with innovative analyses and data visualizations.-
- Experience developing and delivering compelling technical presentations to the sector.-
- Robust network within the education research and funding community and public sector in South Africa.-
- Strong leadership and project management skills, with a history of developing strategies and managing towards the achievement of goals.-
- Proven ability to collaborate across diverse teams and deliver high-quality, complex RM&E solutions.-
- Experience with engaging policy makers and influencing outcomes at the sector level.-
- Experience with competitive procurements, project management and budget development and management.-
- Prior success working closely and building relationships with diverse groups of people. Orientation toward capacity building of more junior colleagues.-
- Ability and desire to travel within South Africa and internationally.-
- 10+ years of relevant experience.-
- Excellent verbal and written communication skills in English.-
- Legally eligible to work in desired location, no sponsorship provided.- Preferred:
- Experience leading technical teams.-
- Experience working for an implementing organization.-
- Experience with digital transformation strategies to support data collection, analysis, and visualization