Director of Innovation and Learning

The Organization You Want to Work For

Development Gateway: An IREX Venture (DG) is an international non-profit organization with team members based in more than 10 countries worldwide. For over 20 years, DG has researched data ecosystems, built digital tools to support those data ecosystems, and advised on data strategy and digital transformation to strengthen decision-making, transparency, and service delivery. DG has expertise in deploying digital tools in agriculture, health, aid management, data & data strategy, extractives, information management systems, open contracting & procurement, and beyond.

We are a creative and dynamic group of people based around the globe. We value hard work, innovative thinking, a commitment to teamwork, and a good sense of humor.

Job Description

The Director of Innovation and Learning is responsible for building on DG’s culture of perpetual learning and agile implementation, supporting cross-program learning, identifying opportunities for methodological and technical innovation and supporting the design of new approaches, and engaging with the broader digital development community to keep DG at the forefront. We are looking for a highly collaborative, entrepreneurial, and empathetic leader with experience balancing tested methods with calculated risks to drive organizational change and growth. Close coordination with the Programs, Software, and Engagement and Partnerships teams, and with key teams within DG’s strategic partner IREX, will be critical to the impact of this role. Given the variety of touchpoints for this role, the ability to simultaneously understand and hold varying interests and points of view while driving a process toward consensus is a crucial trait. Proven ability to work across different cultures is critical.

The Director will work with the leadership team to develop organization-level learning objectives and measurement strategies, ensuring that our work is relevant to the key problems of the day in digital development. The Director will mentor project teams to develop strong learning approaches and theories of change — both in response to funder requirements, and in coherence with org-level learning objectives — and ensure a focus on impact measurement and communication. We anticipate that this role will also coordinate closely with DG’s parent entity, IREX, specifically with the Center for Applied Learning and Innovation (CALI) in facilitating joint approaches, cross-team learning, and identification of opportunities for partnership.

The Work You Get To Do

• Coordinate the development of organization-wide learning objectives and measurement strategies
• Mentor and support project teams in development of project-level monitoring, evaluation, and learning plans, and theories of change
• Identify opportunities for replication and scaling of existing DG tools and methods, and work with the Engagement and Partnerships team to raise funds
• Identify challenges and gaps in our existing portfolio of tools and methods, research alternatives, and work with the Programs and Software teams to pilot and scale new approaches
• Collaborate with the Engagement & Partnerships team on identifying opportunities, cultivating fundraising relationships, and designing technical approaches for new programming.
• Collaborate with IREX teams, including the Center for Applied Learning and Impact, on joint initiatives and approaches in education, youth, and related topics
• Identify ideas, solutions, good practices, and approaches from other organizations to improve DG performance and innovation
• Support the rest of the management team in identifying training and upskilling opportunities to grow technical and methodological expertise across teams
• Set medium and long-term organizational strategy goals together with DG’s Senior Management Team.
• Represent DG in key digital development fora in panels, presentations, and other venues

Must have experience:

• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent required.
• Minimum 8 years of progressive program design and implementation experience, including client/partner-facing roles
• Strong preference for experience in the digital development and/or data for development space
• Demonstrated leadership experience in designing and implementing international development programs, in particular with bilateral, multilateral, or major private philanthropic funders (such as Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Hewlett Foundation, Ford Foundation, etc.).
• Noted strategic planning experience, with the proven ability to contribute to organizational short and long-term strategic goal-setting.
• Advanced communication skills (oral and written) and ease communicating with different types of audiences.
• High emotional intelligence and the ability to work collaboratively with humility across multiple cultural contexts and time zones.
• Strong partner, client, and peer collaboration and negotiation skills.
• Tech savvy, experience working in various systems and platforms.
• Ability to travel domestically and internationally 20% of the time.
• Commitment to DG’s values and mission

Nice to have:

• Experience living or working abroad
• Demonstrated experience in fundraising, including proposal writing and partnership creation
• Experience working with remote teams
• Experience with software development (or working with software engineers)
• Foreign language capabilities, specifically with a preference for French, Spanish, or Swahili

This is a full time position. The projected salary for this position is between $110,000-125,000 annually, based upon candidate experience and qualifications.

Preference will be given to candidates who are able to live and work legally in the United States (this position is not eligible for Immigration Sponsorship). However, interested and exceptional candidates from other locations will be considered.

DG requires all US-based team members to provide Covid-19 vaccination verification, in compliance with Executive Order (EO) 14042.

We are an equal opportunity employer and value diversity and lived experience. We strongly encourage applications from people whose identities are underrepresented in the sectors where DG works. DG does not discriminate on the basis of race, ethnicity, religion, color, national origin, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, or disability status.

To apply, visit developmentgateway.org/careers/. Only candidates selected for an interview will be contacted.