Technical Director

• Ensure the high quality and rigor of technical services provided under this agreement, including but not limited to technical aspects of recruitment/staffing, evaluation designs, instrument development, data collection, data security and privacy, data analysis, writing, dissemination, and evidence use.
• Manage and implement all core-funded activities and buy-ins in accordance with USAID regulations, policies and procedures related to data, research, evaluation, learning and the SOW specifications.

• Master’s degree in areas such as economics, political science, or other related fields (PhD preferred).
• Minimum of eight (8) years of relevant work experience conducting randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and/or cost-effectiveness analysis for international development projects.
• Deep expertise and proven experience with impact evaluation methodology and implementation, particularly RCTs, and cost-effectiveness analysis across a range of different sectors.
• Ability to provide technical direction and management to multiple core-funded activities and buy-ins from Missions/Bureaus/Operating Units across USAID simultaneously. This will require the ability to work seamlessly across multiple research teams, academic researchers, and different USAID Activity Managers simultaneously, providing methodological and operational oversight.
• Proven ability to deliver quality work/work products on large-scale projects in a timely manner.
• A level of methodological expertise that allows for easy interaction with academic researchers.
• Experience with evidence synthesis and dissemination, and the ability to translate highly technical research for a practitioner audience.
• Experience working with universities, researchers, research organizations, or networks of researchers.
• Familiarity with USAID’s requirements on research and research products.
• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills to foster collaborative working relationships with academic partners (both institutions and academic researchers in U.S. and LMICs), the US Government, and other actors in the research community.
• Excellent English oral and written communication skills
• Previous Technical Director experience or similar (e.g., Team Leader, Research Director, etc.) on a USAID-funded award and/or prior internal experience at USAID.
• Qualified applicants must be eligible to work in the U.S. We regret that we are unable to offer visa sponsorship for this position.

NORC at the University of Chicago is an objective, non-partisan research institution that delivers reliable data and rigorous analysis to guide critical programmatic, business, and policy decisions. Since 1941, our teams have conducted groundbreaking studies, created and applied innovative methods and tools, and advanced principles of scientific integrity and collaboration. Today, government, corporate, and nonprofit clients around the world partner with us to transform increasingly complex information into useful knowledge.

For over 80 years, NORC has evolved in many ways, moving the needle with research methods, technical applications and groundbreaking research findings. But our tradition of excellence, passion for innovation, and commitment to collegiality have remained constant components of who we are as a brand, and who each of us is as a member of the NORC team. With world-class benefits, a business casual environment, and an emphasis on continuous learning, NORC is a place where people join for the stellar research and analysis work for which we’re known, and stay for the relationships they form with their colleagues who take pride in the impact their work is making on a global scale.

NORC is an affirmative action, equal opportunity employer that values and actively seeks diversity in the workforce. NORC evaluates qualified applicants without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, disability, status as a protected veteran, sexual orientation, gender identity, and other legally protected characteristics.