Quantitative Lead - Ethiopia

Integrated Business & Technical Consultants, Inc. (IBTCI), a U.S. based international development consulting company established in 1987, has worked in over one hundred countries and implemented over three hundred projects. IBTCI serves government agencies, private sector companies and several donor agencies. IBTCI specializes in Third Party Monitoring across many sectors including, but not limited to, conflict and crisis, democracy and governance, economic growth, education, environment, and global health.

Job Title: Quantitative Lead

Department/Location: Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning Practice

To: Team Leader (Project Leader)

Type: Consultancy

Overview: IBTCI is seeking a Quantitative Lead for the World Bank Productive Safety Net Program 6 (PSNP 6) Third Party Monitoring (TPM) assignment in Ethiopia. PSNP is Ethiopia’s rural safety net, which provides predictable resource transfers to address the food insecurity of extremely poor households through three components: access to better jobs and livelihoods, resilience through investments in human capital, and an improved Adaptive Social Protection system. The TPM will give the World Bank and the Food Security Coordination Office (FSCO) regular, timely external feedback on implementation quality and verify the accuracy of administrative data reported in the program MIS. The assignment covers five annual monitoring rounds from 2027 to 2031, and the initial phase covers the first two rounds during the program’s first 24 months, beginning in early 2027. The Quantitative Lead will provide technical leadership for all quantitative household and institutional surveys under the assignment, from sampling and tool design through data collection, data quality assurance, analysis, and reporting. Level of effort will be determined upon award, and continuation each year is subject to availability of funds and satisfactory performance.

This position is contingent upon award.

Essential Duties/Tasks and Responsibilities:

The Quantitative Lead will be responsible for the technical quality, integrity, and timely delivery of all quantitative work in each TPM round. Working under the direction of the Team Leader and in close coordination with the Qualitative Lead, the Quantitative Lead will lead the following:

• Inception: designing the sampling framework and quantitative methodology, developing the quantitative data collection tools based on the thematic and issue areas defined by the World Bank, contributing to the inception report, overseeing translation of tools into the languages of the sampled woredas, programming tools in Computer-Assisted Personal Interviewing (CAPI) software (SurveyCTO), and piloting the tools in at least two woredas
• Sampling and survey design: implementing the household and institutional survey samples for each round (including public works, direct support, shock response, and early childhood development samples, and woreda and kebele official surveys), ensuring appropriate regional distribution, remote kebele representation, and inclusion of women-headed households
• Field team recruitment and training: recruiting quantitative enumerators and supervisors (with CVs shared with the World Bank for review before final selection), preparing training materials for submission to the World Bank at least three weeks before training, and leading training of enumerators and supervisors
• Data collection: overseeing fieldwork so that quantitative data collection is completed within three weeks, providing at least weekly progress updates to the World Bank, and ensuring field teams have the tablets and connectivity needed to collect and synchronize data
• Data quality assurance: implementing data quality controls, including in-person back-checks of at least 10% of the data collected by each enumerator, spot-checks of every enumerator, and range and consistency checks; correcting inconsistencies identified by the firm or the World Bank team (including revisiting households when required); and ensuring data are complete, carry correct unique identifiers, and are submitted regularly to the online server
• Data security: ensuring end-to-end encryption of collected data and procedures to safeguard personally identifiable information, in line with the ToR’s data protection and confidentiality requirements
• Analysis: preparing the documented analysis outline, analyzing quantitative data to verify program indicators against administrative (MIS) data, identifying and explaining discrepancies, and reporting results aggregated and by region, gender, and beneficiary type
• Integration with qualitative work: working with the Qualitative Lead to update qualitative tools based on estimates from the quantitative data and to integrate quantitative and qualitative findings in the consolidated report
• Deliverables: producing the quantitative deliverables for each round, including final quantitative instruments, raw and clean data in Stata/SPSS format, the back-check report, and a dashboard of agreed key indicators updated during data collection, and contributing to the final report and presentation of findings to the World Bank, FSCO, and development partners
• Supervising the quantitative field team and data staff, and working sensitively and effectively with government counterparts and the World Bank team

Required Knowledge, Skills and Abilities:

• Strong knowledge of quantitative research methods, including household survey design, sampling, questionnaire design, and statistical analysis
• Proficiency in CAPI-based data collection (SurveyCTO) and in Stata for data cleaning, analysis, and delivery of datasets
• Strong knowledge of data quality control systems, including back-checks, spot-checks, and range and consistency checks
• Ability to use qualitative research to complement quantitative results, including process evaluations
• Strong writing skills in English necessary to draft high quality reports and present quantitative findings clearly
• Demonstrated ability to work effectively and sensitively in teams and with government counterparts
• Excellent communication skills

Minimum Requirements:

• At least five (5) years of relevant field experience conducting quantitative research involving household surveys in Ethiopia
• Experience running quantitative studies in Ethiopia, including questionnaire design, implementation of data quality controls, and data analysis
• Substantial formal training in quantitative research methods
• Experience using qualitative research to complement quantitative research results (preferably impact evaluations) and experience conducting process evaluations
• A strong track record of conducting comparable field research in Ethiopia
• Fluency in English required

Preferred Experience:

• PhD in economics, development, or a related discipline
• Experience working on social protection programs
• Experience working on gender issues
• Experience conducting field research in fragile contexts

Education: A PhD in economics, development, or a related discipline is preferred. Candidates with relevant experience and master’s-level training in these disciplines will also be considered.

Working Environment: Work is typically performed in an office environment, with some time spent in the field.

Supervisory Responsibility: This position has supervisory responsibilities for the quantitative field team, including enumerators, supervisors, and data staff.

Physical Requirements: This is largely a sedentary position that requires the ability to speak, hear, see, and lift small objects up to 20 lbs.

Travel: Travel to Ethiopia, including field locations, is required.

No phone calls please. All candidates will be contacted, but only final candidates for particular activities will be contacted.

IBTCI is committed to a policy of equal employment opportunity for all persons without regard to race, color, religion, sex, age, marital status, disability, sexual orientation, national origin, disabled veteran or Vietnam-era veteran, or any other classification protected by applicable anti-discrimination laws. We prohibit and do not tolerate any form of discrimination or harassment.