Project Manager at African Institute for Development Policy (AFIDEP)

About the Project

AFIDEP is implementing a three-year initiative to generate policy-relevant evidence on how governments, private sector actors, civil society organisations and communities can strengthen economic integration for migrant and displaced youth in East and West Africa. The project combines mixed-methods research, policy engagement, capacity strengthening and regional learning.

Role Overview

AFIDEP is seeking an experienced Research and Policy professional to coordinate and lead the day-to-day technical implementation of the Inclusive Economic Integration for Migrant and Displaced African Youthproject. The Project Manager will be responsible for delivering project research, coordinating partners and country teams, supporting policy engagement, supervising project outputs, and ensuring timely implementation of approved work plans and milestones.

The successful candidate will have a combination of strong applied research skills, practical project coordination, and evidence-to-policy experience.

Key Responsibilities

Lead Applied Research Delivery

• Research Design: Coordinate development of research protocols, survey instruments, qualitative tools, sampling plans and analytical frameworks.
• Data Collection & Analysis: Lead or support mixed-methods data collection, analysis and synthesis in collaboration with the technical team.
• Fieldwork Supervision: Supervise fieldwork preparation, enumerator training, data-quality checks and documentation.
• Ethics & Compliance: Ensure compliance with approved ethics, safeguarding and data-protection procedures.
• Reporting & Publications: Draft and coordinate technical reports, country analyses, comparative studies and manuscripts

Coordinate Project Implementation

• Workplan Coordination: Coordinate day-to-day implementation of the approved project workplan and deliverables schedule.
• Planning & Tracking: Develop detailed activity plans, implementation trackers and inputs for annual workplans and budgets.
• Team & Partner Coordination: Coordinate staff, partners, consultants and country-level collaborators.
• Risk Monitoring: Monitor progress, risks and dependencies and escalate strategic or material issues to the leadership.
• Meeting Management: Organise project management, technical and partner meetings and maintain action trackers.

Support Policy Engagement & Evidence Uptake

• Engagement Strategy: Work with the project team to implement the policy engagement and evidence uptake strategy.
• Policy Materials: Develop stakeholder maps, policy briefs, technical presentations and briefing materials.
• Stakeholder Convening: Coordinate consultations, validation workshops, policy dialogues and regional learning activities.
• Stakeholder Relations: Maintain relationships with technical officers, implementing partners, youth organisations and other project stakeholders.
• Evidence Tracking: Track evidence use, policy influence, stakeholder commitments and follow-up actions.

Manage Monitoring, Learning & Reporting

• Monitoring Data: Maintain project monitoring data and coordinate routine reporting against indicators, milestones and deliverables.
• Donor Reporting: Develop quarterly, annual and donor narrative reports for review
• Learning & Adaptation: Support annual learning reviews, outcome harvesting and adaptive management processes.
• Documentation: Document implementation lessons, challenges, decisions and corrective actions.
• Reporting Coordination: Coordinate inputs from partners and project staff to ensure complete and timely reporting.

Contribute to Knowledge Products & Communications

• Knowledge Products: Develop policy briefs, research summaries, practice notes, presentations and other knowledge products.
• Communications Packaging: Work with AFIDEP communications colleagues to package findings for policy and public audiences.
• Representation: Present project work at technical meetings and selected conferences, as delegated.
• Dissemination: Support publication planning, peer review and dissemination of project outputs.

QUALIFICATIONS AND EXPERIENCE

Essential

• PhD in Migration Studies, Development Studies, Public Policy, Demography, Economics, Sociology, Political Science, International Development, Population Studies, Labour Economics or a closely related social science discipline.
• Demonstrated training in quantitative, qualitative or mixed-methods research.
• At least five years of relevant post-PhD or equivalent progressively responsible experience in applied research, policy analysis or research programme implementation.
• Demonstrated experience coordinating a substantial research or policy project, preferably involving multiple partners or countries.
• Experience in at least one relevant area, such as migration and displacement, refugee inclusion, labour mobility, youth employment, livelihoods, economic inclusion, human capital development or public policy.
• Practical experience developing research protocols and tools, coordinating data collection, analysing evidence and preparing high-quality reports.
• Experience engaging government technical officers, civil society, development partners, research organisations or regional stakeholders.
• Evidence of translating research into policy briefs, presentations, recommendations or stakeholder engagement products.
• Experience contributing to donor-funded project workplans, budgets, monitoring and narrative reporting.
• A record of relevant peer-reviewed publications, technical reports or policy products.

Desirable

• Migration & Displacement Expertise: Research or programme experience relating directly to migration governance, forced displacement, refugee policy or labour mobility in Africa.
• Regional Experience: Experience working across more than one African country or with regional policy institutions.
• Language Skills: Working knowledge of French or another language relevant to the project contexts.
• Evidence Uptake: Experience with evidence uptake, outcome harvesting or policy-influence tracking.

Skills and Competencies

The following competencies are integral to success in this role:

• Applied Research & Analysis: Strong applied research, analytical and synthesis skills.
• Project Coordination: Effective project coordination, planning and follow-through.
• Communication: Excellent written and spoken English, including strong technical and policy writing; ability to communicate research clearly to policy and non-technical audiences.
• Facilitation & Stakeholder Management: Strong facilitation, presentation and stakeholder-management skills.
• Collaboration: Ability to work collaboratively under senior leadership and across multidisciplinary, multicultural teams.
• Judgement & Attention to Detail: Sound judgement, attention to detail and ability to manage multiple deadlines.
• Research Ethics: Understanding of research ethics, safeguarding and data protection.
• Technical Proficiency: Proficiency with relevant research, data-analysis and project-management tools.