Qualitative Research Specialist III at Compassion International

We’re looking for a specialist to join our collaborative international Monitoring, Evaluation, Research and Learning (MERL) team who can contribute to advancing organizational knowledge and programmatic effectiveness. You will be responsible for carrying out qualitative monitoring, evaluation, research and learning activities to support Compassion's child development programs, leadership decision-making and marketing platforms.

PLEASE NOTE: This position can be based anywhere in the United States or any of our 25 field countries. Please see the list of these countries in the link below.

https://www.compassion.com/where-we-work.htm

What will you do?

• Maintain a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.
• Act as an advocate for children. Understand and advance Christ's mandate to protect children. Take active steps to help protect against neglect, abuse and exploitation of children.
• Uphold and engage in Compassion’s core Cultural Behaviors.
• Lead qualitative monitoring and evaluation design, implementation, and learning efforts to inform routine programmatic data collection and integration into strategic planning.
• Lead the planning, design and implementation of new qualitative research studies using rigorous approaches to generate reliable, timely and meaningful information to stakeholders.
• Lead user experience insights data collection to support MERL learning on new innovations, processes, and plans.
• Engage with stakeholders, undertake literature reviews and country-level contextualization, sample and participant selection, qualitative methodology development, in-depth analysis using the necessary data analysis tools (e.g., computer-based text analysis and qualitative analysis software), report writing and presentation to multiple audiences and forums.
• Advise program managers, field office staff and organizational leadership on relevant programmatic issues when requested and through contribution to and/or leadership of multi-departmental project, creative thinking and analysis teams.
• Interface with other Compassion departments and individuals who collect information and data to minimize duplication of effort, build cooperation and support the growth of quality information gathering across the organization.
• Present research findings to audiences to engage non-research staff in research results.

What do you bring?

• Bachelor's Degree in International Development, Monitoring & Evaluation, Economics, Marketing, Psychology, Public Health, Epidemiology, Ethnography, Anthropology, Social Science or related discipline. Master's Degree preferred.
• Recent hands-on research experience, including at least one year applied experience in conducting qualitative research studies and/or in cross-cultural settings that include child and/or community development, social development, poverty alleviation, public health, or similar.
• Demonstrated capabilities to communicate and work in international cross-cultural settings.
• Proficiency in Qualitative Data Collection and Approaches, including administering questionnaires, key informant interviews, and facilitating group discussions; as well as approaches such as rapid qualitative inquiry, appreciative inquiry, needs assessments, process evaluations, outcome evaluations such as most significant change or participatory evaluation and theoretical frameworks such as grounded theory or phenomenology.
• Proficiency in Qualitative Data Analysis, including creating codebooks, coding/theming data, narrative analysis, experience in one or more qualitative analysis software package (NVIVO preferred).
• Excellent and creative communication skills, both written and verbal, in English.
• Proficiency in at least one of the languages spoken in Compassion countries preferred.

*** Equivalent education, training and/or certification may be substituted for experience and education shown above ***

Why work here?

• The mission: Join a team that is motivated to release children from poverty in Jesus’ name.
• Our benefits: Receive generous paid time off, 10% contribution to a 403(b)-retirement fund in addition to your salary, excellent health-care coverage, free short-term professional counseling, and more .
• Spiritual growth opportunities: Participate in regular chapel services, prayer groups, and department devotionals.

Working Environment: Remote, work from home.

Physical Demands : International travel to remote locations with potentially hazardous and challenging conditions.

Travel Requirements: May be required to travel up to 25% of normal schedule.