Director, Evidence & Learning

Required Number of position – One

Duty Station: Head Office/Addis Ababa

Remuneration: As per the organization pay scale plus other PSI/Ethiopia staff benefits

Who we are?

We’re Population Services International (PSI), the world’s leading non‐profit social marketing organization. We work to make it easier for people in the developing world to lead healthier lives and plan the families they desire by marketing affordable products and services that range from mosquito nets to contraceptives to HIV testing. We are a $560m enterprise based in Washington, DC, operating in the private and public sectors in more than 65 countries.

Join us!

There are over 9,000 “PSI’ers” around the world. It’s a diverse group of entrepreneurs and professionals with an unusually wide range of backgrounds – from the medical industry to the music business – all with unique skills we bring to the job.

PSI/Ethiopia wants to reimagine healthcare, put the consumer at the center, and whenever possible, bring quality care to the front door. We achieve health impact in Ethiopia by working with both government and private partners and harvesting technology innovation to bring quality care closer to communities, schools, and homes. We empower consumers by including them in the design of healthcare solutions, offering them more healthcare choices, and helping them to have a voice in influencing national priorities. We work with all market actors in the health system to understand their needs, designing and delivering solutions so that market systems can sustainably serve consumers for the long term, helping to support the Government of Ethiopia in achieving Universal Health Coverage.

Position Overview

The Evidence & Learning Director (E&L Director) will provide strategic leadership and technical oversight for evidence generation, measurement, and adaptive learning across PSI-Ethiopia’s multi-sector programming, including WASH, RMNCH, SRH, HIV/TB, Economic Empowerment and NCD programs. This role ensures that data, research, and learning systems drive impact, accountability, and program optimization.

The E&L Director will lead the development of a cohesive evidence strategy, strengthen data use for decision-making, and promote a culture of continuous learning across programs and partners.

Sounds like you? Read on!

Key responsibilities

Strategic leadership & mentorship

• Develop and lead implementation of PSI-Ethiopia’s platform-wide Evidence & Learning strategy aligned with PSI global frameworks.
• Ensure integration of measurement and learning across health areas (WASH, RMNCH, SRH, HIV/TB, NCDs).
• Serve as a senior advisor to leadership on data-driven decision-making and program strategy.
• Position PSI-Ethiopia as a national leader in implementation science and adaptive programming.
• Build and mentor a high-performing E&L team across multiple projects and regions.

Monitoring, Evaluation, and performance management

• Oversee the design and implementation of robust M&E systems across all projects.
• Ensure alignment with national HMIS systems and donor requirements (DOS, MCF, BMGF, CIFF, Soderberg Foundation, Takeda, AZ, etc.).
• Lead the development of results frameworks and log frames, tracking performance against donor-specified indicators, and support program-specific M&E data quality assurance (DQA) processes
• Promote use of real-time performance data use for adaptive management across PSI-Ethiopia programs

Research & evidence generation

• Lead design and execution of operational research, implementation research, and evaluations.
• Oversee mixed-methods studies (quantitative, qualitative, market research).
• Ensure evidence generated supports market shaping and system strengthening, service delivery optimization, as well as consumer insights that enhance behaviour change
• Strengthen partnerships with academic institutions, research organizations and government agencies
• Ensure all research activities are implemented in compliance with PSI Research Ethic’s Policies, PSI’s Network Quality Standards for Research, and national research ethics requirements

Learning, Adaptation, and Knowledge Management (CLA)

• Institutionalize Collaborating, Learning, and Adapting (CLA) approaches across the platform, facilitating regular learning agendas in alignment with PSI’s strategy, and support translation of data into actionable insights and program improvements.
• Lead development of knowledge products (briefs, dashboards, reports) and learning dissemination strategies

Digital health & data systems

• Provide oversight for digital data systems and platforms, ensuring interoperability with national systems.
• Promote use of digital dashboards, mobile data collection tools and data visualization platforms
• Ensure strong data governance, data protection, data quality assurance, and ethical standards.
• Ensure adherence to PSI’s consumer data protection policy and national data privacy and data protection regulations

Stakeholder engagement & representation

• Represent PSI in national and global forums on M&E, research and learning and digital health, collaborating closely with the Federal Ministry of Health (MoH), donors, and implementing partners
• Contribute to business development and resource mobilization, including proposal development and technical design on new projects.

KEY COMPETENCIES

• Advanced expertise in Monitoring & Evaluation frameworks, implementation science and research methodologies, health information systems (HMIS, DHIS2) and data analytics and visualization
• Strong understanding of multi-sector health programming, including public health systems strengthening, market systems approaches, and integrated service delivery models

LEADERSHIP COMPETENCIES

• Strategic thinking and systems perspective. A systems thinker who connects evidence across sectors
• Strong team leadership and mentoring skills. A champion of adaptive management and learning culture
• Ability to manage complexity across multiple donors and programs. Translate complex data into clear strategic decisions
• Excellent stakeholder engagement and influencing skills. A builder of bridges between research, policy, and implementation

What are we looking for?

Qualifications

• Master’s or First degree in Public Health, Epidemiology, Biostatistics, or related field, PhD in similar field is preferred

Experience

• Eight (8) years of experience with master’s degree or ten (10) years of experience with first degree in relevant in M&E, research, or learning roles
• At least 5 years of the total experience in senior leadership roles managing large, multi-sector health programs
• Extensive knowledge of STATA, SAS, or R.
• Experience with qualitative data analysis software (Dedoose, Nvivo, or other)
• Experience with electronic data collection (Open Data Kit, Survey CTO, Kobo Toolbox, or similar)
• Strong expertise in monitoring and evaluation frameworks (logframes, results frameworks)
• Extensive experience in data quality assurance and data systems design
• Extensive familiarity with research ethics procedures, including submission of protocols to local and international IRB boards.
• A substantial record of publication in peer-reviewed journals.
• Demonstrated ability to design, analyze, disseminate, and manage qualitative and quantitative research
• Familiarity with digital health innovations and data systems integration
• Demonstrated experience with across USG, BMGF, CIFF, MCF, or similar donor-funded programs
• Ability to solve problems with creativity and analyze complex issues.
• Able to work as a member of a team independently.
• Demonstrated flexibility and adaptability; emotional intelligence and ability to collaborate with colleagues.
• In-depth experience building partnerships across diverse internal and external stakeholders and donors.
• Exceptional interpersonal and communication skills, both verbal and written.
• Proven experience in Ethiopia or similar contexts