Learning Partnerships Lead - Youth Impact - Global

Summary of the organization

Youth Impact is a global NGO that connects youth to proven, life-changing information through evidence-based programs. The organization has over 500 staff working across three programs in health and education and has delivered more than 800,000 lessons to over 500,000 students. Youth Impact’s culture is defined by continuous learning, a dynamic and youthful team, a commitment to measurement and evidence, and close collaboration with governments. More information about Youth Impact can be found at: https://www.youth-impact.org/

Summary of the role

Youth Impact is seeking a dedicated and experienced researcher and partnerships lead to join its 16-person Research and Innovation team. Youth Impact’s Research and Innovation team drives our organizational learning and evidence agenda. We generate, synthesize, and communicate evidence to improve program impact and cost-effectiveness and to share what works with the world. The Learning Partnerships Lead will sit at the intersection of research, partnerships, and communications, helping grow Youth Impact’s influence as a global leader in rapid, rigorous, and routine learning. The role involves driving A/B testing partnerships, fostering research collaborations, strengthening learning systems, and communicating evidence to policy and practice audiences.

Responsibilities

• Drive A/B testing partnerships: Co-design and grow Youth Impact’s iterative learning program. Provide in-house and external technical support to NGOs using randomized methods (A/B testing) to improve impact and cost-effectiveness and scale programming.
• Manage research partnerships: Oversee collaborations with academic partners, non-government organisations, and research institutions, from design and fundraising, to dissemination, ensuring research is policy-relevant and operationally grounded.
• Drive research communication: Translate complex research findings into accessible written products—policy briefs, reports, and thought pieces—for practitioners, policymakers, and funders.
• Strengthen learning systems: Help institutionalize systems and processes that support rapid learning cycles and data-driven decision-making across Youth Impact and partner organizations.
• Document and publish learnings to advance Youth Impact’s role as a thought leader in the global education and evidence community through engagement and knowledge sharing and advocacy.
• Lead research growth and evidence partnerships: Shape and communicate the organization’s research and evidence agenda to donors and partners, catalyzing new funding and scaling opportunities.

Qualifications

• Advanced degree (master’s or PhD) in economics, public policy, public health, education, or a related quantitative field.
• 10+ years of experience in applied research, program evaluation, or evidence-to-policy roles in international development or youth-focused programs (particularly foundational literacy and numeracy approaches in education, or adolescent sexual and reproductive health programs). 
• Proven experience designing and implementing randomized evaluations, A/B tests, or related quasi-experimental studies, including management of large-scale field data collection.
• Strong quantitative analytical skills.
• Exceptional communication and synthesis skills - able to translate complex research findings into clear, actionable insights for diverse audiences including funders, practitioners, and policymakers.
• Experience managing external partnerships, such as academic collaborations, research institutions, clients, and funders, with a track record of maintaining productive and trusted relationships.
• Strong organizational and project management skills, with attention to detail and the ability to deliver high-quality outputs across multiple concurrent projects.
• Entrepreneurial mindset, with the initiative to identify opportunities, think strategically, and drive new ideas from conception to execution.
• Collaborative leadership style, with the ability to work effectively across cultures and connect with diverse teams and stakeholders.
• Experience building research functions or leading teams in evidence-driven organizations.
• Recognized thought leadership, demonstrated by contributions to global evidence or education communities of practice.

Location: Flexible, with preference given to candidates based in one of our innovation hubs: Botswana, Namibia, South Africa, the Philippines, or India.