Research Analyst

Main Job Functions & Responsibilities:

1) Developing a comprehensive understanding of the organisation, its strategy, its projects and where it is located within South Africa’s development landscape;
2) Conducting in-depth analyses of Jobs Fund performance data and extracting useful insights for the Fund;
3) Using knowledge of South Africa’s economy and political climate in the interpretation of job creation and social
impact results;
4) Producing well thought-out feedback reports and articles that are tailored to different audiences;
5) Working largely independently and ensuring analytics targets are reached;
6) Extracting key learnings on supported financial models
and assessing the impact of these models on the success or failure of the project or elements thereof; and
7) Providing strategic advice, and support to the office of the Deputy Director General Employment Facilitation and the Jobs Fund Business Units.

OUTPUTS:

1) Planning & Conducting Research:

• Plan for and conduct research and provide strategic inputs on the design of the Jobs Fund funding initiatives.
• Initiate research and benchmarking on the Jobs Fund and related initiatives.
• Analyse the portfolio by review of available data, as well as planning for additional data collection to align with strategic research objectives of the Jobs Fund.
• Research relevant technical information and trends to contribute to projects/ current work as required.
• Conceptualise research studies to be conducted by external researchers/evaluators and write relevant Terms of Reference documents for the work.
• Effectively manage researchers/evaluators and quality assure research outputs.
• Compile and deliver business intelligence reports to Jobs Fund end users on a regular basis.
• Distil research findings into concise reports and policy recommendations for dissemination to the Jobs Fund Team and external stakeholders.
• Perform analyses on economic sectors and the labour market in relation to job creation, with a focus on priority groups (i.e., women, youth, and previously disadvantaged individuals).
• Research and produce contextual information for the annual strategic planning of Jobs Fund Business Units.
• Investigate and deliver financial software tools, that are compatible with existing JF systems, to effectively analyse data.
• Develop a detailed understanding the project models that drive job creation, social impact, and economic development.
• Develop job impact funding financial models.
• Develop innovative and alternative models of assessing Fund value for money (including social innovation) to stakeholders.
• Develop metrics for assessing the performance and trends across job creation models/sectors in the Fund.

2) Aligning Portfolio & Business Strategy

• Use research findings to inform the Fund’s business strategy and design – ensuring alignment between the portfolio and strategic plan.
• Define how the scope, goals, and deliverables of projects should support business goals, in collaboration with senior management.
• Ensure that the project portfolio remains in tune with changing business objectives and strategy.

3) Learning & Knowledge Management

• Perform general analysis of the portfolio to generate knowledge for the Jobs Fund Learning Agenda.
• Analyse study results and produce insightful feedback reports.
• Develop a knowledge culture (including promoting open communication, collaboration, and knowledge sharing) between sections/divisions through methods such as knowledge forums and workshops so as to trigger the formation of a community of practice.
• Develop Knowledge Management directories and repositories.
• Work closely with the Communications team to ensure relevant and up to date content is accessible to them for advocacy purposes.
• Collaborate with the Monitoring & Evaluation unit in identifying key performance indicators and monitoring systems.
• Work closely with procurement in the contracting and management of external service providers (researchers/evaluators).
• Develop best practices, techniques, and tools for on-going milestone/deliverable tracking.
• Develop and deliver training as necessary.
• Collaborate with the Project Management Unit during project completion reporting to create recommendations/lessons learned database in order to identify successful and unsuccessful project elements.

4) Networking:

• Identify strategic audiences through stakeholder mapping and develop targeted knowledge material.
• Ensure a detailed understanding of the current socio-economic and political climate through stakeholder engagement and assessment.
• Form research partnerships with credible and key players in the market.
• Participate in both internal and external discussions/presentations and work through implications, and recommendations based on the data.

REQUIREMENTS:

Qualifications:

• Post graduate qualification in Economics, Labour Market/Development Economics or in a related/relevant field.
• Training or certification in statistics and quantitative measurements

Experience:

- At least 6 years’ experience working as an Economist/Analyst.
- At least 6 years’ experience in conducting empirical research.
- At least 6 years’ experience in a programme management environment.
- Experience in performing high-level analyses of the labour market, economic sectors and financial impact investing
- Experience in project evaluation.
- Experience in research and evaluation of donor funded projects.
- Experience policy analysis and policy writing.
- Experience of Donor Communities and Development of Enterprise Standards.
- Experience in the preparation of strategic reports for different audiences, i.e., technical, management, government, donors, media and other stakeholders.
- Experience in application of leading qualitative and quantitative data collection, analysis and reporting tools.
- Experience in managing projects with multiple stakeholders.
- Experience in publishing research papers.