مدير البحوث والابتكار

Our Values
• Results: Measurable impact for enabling long-term change in the region through education
• Innovation: Exploring ideas and being bold in our approach to designing education and learning solutions for real-world challenge
• Synergy: To authentically engage and work with diverse stakeholders to better serve the region through educational solutions
• Excellence: To operate and continually improve to meet the highest standards for ourselves, and our stakeholders.
Job Description
The Abdulla Al Ghurair Foundation for Education is seeking an experienced leader in educational research to serve as the Director of Research and Innovation, overseeing the Research and Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) team. In addition to this, the Director of Research and Innovation will have a cross-cutting role, working closely and collaboratively with the Programs and the Knowledge and Strategic Operations teams as well as external partners of the Foundations. This role will drive all research activities, support in the design and development of innovative programs as well as track their success and ensure they achieve high impact. The individual will also be engaged in driving the direction of the Foundation s activities, its thought leadership and communication about its programs and research. The Director of Research and Innovation will report to the CEO.
Key Responsibilities & Duties
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Research Management drive and oversee all research activities, including managing the relevant teams and individuals (in and outside the Foundation); seek and build new research partnerships; identify and pursue new research topics as well as relevant opportunities to showcase the Foundation s research in different avenues; build the capacity of internal team members and interns in research.
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Strategy Development and Implementation support in the development and implementation of the Foundation s strategy, priorities, and goals; develop and implement relevant research activities to inform and to successfully apply the organizational strategy (including preparing annual research plans, budgets, and key performance indicators).
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Program Design, Tracking and Evaluation support the Programs team in designing new programs through benchmarking, literature reviews, consultations, concept note writing, co-designing projects, etc.; oversee the work of the M&E manager to ensure that all programs are effectively monitored and evaluated; present results and updates on these activities to the CEO and Board, as required.
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Thought Leadership collaborate with the Director of Knowledge and Strategic Operations and to support the Foundation s CEO and Chairman to drive thought leadership in areas of priority for the Foundation; inform decisions about external speaking and writing engagements; lead in preparing talking points, speeches, or other written pieces, as required; quality assure any relevant content published by the Foundation.
Key Competencies
• Leadership
• Strategic thinking
• Problem solving
• Critical analysis
• Working in a team
• Communicating with others
Qualifications & Experience
• Minimum 10 years of experience, with a significant portion of it spent in the field of research with a focus on education, youth, employment, an/or social development.
• PhD in a social science, public policy, education or other relevant specialization;
• Extensive experience living in and working in the Arab region and the UAE (preference), with strong knowledge of the higher education sector
• Excellent written and oral communication skills and ability to write clearly and concisely
• Strong experience conducting research (qualitative and quantitative) as well as successfully managing research projects
• Strong leadership skills and an ability to work independently
• Demonstrated ability to communicate (orally and in writing) with wide range of audiences and stakeholders in English and Arabic (preference), including leading different types of publications and written documents (reports, briefs, proposals, talking points, etc.)
• Ability to work collaboratively on joint projects
• Track record of working with senior leadership to support strategy and policies
• Track record demonstrating responsive reporting to C-level