Technical Director
JOB DESCRIPTION
ABOUT YLABS
YLabs is a leading global design and research organization working to improve health and economic opportunity for young people 10–24 years old. Founded in 2014 at the Harvard Innovation Lab, YLabs partners with young people in sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia, and North and Central America to design, test, and advocate for youth-driven solutions that address key challenges to young people’s health and economic opportunity worldwide. YLabs’ desired global impact for youth is improved health and wellness, climate resilience, and increased economic opportunity. Our global teams have worked in 18 countries to date on projects spanning topics including mental health, sexual and reproductive health, HIV, youth entrepreneurship, and climate action. Find out more about our projects here: https://www.ylabsglobal.org/work
Our team of physicians, designers, economists, public health professionals, and educators bring a unique mix of human-centered design, adolescent health, evaluation, economic and health outcome evaluation, behavioral science, and implementation know-how to the global problems facing youth.
SUMMARY
We’re looking for an experienced global adolescent health leader to join YLabs’ team. In this role, the Technical Director will help to oversee and co-manage YLabs’ globally distributed team of public health professionals working to research, design, and launch integrated innovations with and for young people to improve their health and wellness, financial inclusion, and climate resilience. This role will work in partnership with another Technical Director to scale the impact of YLabs’ youth-driven innovations, and support the professional development of the technical team. This individual will also sit on the executive and leadership team at YLabs, helping to shape and execute the organization’s strategic direction and priorities.
In this role, the Technical Director will provide expertise to cross-functional design and technical teams on areas such as applying: the latest evidence on adolescent-responsive health/financial inclusion interventions; promising methods or approaches to achieve healthy behavior and social norms (particularly through digital interventions), and best practices in youth-led and community-based approaches to measurement and evaluation. They will oversee and assure quality on YLabs’ project evaluation and contribute to organizational impact evaluation.
The ideal candidate will be excited to work with an innovative and passionate interdisciplinary team of designers and public health professionals to address some of the biggest challenges facing young people globally. Our ideal profile is someone who has had significant experience leading the research, design, implementation, and monitoring of adolescent-responsive interventions, particularly those which are digital. They are adaptable, creative, and results-focused. Experience working in youth programming through a practice of meaningful and participatory youth engagement is essential.
This person should be a collaborative and charismatic leader with experience working in the Global South. They should have strong people management skills, providing leadership to our growing team and organization and supporting the recruitment of new talent. They should have experience implementing and monitoring internal strategic initiatives, and be well-versed in training and mentoring teams to produce quality work.
KEY RESPONSIBILITIES
Technical Oversight
- Provide expertise and guidance to project teams on adolescent health (including mental health, sexual and reproductive health, and HIV) to support the design, implementation and evaluation of evidence-based interventions and execution of best practices.
- Build the capacity of project staff, partners, and relevant stakeholders through training, mentoring, and technical assistance;
- Provide project leadership to large-scale, multi-year initiatives focused on advancing young people’s power and agency related to YLabs’ focus areas of optimum health and wellness, improved economic opportunity, and increased climate resilience;
- Assist in analyzing, synthesizing, and reporting project outputs, results, and learnings in close collaboration with the monitoring and evaluation (M&E) team and disseminate the right information to local, regional, and global partners;
- Provide leadership to YLabs’ impact team to oversee effective tracking of portfolio impact;
- Facilitate the sharing of project results, lessons learned, and best practices through workshops, conferences, publications, and other platforms.
Organizational and Team Leadership:
- Co-lead YLabs’ global technical department of ten people. Responsible for integrating mixed-methods data approaches and evaluation, behavioral science, adolescent health expertise, and youth-driven design principles for digital adolescent programming
- Provide strategic vision, direction, and professional development support to direct reports and cross-functional teams in a manner that upholds YLabs’ core values of equity, transparency, trust, courage, and collective joy
- Sit on YLabs’ global executive and leadership teams, and work with other department leads to develop and track strategic objectives
- Provide input on mission-critical decisions relating to the growth of the organization
Partnerships & Communications
- Foster effective, thoughtful engagement and communications with our funding and implementation partners, developing opportunities for continued collaboration and funding
- Work with the Portfolio team to ensure on-time, accurate financial and technical reporting to funders and partners
- Build YLabs’ network of global partners and foster strong relationships with our existing partners, including government partners
- Provide technical input to the development of new business opportunities, such as funding proposals and future strategy
- Collaborate with the global communications team to align on strategic communications for projects, fundraising, and annual reports
YOU HAVE
- At least a Master’s degree in Public Health or a relevant graduate degree. PhD is preferred, with experience in quantitative research analysis
- 12+ years of professional experience, including an established track record of success in a leadership role in the adolescent health sector
- Experience leading and motivating multi-disciplinary teams working in the Global South
- Experience working on youth programming and understanding the specific considerations in conducting ethical and youth-centered research with young people
- Fluency in MEL methodologies, using both quantitative and qualitative research methods
- Demonstrated skills in technical writing, with an ability to tailor and simplify messaging to diverse audiences
- Strong collaboration skills with attention to addressing power differentials, and ensuring equity in our work and in our organization
- Experience overseeing budgets and work plans to ensure the project runs on budget, on time, to quality
Desirable skills:
- Experience working in climate adaptation and resilience initiatives
- Human-centered design or design thinking
- Experience designing and evaluating digital interventions
- Participatory research methods
- Experience developing internal impact strategies and data infrastructure (tools and processes) to track organizational impact within projects and across practice areas
- Demonstrated proficiency in French, Swahili, and/or Portuguese
YOU ARE
- Passionate about improving the health and opportunity of young people globally
- Culturally competent with awareness and sensitivity to cultural diversity
- A strong communicator; able to communicate clearly and sensitively with internal and external stakeholders and funders
- Data-driven and detail-oriented with a high degree of integrity in your decision making
- A natural connector, energized by building new working relationships and partnerships
- Committed to operationalizing equity in our work and decolonizing global health
- A thoughtful leader who makes decisions with trust and transparency; you are collaborative, non-hierarchical, and consultative in your workstyle and responsive to feedback
- Committed to building trusting, convivial working relationships that support wellness, creativity, and collective joy
- Willing to work flexible hours to accommodate staff in other timezones
- Adaptable and optimistic when faced with changing circumstances and challenges
LOCATION
This is a remote role, ideally based in sub-Saharan Africa, with preference for the following countries: Rwanda, Kenya, Tanzania, Ghana, Nigeria.
PAY RATE & BENEFITS
YLabs adheres to Project Fair’s principles and standards to establish equity in pay with the overriding principle of “equal pay for work of equal value” outlined in the Sustainable Development Goals.
All salary ranges are based on level within the organization and are competitive to regional and national salary benchmarks, based on the respective office location.
The salary range for this role is gross Rwf65,000,000 – Rwf87,500,000 per year, commensurate with experience. This range is regionally benchmarked for a Director-level position in the Rwandan and sub-Saharan African region. In addition to the candidates’ experience, final pay will also be determined by their permanent work location, which will be benchmarked to be in-line with the respective region’s market and YLabs’ levels.
In the event that the candidate is based in the UK, Europe, or United States, YLabs will benchmark the salary to that market with a strong alignment with our US salary ranges. For more information, please inquire directly via talent@ylabsglobal.org.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
To apply, send a resume, cover letter, and writing sample to talent@ylabsglobal.org with the subject line “Technical Director”.
Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis; all applications submitted within the posting period will be reviewed by our Hiring Committee. YLabs recognizes the effort that goes into submitting an application; all candidates will be notified of their application status once the hiring process begins. All your information will be kept confidential according to EEO guidelines. All YLabs offers of employment are conditional on satisfactory background check and criminal record clearances.
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