Vice President of Research and Programs

About Accion:

Accion is a global nonprofit on a mission to create a fair and inclusive economy for the nearly two billion people who are failed by the global financial system. We develop and scale responsible digital financial solutions for small business owners, smallholder farmers, and women, so they can make informed decisions and improve their lives. Through targeted investment strategies, advisory solutions, and expert thought leadership, we work with local partners to develop and scale cheaper, more accessible, and customer-friendly financial solutions. Since 1961, Accion has helped build 267 financial service providers serving low-income clients in 75 countries, reaching 440 million people. More at https://www.accion.org.

Responsibilities: Apply expertise in international development economics, particularly in digital finance and financial inclusion strategies in emerging markets and developing economies in Accion's Center for Financial Inclusion (CFI). Provide management oversight of CFI's thematic research, overseeing and providing support to research leads covering one or more of CFI's priority areas. Drive CFI's research and programmatic agenda across thematic priorities including climate, consumer protection and data risks and opportunities. Lead quantitative research, employing advanced statistical methods and analysis, research design and implementation of large scale, nationally representative surveys. Editorial and managerial oversight of teams currently implementing these workstreams. Ensure research and publications are best-in-class with support to teams on research methods, knowledge products, and influence strategies. Proactively convert research findings into suitable advice to financial sector providers and national governments, with a particular focus on consumer protection, Small and Medium Enterprise (SME) finance and digital financial inclusion. Coordinate with CFI's communications team and ensure successful implementation of stakeholder campaigns and events. Support the identification and capture of relevant funding opportunities to support a robust and impactful pipeline of programs. Provide organizational leadership with the Managing Director and other senior staff members in terms of strategy, fundraising, internal knowledge sharing and cross-collaboration, budgeting and planning, and representation. Advise the Managing Director and others on the leadership team on a wide range of organizational and programmatic issues and participate as an active leader on Accion's senior team. Domestic and international travel up to 25%.

Salary: $225,000/year

Requirements: Master's degree in economics, international development studies or related field and eight years of experience in inclusive finance in low and middle-income countries (LMICs). Experience must include five years each of the following: research in digital financial services; managing quantitative research projects including management of external consultants and in-house professionals; statistical software such as R or Stata for analysis of financial inclusion data; and in-country experience in LMICs providing advice to regulators and financial service providers on issues related to financial inclusion and digital financial services. Experience must include three years designing and implementing nationally representative financial inclusion surveys. Must have published research findings as blogs or reports in relevant financial inclusion channels such as CGAP and World Bank. Domestic and international travel up to 25%. Experience may be gained concurrently.

Accion is an equal opportunity employer. We are committed to a diverse and inclusive workplace culture. Accion seeks qualified applicants without regard to race, color, gender, sex, age, religion, creed, national origin, ancestry, citizenship, marital status, sexual orientation, physical or mental disability, medical condition, military and veteran status, gender identity or expression, genetic information, change of sex or transgender status, or any other basis protected by law. Accion is committed to providing reasonable accommodation to applicants with disabilities.