Village Enterprise Chief Impact Officer Jobs in Kenya
Role Purpose
The Chief Impact Officer (CIO) is accountable to the CEO for Village Enterprise’s organization-wide evidence agenda, ensuring that monitoring, evaluation, research, knowledge management, and cost-effectiveness systems operate as a unified framework that demonstrates and improves organizational impact.
Provide strategic leadership across the Monitoring, Evidence & Learning (MEL) and Research functions, ensuring evidence is translated into knowledge products, donor narratives, research partnerships, policy influence, and thought leadership.
Bridge technical rigor and organizational strategy by setting impact-measurement standards, integrating evidence into decision-making, and representing Village Enterprise’s impact and research agenda externally.
Responsibilities
Unified Impact & Evidence Strategy
Lead and implement Village Enterprise’s organization-wide impact and evidence strategy.
Integrate MEL and Research into a single, coherent evidence agenda aligned with organizational objectives.
Partner with the Chief Programs Officer and Executive Leadership Team to ensure evidence and learning inform strategy, planning, and decision-making.
Own the organization-wide learning agenda and ensure MEL and Research priorities are complementary and mutually reinforcing.
Advise the CEO and Executive Leadership Team on impact performance, evidence quality, and strategic trade-offs.
Leadership of MEL and Research Functions
Provide strategic leadership, priorities, and performance direction to the Global Head of MEL and Global Head of Research.
Ensure accountability for quality, timeliness, and methodological rigor across both functions.
Approve organization-wide measurement frameworks, research priorities, and methodological changes.
Resolve competing priorities between monitoring, analytics, and research initiatives.
Build and lead a high-performing Impact, Research & Learning leadership team.
Knowledge Management & Organizational Learning
Lead Village Enterprise’s knowledge-management and organizational-learning strategy.
Integrate MEL and Research outputs into a unified knowledge architecture accessible across the organization.
Institutionalize learning mechanisms such as evidence syntheses, learning forums, and leadership reviews.
Build organizational capability for evidence-based decision-making through training, coaching, and leadership engagement.
Research Partnerships & Institutional Relationships
Lead Village Enterprise’s strategy for institutional research partnerships.
Manage relationships with academic institutions, evaluation firms, and research networks.
Represent the organization in high-level research, evaluation, and academic partnership discussions.
Identify opportunities to strengthen Village Enterprise’s reputation within the poverty-graduation and livelihoods research sector.
Evidence for Fundraising, Policy & Thought Leadership
Partner with the Chief Development Officer and business-development teams to translate evidence into compelling donor narratives and proposals.
Serve as Village Enterprise’s principal external spokesperson on impact, learning, and evidence.
Represent the organization at policy forums, donor engagements, conferences, and sector events.
Lead the organization’s thought-leadership agenda on evidence and impact.
Ensure all evidence used externally is accurate, credible, and appropriately contextualized.
People, Partnership & Resource Management
Lead, coach, mentor, and
develop the Impact, Research & Learning team.
Manage departmental budgets, work plans, and resource allocation.
Build strong working relationships across Programs, Finance, Development, Technology, Government Relations, and country teams.
Safeguarding
Champion a culture where safeguarding is everyone's responsibility.
Ensure compliance with Village Enterprise safeguarding standards, policies, and procedures.
Integrate safeguarding considerations into programme design, implementation, and organizational processes.
Ensure safeguarding incidents are reported, managed, and escalated appropriately.
Support safeguarding investigations and disciplinary processes where required.
Key Performance Metrics
Successful implementation of the organization-wide evidence and learning strategy against agreed milestones.
Quality and consistency of evidence used in donor proposals and external communications.
Growth, quality, and strategic value of institutional research partnerships.
Adoption and usage of knowledge-management systems and learning products across global teams.
Retention, engagement, and development of the Head of MEL, Head of Research, and their teams.
Increased representation of Village Enterprise evidence within donor, policy, and sector forums.
Requirements
Education
Master’s Degree or PhD in Economics, Statistics, International Development, Public Policy, or a related quantitative field.
Direct experience in poverty-graduation, livelihoods, or economic-inclusion programming.
Experience building and integrating departments within matrix-management structures.
Familiarity with results-based financing, outcomes-based financing, and institutional donor evidence requirements.
Experience
At least fifteen (15) years of progressively senior leadership experience in Monitoring & Evaluation, Research, Impact Measurement, or Evidence-related functions.
Minimum of four (4) years at Senior Director, Vice President, or equivalent executive leadership level.
Proven experience leading MEL and/or Research functions and translating evidence into organizational strategy and fundraising.
Demonstrated success managing senior technical leaders and geographically dispersed teams.
Strong expertise in monitoring and evaluation methodologies, experimental and quasi-experimental research design, and cost-effectiveness analysis.
Experience supporting major donor proposals and building research and institutional partnerships.
Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to translate complex technical findings into messages for executive leaders, donors, governments, and boards.
Experience representing organizations in policy, sector, academic, and development forums.
How to apply
For more information and job application details, see; Village Enterprise Chief Impact Officer Jobs in Kenya
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