How to apply for Program Associate, Strategic Impact Evaluation and Learning

About Innovations for Poverty Action (IPA)

Innovations for Poverty Action designs and evaluates poverty-reduction interventions using randomized controlled trials. It works with researchers and governments to test what works, and the UK-IPA partnership focuses on strengthening evidence use in global development. This role sits at the center of that partnership, coordinating funding and research uptake.

About the role

This Program Associate role supports a six-year UK-IPA partnership with three main workstreams: research fund coordination, project development, and communications. You will run competitive funding processes, track grants in Salesforce, and handle donor compliance reporting for FCDO. You will also do outreach, liaise with internal teams, and matchmake between FCDO, researchers, and country offices.

A typical day

A typical day might involve reviewing applications for a competitive funding round, updating Salesforce records for a grant portfolio, and preparing a compliance report for FCDO. You could also have calls with country offices to match researchers with projects, or draft materials for an upcoming research uptake session. The role is remote and involves frequent coordination across teams and time zones.

Who Innovations for Poverty Action (IPA) is looking for

• Bachelor's degree in economics, political science, public policy, or a related field, plus at least two years of project or research management experience.
• Comfortable coordinating competitive funding processes and tracking grant portfolios, with strong attention to donor compliance reporting.
• Proficient in Excel and preferably Salesforce, able to maintain accurate records and project documentation.
• Strong written and oral communicator who can prepare materials for research uptake and capacity-strengthening sessions.
• Able to work remotely and liaise across internal teams, FCDO, researchers, and country offices.

Tips for this application

• Name the specific workstreams in your application: research fund coordination, project development, and communications. Use those exact terms.
• Show any experience with competitive funding processes, grant tracking, or donor compliance reporting. Give concrete examples with numbers where possible.
• Mention Salesforce and Excel directly. If you lack Salesforce, say how you have managed data in similar systems and how you would learn Salesforce quickly.
• Reference randomized controlled trials or evidence use in global development if you have exposure to them. IPA is built on RCTs, so show you understand that context.
• Use language from the job description: 'matchmaking between FCDO, researchers, and country offices', 'research uptake', 'capacity-strengthening sessions'. This shows you read the posting closely.

What to cover in your cover letter

Explain how you have coordinated a competitive funding process or tracked a grant portfolio, and what you did to ensure donor compliance. Describe a time you liaised between multiple partners, such as funders, researchers, and field offices, and how you kept communication clear. Show your proficiency with Excel and Salesforce or similar databases, including how you maintained records and documentation. State why you want to support a UK-IPA partnership that strengthens evidence use in global development, and connect that to your background in economics, political science, public policy, or research management.

Research before applying

• Read about the six-year UK-IPA partnership and FCDO's priorities for evidence use in global development. Understand what the partnership aims to achieve.
• Look at IPA's randomized controlled trials and how they design and evaluate poverty-reduction interventions. Know a few examples of their work.
• Review IPA's country offices and how they operate. This role involves liaising with country offices, so know where they are and what they do.
• Check FCDO's funding processes and donor compliance requirements for research grants. This will help you speak to the compliance reporting part of the role.

Likely interview topics

Based on the job description, expect questions about:

• Walk through a competitive funding process you have coordinated. How did you manage timelines, eligibility, and review?
• How have you tracked grant portfolios and ensured donor compliance reporting? What tools did you use?
• Describe a situation where you had to matchmake or liaise between a donor, researchers, and country offices. What was the outcome?
• How would you organize dissemination activities and prepare materials for research uptake and capacity-strengthening sessions?
• What is your experience with Salesforce and Excel? How would you maintain project documentation in a remote setting?

Common mistakes to avoid

• Being vague about grant or fund coordination. The role is specific about competitive funding processes and portfolio tracking, so avoid general statements without examples.
• Ignoring the donor compliance and Salesforce aspects. If you do not address these, it looks like you did not read the requirements.
• Using generic language about poverty or development without connecting to IPA's RCT approach or the UK-IPA partnership. Show you understand the evidence focus.