Country: Ethiopia
Closing date: 28 Feb 2018
International Expert
Youth Cohort Study, Building the Potential of Youth
USAID/Ethiopia Performance Monitoring and Evaluation Service (EPMES) Activity
Social Impact (SI) is a Washington, DC-area international development management consulting firm. SI’s mission is to improve the effectiveness of international development programs in improving people’s lives. We provide a full range of management consulting, technical assistance, and training services to strengthen international development programs, organizations, and policies. We provide services globally in the areas of monitoring and evaluation, strategic planning, project and program design, organizational capacity building, and gender and social analysis. SI services cross-cut all development sectors including democracy and governance, health and education, the environment, and economic growth. SI’s clients include US government agencies such as USAID, the Millennium Challenge Corporation, the US Department of State, bilateral donors, multilateral development banks, foundations, and non-profits.
Project Objective:
The four-year $16.6 million Ethiopia Performance Monitoring and Evaluation Service (EPMES) activity aims to provide USAID/Ethiopia with project/activity external evaluation, performance monitoring and performance management support services in alignment with the USAID Automated Directives System (ADS) and Evaluation Policy. It is anticipated that this contract will assist USAID/Ethiopia and its partners to generate empirical data on project/activity implementation as well as foster learning and knowledge management to improve evidence-based project design and development programming in support of the Country Development and Cooperation Strategy (CDCS). The Contractor will provide support services at all stages of USAID’s program cycle.
POTENTIAL is a five-year USAID-funded program that promotes opportunities for young Ethiopians to positively contribute to the betterment of society. POTENTIAL’s goal is for unemployed and underemployed Ethiopian youth ages 15-29 in rural areas and towns to attain the skills, knowledge, and social capital that lead to increased income and long-term economic self-sufficiency. The program plans to directly reach 34,537 Ethiopian youth in six regions, helping them escape the cycle of poverty.
The Youth Cohort Study (YCS) will be focused on a subset of youth participants and geographic implementation areas. The overarching purpose of the Youth Cohort Study is to determine the extent to which the Building the Potential of Youth project has improved the employment status and/or income level of a subset of youth participating in the project.
Position Description:
SI is seeking an International Expert to provide technical and coordination assistance in the evaluation activities to ensure a high quality and useful evaluation. The International Expert will contribute to the final phase of a three-phase study that follows a cohort of youth over time, and a peer-research approach that trains a sub-set of the youth to assist in the research implementation and data collection. The Expert will assist a Team Leader and a Local Expert in carrying out the design, implementation, analysis, and report writing phases of the YCS.
Level of effort, schedule for travel, and due dates of deliverables will be determined in collaboration with USAID. The endline data collection phase start date is TBD.
Responsibilities:
The International Expert will be responsible for:
- Participating in development of data collection instruments
- Training data collectors and supervisors
- Following up the performance of a data collection firm and reports the status to the Team Leader
- Contributing to report writing
- Meeting deadlines in accordance with contractual schedule of deliverables
- Ensuring high quality and usefulness of evaluation outputs, given technical expertise in the subject matter being evaluated
In addition, the International Expert will contribute to the completion of the following tasks:
- Development of an Evaluation Design Report and training regime for enumerators
- Participate and contribute to the Team Planning Meeting
- Establishment of daily schedules and plan for data collection phases
- Contribute for the presentation of findings to USAID/Ethiopia
- Participate in identification of a sampling frame for primary qualitative and/or quantitative data collection during all phases of field work
- Data collection, including interviews and focus group discussions with stakeholders and households
- Compilation of project monitoring and government data by liaising with implementing, funding, and government stakeholders
- Participate in data analysis
- Following data collection and analysis, participate in the development of an evaluation report which includes evaluation findings, conclusions, and recommendations
Qualifications:
- M.Sc./MA in related a related field
- 5+ years of related work experience
- Experience with evaluation of youth workforce development projects
- Working with complex team including expatriates and local sub-contractors
- Evaluation design: including sample design, mixed method designs, data analysis and instrument development
- Assessment and use of existing data sources to be utilized for secondary analysis
- Measurement strategies associated with youth workforce development projects
- Data collection planning and implementation in complex and geographically diverse settings
- Experience with cohort data analysis
- Experience with Statistical data analysis software such as SPSS, STATA, etc.
- Participation in the presentation of evaluation findings to a broad range of stakeholders, including government officials, to optimize uptake of recommendations
- Effective collaboration and coordination with implementing partners and other local stakeholders during evaluation design and implementation
- Knowledge of USAID requirements with respect to data sharing, treatment of PII, ethical considerations/IRB
- Excellent written and oral communication in English
- In-depth knowledge of the Ethiopian context and development programming in Ethiopia or similar context
- Demonstrable experience in integrating and using gender sensitive approaches in M&E work
- Experience in gender sensitive monitoring and evaluation methods
Come join our energetic and innovative team! We offer you the opportunity to play a leading role in the growth of our company, work as part of a creative and committed team, and make a difference in the well-being of our world.
To learn more about Social Impact, please visit our website: http://www.socialimpact.com
SI is an EEO/AA/ADA Veterans Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, disability or protected veteran status.
Only selected candidates will be contacted for an interview. Please, no phone calls.
How to apply:
Click here to apply.