Position Description

EnCompass LLC seeks Deputy Chief of Party (DCOP) / MEL Director candidates for an anticipated four-year United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning (MEL) activity will be a central Mission-wide platform that provides a range of analytical and advisory services in support of USAID’s design, performance monitoring, evaluation, and operational learning and adapting efforts. The activity will play a significant role in achieving the successful implementation of the Mission’s: CDCS 2020 – 2025, PMP, and the CLA agenda.

The DCOP / MEL Director will support the Chief of Party on day-to-day project management, implementation, and evaluation support as well as support coordination with the Mission and other staff. The DCOP will lead/oversee the review of MEL tasks, and support such technical work as reviewing reporting methods, carrying out training, designing reporting tools and advising project teams on the evaluation work.

The DCOP / MEL Director should possess expertise designing and executing quantitative and qualitative data collection and analytical methods to support evaluation design and implementation, ideally in complex environments. They will lead the design and implementation of performance and impact evaluations, as well as all studies, assessments, and other analytical support. They will ensure the short-term technical experts and evaluation team members recruited under this contract are of a high caliber and possess the required technical expertise. They will finalize evaluation reports and facilitate presentations and briefings to disseminate learning among project stakeholders. They may be responsible for leading and/or directing evaluation teams and conducting on-site research.

The position will be full-time and be based in Dhaka with travel throughout the country.

Position Duties and Responsibilities

Essential functions:

• Provide day-to-day oversight and quality assurance for all technical areas
• Act as secondary liaison with COP to USAID
• Support quality control and the overall responsiveness of technical assistance provided under the contract, including necessary adjustments to operations to fit the requirements of USAID.
• Lead/manage evaluation, analysis, and assessment activities, including scope of work development, data collection, design of methodologies and protocols, data analysis and reporting writing, and coordination and oversight of local partners engaged in these activities
• Design quantitative and/or qualitative data collection and analytical methods and tools to support evaluation design and implementation
• Participate as the Team Leader or senior team member on assessments and evaluations, as required.
• Liaise with the Chief of Party to inform the design of each study/evaluative activity and support quality assurance activities throughout each study, including the review of milestone deliverables and final reports prior to submission to USAID
• Support the selection and engagement of local partners and experts for activities, and support team development, training, and execution of activities
• Manage evaluation and task team members and provide quality control in the implementation of evaluations, ensuring the quality of deliverables/reporting of all evaluations, assessments, surveys, and special studies.
• Establish methodological processes and standards that are compliant with USAID Evaluation Policy for MEL staff to adhere to on project monitoring and evaluation activities
• Employ strong CLA practices throughout the work, with an understanding of the USAID Program Cycle
• Engage fully as a member of the EnCompass staff team, including participating in staff meetings and other EnCompass events, and providing administrative support to other team members as needed
• Other duties as assigned

Position Requirements

Qualifications

Academic Qualifications

• Master’s degree and 6 years’ experience; or PhD and 4 years’ experience in a social science, organizational development, development studies or a related field highly preferred

Experience and Skills

• Minimum of four (4) years of demonstrated experience leading complex portfolios of evaluative and learning activities for improved development outcomes; Senior candidates should have at least seven (7) years of demonstrated experience
• Previous work experience in Bangladesh highly preferred
• Superior communication skills in written and verbal English required
• Experience designing and implementing various types of mixed-methods evaluations (impact, performance, meta, etc.), analyses, and assessments required
• Working knowledge of and experience with USG-funded program management, policies, regulations and procedures
• Strong communication, interpersonal, diplomatic, supervision, and management skills required
• Experience in data analysis skills including statistics, sampling methodologies, statistical analysis software, and data validation techniques
• Extensive experience drafting and finalizing evaluation reports
• Experience applying systems thinking in evaluation design, participatory data collection methods and protocols, and facilitating participatory data validation and analysis exercises
• Experience managing complex relationships with a variety of stakeholders
• Strong familiarity with USAID’s Evaluation Policy and CLA practices
• Understanding of knowledge management as it relates to USAID programs an asset
• Experience building evaluative and learning capacities of USAID staff, implementing partners, and government counterparts highly preferred
• Language proficiency in Bangla and Urdu preferred
• Familiarity with USAID/Bangladesh Mission is preferred