Assessment Team Leader, USAID/Ethiopia Early Childhood Education and Private Sector Engagement Assessment

Social Impact (SI) is a global development management consulting firm. We provide monitoring, evaluation, strategic planning, and capacity building services to advance development effectiveness. We work across all development sectors including democracy and governance, health and education, the environment, and economic growth. Since 1997 we have worked in over 100 countries for clients such as U.S. government agencies, bilateral donors, multilateral development banks, foundations, and nonprofits.

The six-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. The contract assists USAID/Ethiopia and its partners to generate and use evidence to inform programming.

Project Objective:

As part of EPMES’ efforts to help USAID/Ethiopia use evidence in design work, EPMES will be conducting an assessment to inform the design of an early childhood education (ECE) and private sector engagement (PSE) activity.

Position Description:

The TL will manage and oversee the assessment team (AT) and the final deliverables. In addition, the TL is responsible for coordinating assessment activities and ensuring the production and completion of the assessment report in conformance with the scope of work and timelines. The TL will guide the development of the assessment design, data collection strategy, instruments, and protocols. The TL will direct data collection and compilation, manage (and partake in) the execution of data collection and analysis, and coordinate technical inputs of team members, and finalize deliverables. The TL will ensure quality assurance and timeliness of all deliverables, including adherence to SI’s quality assurance standards.

The expected start date is September 2021 and is anticipated to be fully remote. This is a part-time position reporting to the U.S.-based SI Project Manager and working closely with the SI management team/headquarters (HQ), as well as other AT members with relevant assessment expertise.

Responsibilities:

• Lead a desk review of documents relevant to PSE and ECE in Ethiopia, as well as a mapping of stakeholders in that space
• Lead development and submission of the inception report/work plan to USAID.
• Lead development and the finalization of the assessment design and data collection instruments, coordinating technical inputs from the team.
• Administer key informant interviews (KIIs) with internal and external stakeholders in Ethiopia.
• Ensure all team members collect, clean, store, and manage both qualitative and quantitative data.
• Guide and oversee the development and finalization of project deliverables, including the desk review, inception report/work plan, draft report, final report, and presentations.
• Present findings to USAID and other key stakeholders
• Ensure quality work in all deliverables, including providing remote support and quality assurance to other team members and implementing SI-quality assurance processes.
• Work closely with the SI HQ team and communicate in a timely and effective manner with all project personnel.

Qualifications:

• Master’s Degree in degree in political science, international relations, social sciences, or any other relevant field
• Minimum ten years experience in designing and/or conducting assessments of international development projects and leading assessment teams with expertise in education
• Prior experience as an assessment/evaluation team leader is desirable
• Demonstrated skills in qualitative and quantitative data analysis
• Demonstrable experience with design for education or PSE programming required
• Excellent communication skills, both verbal and written, are required
• Demonstrated organizational skills and attention to detail; ability to work independently to meet deadlines and adhere to high-quality standards
• Strong professional written and verbal proficiency in English is required.
• The position is open to both expatriates and Ethiopian citizens, Ethiopian candidates are highly encouraged to apply.

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.