Local MEL Specialist, Colombia At Social Impact

Local MEL Specialist, Colombia

Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration’s Policy on Accountability to Affected Persons and Community Participation Evaluation

Social Impact 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 US government agencies, bilateral donors, multilateral development banks, foundations, and nonprofits.

Project Objective:

This evaluation will examine the implementation and impact of the United States Department of State (DOS) / Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration’s (PRM) policy on accountability to affected persons (AAP) and community participation practices. The evaluation will ensure that bureau-supported programming generates accurate and useful information about how constituents of such programming perceive the impact and responsiveness of those programs to their needs and stated preferences; requires, encourages, or promotes PRM and/or its partners to use the information generated to inform programming decisions; and whether or how PRM is effectively monitoring these outcomes. The evaluation will consist of:

1. A comprehensive desk review and analysis of relevant literature
2. Consultative interviews and participatory design sessions
3. Remote surveys and in-country data collection work to examine the impact of PRM’s AAP policy on the design and implementation of programming in Colombia by both international humanitarian organization and NGO programming; and
4. A final evaluation report incorporating concrete recommendations that will inform any revision of PRM’s future AAP policy and programming and suggest how PRM can promote improvements to partners’ AAP capacities for collecting and responding to constituent feedback.

Position Description:

SI is seeking two (2) Local Specialists in support of this evaluation. The Local Specialists will support the development of evaluation instruments and protocols. They will support the evaluation team in collecting and compiling data, facilitating interviews and focus group discussions, conducting data analysis, and drafting an evaluation report. The Local Specialists will also be the main points of contact in country for evaluation activities and coordinate logistics related to setting up meetings, KIIs, FGDs and any other relevant data collection activities. The Local Specialists will report to the evaluation Team Leader (TL) and work closely with other team members with evaluation and technical support expertise. This is a temporary position with a period of performance from December 2022 through July 2023.

**Please note: Candidates currently located in Colombia will have priority consideration. Candidates located in Ecuador will have secondarry consideration. **

Responsibilities:

• Review relevant literature review matrix on AAP and community participation practices to understand the evaluation.
• Work with Social Impact, the evaluation team leader, and the humanitarian technical advisor to develop the evaluation data collection tools, local data collection, and analysis plan.
• Conduct data collection efforts, ensuring reliable and valid data.
• Conduct key informant interviews and focus group discussions with relevant personnel.
• Submit daily progress reports/emails to team lead and humanitarian advisor.
• Support the production of reports and deliverables.
• Debrief PRM, UNHCR, and other stakeholders upon completion of the country-based evaluation in an oral presentation of findings.
• Undertake other tasks required for the successful completion of the evaluation.

Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree or higher in the social sciences, international development, or a related field required;
• Minimum of five years conducting research and evaluations in humanitarian settings, or for internationally donor-funded projects;
• Demonstrated experience designing evaluation tools;
• Demonstrated ability to facilitate focus group discussions and conduct interviews;
• Knowledge and experience of qualitative data analysis techniques to process and organize large amounts of qualitative data;
• Excellent writing skills as demonstrated through completion of similar assessment/evaluation reports;
• Understanding the collection and use of sensitive data in order to protect confidentiality;
• Familiarity with:
  • Humanitarian assistance for refugees and vulnerable populations
  • Colombia’s social, economic, and political environment,
  • Diversity, social inclusion, gender, and equity
  • Mandates and responsibilities of PRM, UNHCR, NGOs, and universities;
• Fluency in spoken and written Spanish and English;
• Willingness and ability to travel throughout Colombia;

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.