Senior Technical Advisor, USAID/Liberia Data, Evaluation, Learning and Technical Assistance (DELTA) Activity At Social Impact

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

Project Objective

The five-year USAID-funded Liberia Data, Evaluation, Learning and Technical Assistance (DELTA) Activity seeks to provide an innovative degree of analytical and advisory services to USAID/Liberia’s Office of Program and Project Development (PPD) and Development Objective (DO) teams in support of the Mission’s project design, performance monitoring and evaluation, and operational learning and adapting. The Activity’s objectives will assist the Mission in its ability to:

• identify lessons learned from past experience;
• better understand the complex Liberian development context (including institutional norms and behaviors affecting project results) through advanced research, surveys, data collection and analysis; and
• adapt its programs to this information and analysis.

The Activity has an established project office in Monrovia to assist the Mission in strengthening its management of key aspects of the programming cycle, specifically strategic planning, project design, performance monitoring and evaluation, and institutionalized learning and adaptation.

Position Description

The Senior Technical Advisor’s (STA’s) will provide technical expertise and quality support to the overall management of the DELTA Activity. In addition to providing key support to the Chief of Party (COP) and Deputy Chief of Party (DCOP) on strategic tasks across the DELTA portfolio, the successful candidate will provide leadership, technical rigor, and utilization support for DELTA’s evaluation and assessment technical component.

**This is a full-time position to be based in Monrovia and is open to qualified international and local candidates alike.**

Responsibilities

Management

• Provide technical leadership and planning for evaluation and assessment efforts, proactively working with USAID/Liberia to prepare for upcoming tasks.
• Work closely with the COP/ Collaborating, Learning, and Adapting (CLA) Advisor to ensure that evaluation and assessment processes are participatory and engage stakeholders throughout to maximize knowledge sharing and learning.
• Assist the Mission in stakeholder engagement and cross-sector learning with other donors, government and academic institutions, the Government of Liberia and implementing partners.
• Design research in support of USAID programming needs, using new and innovative data collection methods.
• Link evaluation and assessment SOWs to USAID’s higher level learning priorities identified in the CDCS and PMP.

Assessments and Evaluations

• Support USAID/Liberia in the scoping of evaluations and assessments, ensure the SOW is technically feasible, and coach DELTA staff to lead scoping efforts on future tasks.
• Support recruitment and selection of the evaluation or assessment team or subcontracting of firms.
• Advise on assessment or evaluation design for technical rigor and cost effectiveness, ensuring USAID frameworks are appropriately employed where relevant.
• Review all deliverables in tandem with PM, coaching the PM on quality standards. Advise on clear structures for deliverables to convey the information most important to the client.
• Anticipate risks, help troubleshoot management issues, and proactively mitigate poor team dynamics. Offer coaching to the PM and Team Leader to empower them to address potential problems.
• Discuss with the PM and team to identify a regular check-in time and what main management tools will be used for keeping everyone informed and everything on track during these meetings.
• Reinforce the value of Ensuring Quality, Use, and Impact (EQUI) management approach and quality assurance checklists to review deliverables for standard quality control. Guide the IRB process.
• Liaise closely with SI headquarters staff and systems to resource evaluations and assessments, whether through staff support or technical resources.
• Guide on ADS 201 compliance throughout the activity.

Qualifications

• Minimum of seven years of professional work experience managing and/or supporting complex donor-funded international development capacity building or training activities with significant expertise in monitoring, evaluation, and/or project design and analytical work.
• An advanced degree in a field relevant to development assistance, international affairs, political science, sociology, economics, statistics, business, public administration, organizational development, communications is strongly preferred.
• Socio-behavioral skills and cultural competencies to develop capacity of staff toward localized decision making and management.
• Strong grasp of qualitative and quantitative data collection and analysis, participatory methods, and facilitating use of results.
• Experience facilitating workshops, events, and providing training and mentoring for groups of various sizes and one-on-one on evaluation-related subjects.
• Adept at problem solving with an ability to weigh information and options and determine the most appropriate and high impact solutions to complex challenges.
• Strong commitment to learning, modeling curiosity and a learning culture with the DELTA team and fostering that culture among USAID and partners.
• Ability to share lack of knowledge, mistakes, or failures; give and receive feedback; and raise difficult questions or concerns.
• Model inclusive leadership through an ability to work collaboratively with all kinds of people and make them feel valued and part of the team regardless of background or role.
• Experience in comparable post-conflict countries an asset.
• Experience working with previous USAID programs strongly preferred.
• Ability to translate dense technical language into engaging, user-friendly products, whether through briefs, infographics, presentations, or other products.
• Verbal and written fluency in English (ILR level 4).

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.

**Applications will be reviewed and interviews conducted on a rolling basis, thus candidates are encouraged to apply early.**