Team Lead, USAID MENA Disability Inclusive Education Study, Remote At Social Impact

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:

USAID has contracted Social Impact under the Middle East Education Research, Training, and Support (MEERS) Program to conduct education sector-focused assessments, evaluations, and research studies across the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). Under the MEERS Activity, Social Impact has been requested to conduct a MENA Disability Inclusive Education study, which will use the International Disability Alliance’s definition of Inclusive Education to examine the types of accommodations, support, and services for students with disabilities across the MENA region. The study will examine national policies for disability inclusive education, noting financing sources and strategies, as well as strengths and gaps in current policy. A review of interventions designed to support students with disabilities and related literature will provide examples of where and how policies and interventions are being realized and implemented and draw out lessons learned from published data.

Position Description:

The Team Lead (TL) will oversee the design, implementation, and dissemination of the study, ensure team members are well trained and prepared for their roles, produce or supervise the production of all technical output and deliverables, meet contractual deadlines, conduct high quality qualitative and quantitative analysis, and will lead the analysis and writing process. The TL will ensure clear and regular communication with the client and SI Program Manager (PM) and work together with the PM and Project Director (PD) to ensure all client deliverables meet SI quality assurance standards. This is a part-time consulting position requiring 55 days of work from late September 2021 to the end of June 2022.

Responsibilities:

• Oversee the evaluation and coordinate the team, ensuring team members understand their roles and responsibilities, and assign individual data collection, analysis, and reporting responsibilities.
• Coordinate with SI’s HQ team throughout the evaluation.
• Develop research design to address study questions, including information on data collection and analysis.
• Assume leadership in the preparation, editing and submission of the final report.
• Manage workplan development, literature review, data collection activities, and final report submission to ensure quality.
• Lead the preparation and presentation of the key study findings and recommendations to USAID.
• Oversee the planning and execution of a related case study and/or training workshop based on study findings – parameters to be determined in collaboration with USAID during the initial design report stage of the study.

Qualifications:

• Master’s degree in education or another relevant field and at least 10 years of relevant work experience.
• Demonstrated experience as Team Lead conducting assessments, evaluations, and/or similar studies in the education sector. Expertise in disability inclusion and disability inclusive education highly preferred.
• Previous experience conducting country or regional assessments in MENA.
• Prior experience evaluating or implementing USAID-funded projects.
• Strong team management and interpersonal skills.
• Strong oral communication, presentation, and writing skills in English. Additional proficiency in Arabic is an asset.
• Persons with disabilities are strongly encouraged to apply.
• Experience facilitating workshops and learning events highly desired.