Evaluation Team Leader at Social Impact

Project Objective: USAID Kenya and East Africa (KEA) have contracted Social Impact to conduct a mid-term performance evaluation of SCORE, a five-year activity that seeks to mitigate conflict and violent extremism (VE) in six counties in Kenya’s Coast region (Kilifi, Kwale, Lamu, Mombasa, Taita Taveta and Tana River counties).

Since 2014 the implementing partner Act! has worked with local civil society organizations (CSOs) to strengthen community resilience against conflict and VE through various approaches such as interfaith dialogues and counter messaging, empowering women and girls to address VE and conflict, advocating for the strengthening and harmonization of policies on CVE and land to mitigate land conflicts, and youth empowerment by expanding economic opportunities and encouraging civic participation to reduce the allure of financial gain from VE and violence.

The purpose of this evaluation is to assess the performance of the SCORE program by capturing emerging results against the activity objectives, gauge its overall effectiveness and sustainability to date, and identify lessons learned and best practices. The evaluation will contribute to a base of evidence to determine which kinds of CVE interventions are most effective, in what combinations in a given context, and which can and should be scaled up.

Position Description: SI is seeking an individual to fulfill the role of the evaluation team leader (TL) on this evaluation. The TL will manage and oversee the evaluation team and the final products. In addition, the TL is responsible for coordinating evaluation activities and ensuring the production and completion of the evaluation report is conformance with the scope of work and timelines.

The TL will guide the development of the evaluation design, data collection strategy, instruments, and protocols. The TL will direct data collection and compilation, engage in key informant interviews and focus group discussions; conduct data analysis and coordinate technical inputs of evaluation 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 July 15, 2018 and we anticipate this position will require between 44 to 47 days of LOE between July and November 2018.

This is a part-time position reporting to the U.S.- based SI Technical Director and working closely with the SI management team, as well as two other evaluation team members with conflict and/or performance evaluation expertise. This position includes fieldwork in Kenya taking place in August/September 2018. The TL will be required to provide a sample of a relevant evaluation in which the s/he was the lead to demonstrate his/her evaluation, critical analysis, and writing skills.

Responsibilities:

• Lead a desk review of documents relevant to SCORE programming
• Lead development and the finalization of the evaluation design and data collection instruments, coordinating technical inputs from the team.
• Administer key informant interviews (KIIs) with internal and external project stakeholders in Kenya
• Organize and conduct focus group discussions (FGDs) and/or surveys of SCORE partners and beneficiaries in Kenya
• Guide and oversee the development and finalization of project deliverables, including the inception report, draft report, final report, policy brief and presentations
• Present project results to key stakeholders (USAID/KEA, Act! project staff), relevant Embassy counterparts, other relevant development partners, government officials, and USAID implementing partners in Nairobi as well as the SCORE subgrantees in Mombasa
• Ensure quality work in all deliverables; implement SI quality assurance processes
• Work closely with 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, economics or any other relevant field
• Minimum six years’ experience in in carrying out and leading evaluation teams
• Minimum of five years of experience with mixed-methods approaches
• Demonstrated skills in qualitative data analysis
• Evaluation experience in Sub-Saharan Africa, ideally in East Africa
• Experience working with and/or evaluating civil society organizations in an African context preferred
• Knowledge of CVE.
• Strong professional written and verbal proficiency in the English language
• Experience effectively presenting findings and communicating with client, government, and non-government stakeholders
• Demonstrated organizational skills and attention to detail; ability to work independently to meet deadlines and adhere to high quality standards
• Ability and willingness to travel to Kenya for fieldwork