Development Evaluator, USAID Democracy, Human Rights and Governance (DRG): Learning, Evaluation and Research (LER) Activity III, Partnerships for D – United States of America

Development Evaluator, USAID Democracy, Human Rights and Governance (DRG): Learning, Evaluation and Research (LER) Activity III, Partnerships for Democratic Development (PDD), Social Impact, United States

Social Impact (SI) is an international development management consulting firm based in Washington, DC. We provide monitoring, evaluation, strategic planning and capacity building services to improve 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 one hundred countries for clients including U.S. government agencies, bilateral donors, multilateral development banks, foundations and nonprofit organizations.

Social Impact strives to be a great place to work. We are proud of our diversity and actively seek to expand it to enhance our employee experience, our collective professional breadth, and the quality of our work. We seek to promote equity and inclusion through our policies and practices, building a culture of belonging for all where differences and authenticity are valued and embraced. We work hard to create opportunities for growth and ensure our employees are fulfilled and engaged. We believe we are better when we collaborate, learn from each other, and have fun while working hard.

Project description:

Under the SI contract DRG LER III with USAID, the Partnerships for Democratic Development (PDD) team in USAID/Washington SI is requesting that we conduct a development assessment of PDD activities worldwide (in nine countries) to gain real-time insights into how the initiative should adapt in response to changing circumstances. PDD provides sustained support to countries that demonstrate democratic progress and resilience. PDD is one of 14 USAID deliverables developed under the Presidential Initiative for Democratic Renewal (PIDR), which grew out of the first Summit for Democracy. PDD identifies and addresses key development challenges that, if left unaddressed, can undermine a country’s democratic development.

PDD partner countries are represented in four regions: Africa (Malawi and Zambia), Asia (Nepal and Timor-Leste), Europe and Eurasia (Armenia and North Macedonia), and Latin America and the Caribbean (Dominican Republic, Ecuador and Paraguay).

Job description:

SI is seeking a full-time Development Evaluator to lead this evaluation process through July 2026. Working closely with PDD/W, the Evaluator will encourage and elicit learning from missions leveraging their existing MEL architecture, thereby reducing additional reporting requirements. By leveraging these existing resources, the Development Evaluation should not place an undue burden on the missions or PDD partners. In addition, the Development Evaluator will guide and work with mission partners to formulate the Development Evaluation questions and procedures that will be created through joint authoring efforts during the Development Evaluation launch (in conjunction with PDD’s Learning Forum). The Development Evaluator should be very comfortable communicating and collaborating in remote environments.

The development evaluation will take place over two years of PDD’s planned programming, with the possibility of a one-year extension.

The Provisional Performance Period (POP) for this position is July 2024 to July 2026 and the Expected Effort (LOE) is full-time. The candidate must be available to travel to Frankfurt in September 2024.

**Please note: Candidates must be permanent residents of the United States. Applicants must submit their applications by August 28, 2024. **

Tasks:

• Conduct a development assessment of PDD’s global activities (in nine countries) to gain timely insights into how the initiative should be adapted in response to changing circumstances.
• Kick-off the development evaluation: Start the development evaluation during the pause-and-reflect session by holding a design workshop to be held in Frankfurt, Germany, in the first week of September 2024.
• Lead the development assessment:
• Work remotely with the PDD in Washington, DC, to obtain MEL input from each of its nine partner missions. (As the PDD office adds more countries to its list of partner countries, the evaluator will work with additional missions outside of the nine original partners.)
• Lead development review workshops: Lead ongoing, biannual strategic reviews to share learning, identify trends/emerging patterns, and make sense of what learning means in the broader context.
• Reporting: Conduct a continuous and iterative learning synthesis every two years.
  Dissemination: Disseminate results virtually to the PDD team every two years.

Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree and 10 years of relevant professional experience OR Master’s degree and 8 years of relevant professional experience OR PhD and 4 years of relevant professional experience
• Proven experience in monitoring and evaluating, leading and developing co-creation and use workshops and global learning contexts.
• Familiarity with working on evaluations focused on democratic progress and resilience.
• Knowledge of the threats to global democracy and democratic progress in the partner countries of this project: Malawi, Zambia, Nepal, Timor-Leste, Armenia, North Macedonia, Dominican Republic, Ecuador and Paraguay.
• Life and/or professional experience in the nine partner countries.
• Experience with data and analytics.
• Excellent oral and written communication skills.
• Excellent organizational skills and the ability to maintain a schedule in a remote environment.
• Professional level of English required.
• The commitment to value diversity and contribute to an inclusive working and learning environment.
• Availability for travel to Frankfurt in September 2024.