Evaluation Advisor

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Title: Evaluation Advisor
Department: Results and Measurement (R&M)
Supervisors: Director, Results and Measurement
Location: Nairobi, Kenya or Johannesburg, SA, or Bangkok, Thailand
Effective Date: December 20, 2010

HR Use Only: Exempt/Non-Exempt: Exempt
EEO Job Class: Professional Salary Level Level V

Pact values and supports a diverse work environment.

Position Summary: The Evaluation Advisor will provide leadership within Pact on the country office, regional and global levels to strengthen organizational and staff capacity to design and implement effective evaluation activities. S/he will provide technical assistance to country offices, subgrantees and staff to ensure that programs are evaluated as needed, scopes for evaluation reflect key learning questions, high quality external or internal evaluators undertake evaluations, recommendations are adopted and lessons learned are disseminated through channels including the MERL (Monitoring, Evaluation, Reporting and Learning) Community of Practice. In collaboration with the R&M Director, s/he will also contribute to the development and implementation of the Pact global MERL agenda, including evaluation policy and guidelines.

Core Values: Pact employees embrace the following core values as representatives of the institution:

• all people have a right to participate in decisions affecting their lives
• gender equity is mandatory for social transformation
• resources are allocated in a transparent manner, guided by accountability to our clients and Pact’s role as steward of resources intended for the poor
• diversity in background, gender and age strengthen our capacity to be wise managers of public and private funds
• teamwork and collaboration shape our day-to-day working relationships
• innovation and risk taking to achieve impact and broad scaleable results drive strategic priorities
• gathering and sharing information are primary roles for all employees
• staff growth and advancement are a priority, including training and professional skills building to increase knowledge and competence and to stay abreast of new developments, especially in technology
• a healthy balance between work and life outside of work must be maintained for work satisfaction and fulfillment

Specific Duties and Responsibilities:
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Country Guidance and Support (50%)
• Advise country offices on internal and external evaluation processes, requirements and products.
• Support each country office to develop and implement an evaluation and learning agenda to include clear learning questions; scopes of work; evaluation timelines, budgets; and linkages between country performance monitoring plans and evaluations.
• Facilitate and contribute to internal and external evaluations of projects and programs at country level.
• Help develop scopes of work for evaluation efforts and review applicants /consultants.
• Help review and or develop evaluation survey instruments and sampling methodologies/frames.
• Help develop baseline surveys.
• Help develop and implement Evaluation Learning Action Plans.
• Develop methodologies and standards for country office MERL staff to use in planning and conducting evaluations.
• Advise country program on how to support grantees in preparations for evaluations.
• Support country programs in capacity development efforts for their grantees through provision of technical support in developing and implementing appropriate training on basic program evaluation.
• Contribute to proposal development, both design and budget components, to ensure that funds and resources are included for evaluation activities.
• Coordinate and provide opportunities for staff development within country offices in a broad range of program evaluation issues/methods/tools.
• Provide mentorship to country MERL staff involved in evaluation efforts for their programs.
• Support other MERL regional support activities to country offices. This may include conducting data quality audits, helping teams develop performance monitoring plans, helping with proposal development, etc.

Regional Leadership (20%)
• Forward Pact Inc’s approach to the evaluation aspects of MERL within regions, such as the MERL strategy, the Community of Practice and the MERL Vision.
• Identify needs, trends and priorities within regions to ensure that evaluations take place and findings are disseminated for regional learning.
• Maintain a roster of “preferred” qualified evaluation experts in the regions.
• Coordinate and/or provide training for staff within the region in a broad range of program evaluation issues/methods/tools.
• Contribute to knowledge management from the regions and forward Pact’s global learning agendas.

Pact Global (30%)
Work in partnership with the Pact R&M Director to:
• Assist country program evaluation and monitoring systems meet Pact standards and practices.
• Forward and contribute to the evolving Pact Global MERL System.
• In collaboration with the MERL Regional Advisors, develop Pact’s policy and guidance to design, implement and budget for evaluation.
• Contribute to implementation of the Pact MERL strategy, the Community of Practice and the MERL Vision for program monitoring, evaluation and learning.
• Contribute to the development of cohesive annual operations plans, including strategic country, regional and global planning and budgeting in MERL.
• Contribute to Pact’s technical communities of practice.
• Provide training/mentoring to HQ staff in the design, implementation and budgeting of appropriate program evaluations.
• Collaborate in preparation of Pact research and case studies for international and national development journals.
• Contribute to knowledge management and forward Pact’s global learning agendas.
• Contribute to proposal development, both design and budget components.

Collaboration and Communication
• Design and implement (in association with HQ, regional, and field office staff) knowledge management systems that allow Pact staff to review and analyze data and information on relevant technical areas as a basis for providing up-to-date information on impact, effectiveness, outputs and inputs to programs.
• Collaboratively develop and maintain relationships on behalf of Pact Inc. with a priority on partnerships important to field offices.
• Remain informed of new developments in MERL through participation in global and regional task forces and learning communities addressing MERL.
• Maintain close contact with the Pact R&M Director.
• Actively participate in the organization and implementation of R&M/MERL meetings.
• Assist R&M/MERL senior team to maintain close communication links between all levels at Pact.

Qualifications:
• A Masters or Doctoral degree in an international development and/or evaluation research-related field.
• At least 10 years experience in international development with 5 years of evaluation experience in a non-U.S. setting. Preferred expertise in the areas of democracy & governance, conflict mitigation, HIV and AIDS, livelihoods and/or natural resource management.
• Skills in designing and implementing all aspects of quantitative and qualitative evaluations.
• Knowledge of conceptual modeling and other key tools relevant to MERL, including results frameworks, theory of change, log frames, logic models, etc.
• Knowledge of participatory evaluation methodologies.
• Strong facilitation, teaching and coaching skills.
• Ability to travel at short notice. Position will require at least 30% travel annually.
• Ability to perform and prioritize multiple tasks.
• Strong oral and written communication skills.
• Strong analytical skills.
• Proficiency in computer software packages for word processing, spreadsheets, databases, and quantitative and qualitative data analysis.
• Ability to establish and sustain interpersonal and professional relationships with staff, donor organizations and peer organizations.
• Ability to work collaboratively and collegially in teams and independently.
• Fluency in English required and proficiency in at least one other language preferred.

Supervisor: No

Disclaimer: This job description summarizes the responsibilities assigned to the position; however it does not contain an all-inclusive list of responsibilities. Periodically, employee(s) will be required to follow any other job-related instructions and to perform any other job-related duties requested by their supervisor. This document does not create an employment contract, implied or otherwise. Employment at Pact is a voluntary ”at will” relationship.

Qualified applicants are encouraged to submit applications to the Pact website http://www.pactworld.org 

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