SoCha LLC
Job Title: Program Assessment Experts
Background: SoCha (a portmanteau of Social and Change) is an independent Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning (ME&L) firm that provides bespoke solutions to social challenges.
We are a US-registered, veteran-owned small business, headquartered in Mauritius. SoCha supports foreign assistance interventions across Africa and Asia and specializes in advancing innovative methodologies and changing the way donors find solutions to social problems.
USAID Kenya and East Africa (USAID/KEA) contracted SoCha LLC to implement the five-year USAID Localization, Inclusion, and Sustainability Activity (LISA).
The activity aims to support USAID/KEA staff and stakeholders to be more efficient, effective, transparent, inclusive, and skilled in achieving development outcomes.
USAID/KEA is currently at a mid-way point in the implementation of its 2020-2025 Kenya Country Development Cooperation Strategy (CDCS) and has consequently recently completed an internal mid-course stocktaking (MCST) exercise to assess its progress towards its development objectives and anticipated results.
To complement this stocktaking exercise, USAID has requested LISA to conduct an additional assessment documenting said progress and identifying gaps in development hypotheses or strategy implementation.
Scope of Work: LISA, implemented by SoCha LLC, seeks to engage assessment experts to support USAID/KEA to systematically review and analyze existing implementation data and information to assess progress against its Kenya CDCS.
The assessment will cover the entirety of implementation under USAID’s Kenya portfolio from 2020 until the present date, including all sectors where USAID operates: health, population, and nutrition; economic growth and trade; resilience and food security; education and youth development; humanitarian assistance; environment; and democracy, governance, peace, and security.
Assessors will review evidence from activity level leading up to the achievement of intermediate results and be responsible for both limited analysis and synthesis of information from a variety of sources.
The majority of the assessment will be conducted via desk review, although some meetings with USAID stakeholders and interviews with USAID technical informants will be required.
Roles and Responsibilities:
The consultant will undertake the following tasks
- Develop and agree with USAID/KEA on the team’s work plan for the assignment, methodology and data collection tools.
- Conduct a thorough desk review of available documentation.
- Develop an inception report detailing the summary of relevant documentation reviewed (desk review), a work plan on how the evaluation will be undertaken, proposed data collection methodology and schedule, with proposed list of informants.
- Undertake a systematic evidence review.
- Provide weekly reports and check-ins on progress of desk review and data collection.
- Develop a draft report, presentation of preliminary findings, final report, and brief.
- Present inception report, preliminary findings, and final report, as scheduled.
- Other activities as agreed upon with the USAID Point of Contact.
Required Skills:
- An advanced degree or equivalent years of experience in analysis, design, assessment, or evaluation in social sciences or socioeconomics from a recognized university
- Over 10 years of experience executing similar tasks and assignments (i.e. systematic reviews/ meta-analysis/ evidence synthesis), ability to understand performance information across several sectors
- Strong qualitative and quantitative data analysis skills and sound experience in rigorously testing projects or program theories of change, ability to help organizations link lower level results to outcomes and impact
- Understanding of USAID (or similar donor) monitoring, evaluation, and learning systems is required
- Demonstrated skills and experience synthesizing technical documents and writing quality technical reports
- Proven experience with high level stakeholder engagement, including conducting interviews and providing practical recommendations to decision makers
- Demonstrated high level of professionalism and ability to work independently in high pressure situations under tight deadlines
- Experience working in the East Africa region preferred
Deliverables:
The following will be required:
- Desk review summary report
- Inception report which provides a desk review, projected timeline, methodology, interview protocol, and work plan
- Weekly updates and brief check-ins during data collection on the progress of desk review/ data collection
- Draft Assessment Report
- Presentation of preliminary findings
- Final Assessment Report in line with the applicable provisions of the USAID evaluation policy
- Presentations to USAID and key stakeholders, including preliminary findings and the final assessment report highlighting overall findings and lessons learned
Location: Nairobi
LOE or Contract Length: 1-2 months
How to Apply:
To lodge an application, please lodge CV via THIS LINK.
Applications close at 1700hrs Kenyan time on May 10, 2023, application review will be on a rolling basis.