Senior Impact Evaluation Specialist - Democracy and Governance

Description

Social Impact (SI) is an Arlington, VA-based international development consulting firm. We provide a full range of innovative management consulting, technical assistance, and training services to strengthen international development programs, organizations and policies. SI conducts an increasing number of rigorous impact evaluations (IEs), including randomized control trials (RCTs) and quasi-experimental evaluations, of development projects for USAID, the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC), and other donors. Among our more than 20 IEs, SI currently leads USAID’s flagship initiative for developing and institutionalizing IE in DRG programming, under the Evaluating Democracy and Governance Effectiveness (EDGE) project. This project provides an exciting opportunity to help shape the way USAID approaches IE in the sector.

SI is seeking a Senior IE Specialist to focus on IEs of democracy, human rights and governance (DRG) programs.  The primary function of the Senior IE Specialist will be to provide high-level technical management, oversight, and support for multiple IEs in the DRG sector. In this function, the Senior IE Specialist will work closely with SI IE staff, academic PIs or co-PIs, and USAID. The Senior IE Specialist will also be responsible for continuing to grow the Practice Area through proposal development and fostering relationships with new clients. The position offers the potential to serve as a co-PI on select IEs along with some of the leading academics in the field, as well as a unique opportunity to work with key clients in the integration of rigorous evaluation into their overall approach through training programs, workshops, and technical assistance. The Senior IE Specialist will report to the IE Practice Area Leader and will be supported by our growing IE team of Program Managers, Associates, and Assistants.

Responsibilities and Tasks

IE Technical Management (expected 70% time)

The Senior IE Specialist will be responsible for leading a portfolio of IEs, including the following tasks:

• Provide quality assurance and high level management to our portfolio of DRG sector IEs
  • Provide technical review of IE designs, instruments, analysis, and reports from academic and consultant PIs
  • With support of IE PMs, coordinate with PIs to ensure quality and timeliness of key deliverables for our DRG IEs
  • Represent SI and our IE teams to the client, interpreting approaches, methods, and recommendations as needed
• Serve as a co-PI on select IEs in the DRG sector
  • Advise on and develop appropriate experimental and quasi-experimental evaluation designs
  • Conduct scoping trips to inform evaluation design
  • Perform power calculations and sampling for IEs
  • Provide oversight of pilot testing and data collection and lead enumerator training, as needed
  • Provide technical trouble-shooting to ongoing IEs
  • Draft and present evaluation results for academic and donor audiences, as well as publication in peer-reviewed journals and presentation at conferences
• Recruit, and with support of Program Managers, coordinate IE teams including top-level academics and researchers ensuring quality and timeliness of deliverables
• Represent SI at key conferences and in strategic meetings with clients

Evaluation Training (expected 10% time)

The Senior IE Specialist will be expected to provide training and technical assistance to key donors, including the MCC and USAID, to build their capacity to implement high quality evaluations, including, but not limited to, IEs.

• Lead evaluation trainings for MCC and USAID in Washington and in field missions
• Serve as an IE Mentor for USAID staff seeking their Certificate in Evaluation
• Develop and lead IE capacity building activities in specific sub-sectors for individual IE projects or initiatives

Business Development (expected 10% time)

Support marketing, business and proposal development related to new IE opportunities and, as time permits, other evaluation-related new bids. The Senior IE Specialist will identify new IE opportunities, write technical sections for proposals, review draft proposals, identify IE experts to be included in proposals, and work with the Finance Department to create IE budgets.

IE Team Management and Mentoring (expected 10% time)

Manage a team of at least 3 full time IE staff working on DRG IEs and related activities, providing mentorship, technical guidance, and supervision.

Qualifications

• Ph.D. in relevant subject area, such as economics, statistics, public policy, development, etc. (strongly preferred, although relevant Master’s degree with more than 8 years’ of demonstrated IE experience will be considered)  
• Demonstrated experience (minimum 5 yrs with PhD or 8 with Master’s) managing or providing technical guidance to IEs or development field research that explicitly addresses a comparison group using related statistical or econometric techniques  (required)
• Academic and field IE experience in the DRG sector (required)
• Academic training in quantitative research/evaluation including familiarity with counterfactual based IE designs such as RCTs, propensity score matching, and regression discontinuity (required)
• Academic training and/or practical experience in quantitative analysis, including experience in econometrics and use of STATA (required) 
• Academic training and/or practical experience in power calculations and statistical sampling (required) 
• Ability to travel overseas for short-term assignments (required)
• Demonstrated ability to write clearly (required)
• Experience working in developing countries (required)
• Field experience in managing large-scale data collection events (strongly preferred)
• Experience with qualitative data collection and analysis techniques (strongly preferred)
• Experience working with USAID or MCC (strongly preferred)
• Proficiency in a foreign language, such as Spanish or French (preferred)

Pay and Benefits

Pay and benefits will be commensurate with the candidate’s capabilities and experience. Standard benefits include paid leave, health insurance, IRA.  Salary range: commensurate with skill base.

Come join our energetic and innovative team!  We offer you the opportunity to play a leading role in the growth of our Company, work as part of a creative and committed team, and to make a difference in the well-being of our world. To learn more about Social Impact, please visit our website: http://www.socialimpact.com

Interested candidates, please submit CVs and cover letter to: http://socialimpact.devhire.devex.com/jobs/327671

We will contact only eligible candidates to further discuss their availability.  Please no phone calls.  Social Impact is an equal opportunity employer.