Position Description

EnCompass LLC is seeking a Monitoring and Evaluation Advisor candidates for the anticipated five-year United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Power Africa Initiative Support Mechanism (PAISM). PAISM will provide support to the Power Africa Coordinator Office (PACO) teams, which includes the Energy, Partnership, and Program offices, through targeted monitoring and evaluation (M&E) and collaborating, learning and adapting (CLA) advisory services; knowledge and relationship management support; technical assistance, database management, and capacity strengthening that improves organizational and development outcomes for Power Africa. Power Africa is a US Government initiative that aims to advance Sub-Saharan African development through universal access to clean energy and achieve the objectives of ending energy poverty, accelerating a carbon free future and bolstering competitive private sector investment and innovation in the energy sector.

The M&E Advisor will support PAISM’s Project Director in providing overall technical leadership and management of project activities and execution of high-quality and timely deliverables. The M&E Advisor is responsible for managing and implementing monitoring and evaluation and assessment activities. The M&E Advisor will implement technical work to include but not be limited to: conducting evaluability assessments, facilitating participatory workshops to design theories of change and/or performance indicators, and coordinating data quality assessments activities, and reviewing data quality and ensuring collection rigor. The M&E Advisor will also oversee the technical work of consultants and subcontractors engaged on M&E related tasks. They will ensure the short-term technical experts and evaluation team members recruited under this contract are of a high caliber and possess the required technical expertise. The M&E Advisor will bring an understanding of key energy sector topics including clean energy and renewable and cleaner energy technologies, on and off-grid/beyond grid energy, energy sector investment (including climate finance), and energy trade, as well as cross-cutting themes such as gender and social inclusion and private-sector engagement, among others.

The M&E Advisor should possess expertise in performance monitoring, indicator development, data visualization, and designing and executing quantitative and qualitative data collection and mixed-methods analytical methods to support evaluation and assessment design and implementation, ideally in sub-Saharan Africa. The M&E Advisor will guide the design and oversee the implementation of performance and impact evaluations, as well as all studies, assessments, and other analytical support requested. They will finalize evaluation reports and facilitate presentations and briefings to disseminate learning among project stakeholders. They may be responsible for leading and/or directing evaluation teams and conducting on-site research.

The M&E Advisor facilitates learning and builds relationships with high political acumen, strong conflict prevention and management skills, exhibits flexibility and emotional resilience, and leads with a focus on diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility. The M&E Advisor will have experience in facilitating multi-stakeholder meetings, communicating activity results and recommendations with clarity, strategic decision-making, technical quality control, budgeting and contract compliance and project learning, preferably in the USAID context.

The position is full-time and based in Pretoria, South Africa with occasional travel to Washington, D.C., or to a Power Africa Initiative supported country.

Position Duties and Responsibilities

Essential functions:

• In collaboration with the Project Director, manages overall Activity work planning, with specific attention to the coordination of deliverables and activities in the areas of monitoring and evaluation and assessment. Ensures quality while maintaining efficiency in the design, implementation, and oversight of M&E activities.
• Identifies, onboards, guides and directs the work of short-term technical assistance, including subcontractors and consultants, to implement M&E services.
• Establishes methodological processes and standards that are compliant with USAID Evaluation Policy for all personnel and partners to adhere to on project monitoring and evaluation activities.
• Responsible for mainstreaming gender and social inclusion approaches in the design and implementation of, and reporting on monitoring, evaluation and assessment activities.
• Leads the technical design, data analysis, and report writing aspects in relation to the monitoring of activities and processes.
• May provide technical support for Power Africa implementing partners on the development of their activity MEL plans, including developing theories of change, supporting development of learning questions aligned with USAID Power Africa’s learning agenda, reviewing reporting methods, carrying out training needs, designing reporting tools and advising Power Africa technical teams on their M&E work.
• Supports Power Africa’s centralized performance management system and manages monitoring data within the project’s monitoring database; ensures information for all indicators are complete and robust.
• Leads and/or coordinates data quality assessments, including managing, training and mentoring field monitors and the design of monitoring tools and methodology.
• Leads/manages/oversees evaluability assessments, evaluation, analysis, and assessment activities, including scope of work development, data collection, design of methodologies and protocols, data analysis and reporting writing, and coordination and oversight of local partners engaged in these activities.
• Informs the design of quantitative and/or qualitative data collection and analytical methods and tools to support evaluation design and implementation.
• May participate as the Team Leader or senior team member on assessments and evaluations.
• Manages evaluation/assessment team members and provides quality control in the implementation of evaluations, ensuring the quality of deliverables/reporting of all evaluations and assessments.
• Leads dissemination of findings, as well as facilitates presentation of reports and visualizations developed from evaluation and monitoring activities to support decision-making, learning and adaptive management.
• Guides the design and implementation of PAISM’s own monitoring, evaluation, and learning plan
• Establishes and maintains highly collaborative working relationships with USAID Power Africa teams, USAID Africa Bureau as required, and with all relevant Power Africa country specific stakeholders.
• Ensures that activities are undertaken in full compliance with EnCompass’ standard operating procedures, USAID policies and regulations, and national policies and laws
• Promotes sustainability of PAISM activities through effective networking, linkages to other relevant programs, and maturing relationships with and engagement of locally-based partners and experts.

Other:

• Engage fully as a member of the EnCompass staff team, including participating in staff meetings and other EnCompass events
• Other duties as assigned

Position Requirements

Qualifications

Academic Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree required, advanced degree preferred in international development, evaluation, business, statistics, or related field

Experience and Skills

• Minimum eight (8) years of experience managing and implementing complex portfolios of performance monitoring and evaluation activities for improved development outcomes required; and in the energy sector across SSA highly preferred .
• Experience designing and leading various types of mixed-methods evaluations (impact, performance, meta, etc.), analyses, and assessments required.
• Experience overseeing data management activities and strong data analysis skills including statistics, sampling methodologies, statistical analysis software, and data validation techniques required.
• Experience using GIS and other tools for sophisticated visualizations and dashboards preferred.
• Extensive experience drafting and finalizing evaluation reports.
• Experience in applying systems thinking and gender and social inclusion considerations in evaluation design, participatory data collection methods and protocols, and facilitating participatory data validation and analysis exercises.
• Experience providing M&E technical assistance and strengthening M&E, learning, and adaptive management capacities of USAID staff, IPs, and government counterparts highly preferred.
• Demonstrated experience producing written outputs/analyses on gender mainstreaming and social inclusion issues in the development context preferred.
• Experience managing complex relationships with a variety of stakeholders, including g multiple clients across geographies, implementing partners and host country governments at different levels, as well as managing local and regional partners and partner agreements.
• Experience coordinating dispersed teams and demonstrated leadership capacity and motivational skills; experience effectively engaging international and national consultants and partners.
• Demonstrated effective interpersonal and leadership, strategic thinking/planning, management, and presentation skills required.
• Demonstrated ability to meet deadlines and deliver quality products, champion project learning and investment in activities that lead to desired outcomes and results required.
• Working knowledge of and experience with USG-funded program management, policies, regulations and procedures highly preferred.
• Understanding of USAID program cycle required, knowledge of additional donor and CLA approaches and best practices, desirable.
• Excellent communication skills in English (written and verbal) required; fluency required.
• Proficiency in French highly preferred.
• Ability to travel within Sub-Saharan Africa and to the US, as necessary.
• South African and Sub-Saharan African candidates prioritized.

How to Apply

Please submit CV and cover letter, and complete the application on the Careers & Consulting page of https://encompassworld.com.

EnCompass LLC is a progressive Equal Opportunity Employer. We promote, celebrate, and support a diverse and inclusive organizational culture and workforce. We are committed to providing all of our employees with an environment free from discrimination and harassment, where all are treated with dignity and respect. We do not tolerate, and explicitly prohibit, discrimination or harassment of any kind, at any time, in all aspects of employment. This includes recruitment, hiring, promotions, disciplinary measures, terminations, compensation, benefits, social and recreational programs, and training. EnCompass also does not tolerate retaliation against individuals who report discrimination or harassment. Our continuing commitment to the principle of Equal Opportunity Employment for all means all employment decisions are based only on the job requirements, the candidate’s qualifications, and the needs of EnCompass as a business—not on race, color, ethnicity, national origin, religion, belief, sex (including pregnancy and related medical conditions), gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, age, disability status, veteran status, genetic information, HIV status, family/marital/parental status, or any other status protected by the laws and regulations in the jurisdictions where we work.

For US based positions: The employer will make reasonable accommodations in compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990.

The above statements are intended to describe the general nature and level of work being performed by individuals assigned to this position. They are not intended to be an exhaustive list of all duties, responsibilities, and skills required of personnel so classified.

The incumbent must be able to work in a fast-paced environment with demonstrated ability to juggle and prioritize multiple, competing tasks and demands and to seek supervisory assistance as appropriate.

If you require accommodations in line with the Americans with Disabilities Act to complete your application, please call 301-287-8700, provide your contact information and a description of your accessibility issue. We will make a determination on your request for reasonable accommodation on a case-by-case-basis, and we will call you back within approximately 3 business days.

EEO is the Law & EEO is the Law Supplement, Pay Transparency Nondiscrimination Provision

VEVRAA Notice