GENERAL INFORMATION

1. SOLICITATION NO.: 20-116                                                                                                                                                        2. ISSUANCE DATE: October 27, 2020     

3. CLOSING DATE/TIME FOR RECEIPT OF OFFERS: November 10, 2020 (4:30 PM East Africa Time).                                                      

4. POSITION TITLE: Project Management Specialist (Monitoring,              Evaluation and Learning).

5. MARKET VALUE:Equivalent to FSN-PSC 11: Step 1: 4,597,211.00          KSH to Step 13:7,815,239.00 KSH per annum).In accordance with          AIDAR Appendix and the Local Compensation Plan of USAID/Kenya and East Africa.Final compensation will be negotiated within the listed market value.

6. PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE: Initial 1-year probationary period with      4 additional option years contingent on performance, position need,        and funds availability.

7. PLACE OF PERFORMANCE: Nairobi, Kenya; with possible travel as        stated in the Statement of Work.

8. SECURITY CERTIFICATION REQUIRED: Prior to joining USAID, the selected candidate will be required to:

• Undergo a comprehensive background investigation
• Undergo a health check to obtain medical clearance and;
• Obtain and Retain an embassy issued Security Certification.

9. STATEMENT OF DUTIES: (See Below).

10. AREA OF CONSIDERATION: Open to qualified Kenyan Citizens and current employees of the U.S. Mission.  Employees currently on probation are ineligible to apply. USAID provides equal opportunity and equitable treatment for employment of all people without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability, political affiliation, marital status or sexual orientation.

11. PHYSICAL DEMANDS:The position requirements do not involve rigorous physical demands.

BACKGROUND

The Project Management Specialist (PMS) for Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning (MEL) is located in the USAID/Kenya and East Africa’s (USAID/KEA) Office of Education and Youth (EDY). EDY implements a diverse portfolio to improve literacy outcomes of primary school students nationwide, strengthen host-government’s education management information system, increase educational and employment opportunities for young adults, build the capacity of youth networks, and prepare young African leaders with the skills and mindset to transform the region. 

The PMS is a key member of EDY and reports to the EDY Office Director or a designee. The incumbent provides MEL senior/high level technical and management leadership to EDY by providing high quality monitoring and evaluation technical assistance and guidance across the entire EDY portfolio, including one flagship basic education program as well as the flagship youth workforce development program. The PMS will lead EDY teams and direct and guide activities to promote and enhance the office’s use of evidence-backed data to promote the policy interests of the U.S. Government (USG). The PMS will help advance USAID/KEA’s contributions to USG policy strategies including the USAID Policy Framework/Journey to Self-Reliance (J2SR), the USG Strategy on International Basic Education, the USAID Education Policy, and the USAID Youth in Development Policy. This position requires senior-level technical expertise in monitoring and evaluation in the development context in addition to practical knowledge of program and project design and project management. The incumbent will coach and mentor EDY Cooperating Country National (CCN) PMS on issues related to monitoring and evaluation, as well as engage with Chiefs of Party (COPs) to realign activity MEL plans to shifting Agency priorities and needs. The incumbent will also be expected to troubleshoot MEL issues with the MOE and provide technical assistance to the MOE to improve its national and county level data management systems as well as analysis of data for decision making. The PMS, based in Nairobi, will be required to travel extensively across Kenya to monitor activities.

MAJOR DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES 

1. MONITORING, EVALUATION, AND ORGANIZATIONAL LEARNING 35%

• The PMS will lead the Office of Education and Youth in establishing performance measures; collecting and analyzing performance data; ensuring data quality, particularly those provided by implementation partners and other external sources; planning and managing evaluations and assessments; and contributing to data-driven decision-making and resource allocation.                                            
• Serve as the MEL expert and provide senior/high-level technical assistance to EDY and Mission staff, other USG agencies, implementing partners including teams within the GOK to develop and manage appropriate and useful MEL practices tailored to the education and youth context of USAID and Kenya.                                                 
• Lead the EDY team in the development and execution of an evaluation plan that ensures compliance with USAID Evaluation Policy. Advises thematic teams/working groups and technical specialists on planning, designing, and implementing appropriate evaluation plans. Design and plan evaluations, special studies, and assessments such as those that inform new strategy and project design or that help inform or facilitate activity implementation.        
• Manage the Collaborating, Learning, and Adapting (CLA) component of EDY activities. Coordinate student learning assessments across all EDY awards to ensure effective implementation and sharing of knowledge.                                                                                           
• Develop tools and data systems, monitoring and evaluation toolkits, surveys, guidelines, and protocols to enhance EDY data collection and analysis. Conduct rigorous analysis of data from a variety of sources to pinpoint project implementation obstacles and facilitate adaptive management of interventions through rapid feedback. 

• Conduct frequent EDY field visits to monitor activities, ensure data quality, and enhance reporting and messaging.                                  
• Lead discussions with senior MOE officials and other development partners on the adaptation of national and local education M&E systems aligned to USG and other development partner investments. 

• Identifying, analyzing, and synthesizing external education and youth data to provide informed recommendations to EDY, USAID/KEA, and the GOK.

 2.  PROGRAM/PROJECT/ACTIVITY MANAGEMENT           25%

The PMS will lead to the implementation of monitoring and evaluation activities for the Office of Education and Youth.

• Facilitate the design, procurement, and implementation of a variety of external performance and impact evaluations and third-party monitoring projects.                                                                                
• Serve as an Agreement Officer’s Representative (AOR) and/or Contracting Officer’s Representative (COR) for one or more activities including a system strengthening activity supporting the Ministry of Education and county governments nationwide. Ensure that USAID exercises prudent management over the award, monitor the recipient’s progress in achieving program objectives, provide financial/programmatic oversight to ensure awards achieve anticipated results and are linked to, and enhance the attainment of, EDY, USAID/KEA, and USG objectives. 

• Maintain monthly project financial management tracking systems to ensure that obligations, expenditures, and budget pipelines conform to action plans and results. Ensure appropriate and timely incremental funding of activities. Prepare internal implementation documentation including GLAAS actions and other required reporting. 

• Ensure activities comply with USAID and USG regulations, audits, evaluations, assessments, and reviews.

3. STAKEHOLDER CAPACITY DEVELOPMENT AND                                  REPRESENTATION                                                     20%

The PMS will provide leadership, high-level technical assistance, and training to staff, implementing partners, GOK Ministry of Education and county government representatives, and other stakeholders to improve MEL practices.

• Engage with national and county government M&E counterparts on capacity building and other activities aimed at strengthening monitoring and evaluation systems across the sector. Utilize a co-creation approach to design and implement an M&E capacity building plan. Collaborate with MOE and county governments to ensure M&E plans are aligned with USG investments.                                
• Represent EDY in GOK and development partner coordination meetings and programmatic/technical working groups on MEL issues, and in consultations with other social sector donors, government officials, and IPs.  

• Provide technical leadership and oversight to the MOE and other host-country government staff to ensure that national-level data is available and reliable, and works with senior technical staff to ensure that USG data contribute to an accurate picture of the situation on the ground, that double-counting is avoided, and that results are attributable to USAID (and USG) interventions.                           
• Leads USAID’s support to the host government for the development and management of a national information system, and a central repository for education data; and serves as USAID point of contact for education data and information systems. Provides technical input into GOK national and county level education strategies, plans, and policies as well as new designs of development partner assistance with a focus on MEL issues that avoid duplication of effort and maximize development assistance to Kenya. Leads negotiations, planning, design, with senior GOK officials on the strengthening of MOE M&E systems, tracked indicators, and targets.  

• Engage across East Africa regional entities on education and youth MEL issues to lead and direct coordination and technical assistance. 

• Assess the technical capacity of IPs and EDY to identify M&E training needs. Participate in the planning and implementation of training tailored to the learning needs of each target group.             
• Provide coaching and mentoring to build the technical capacity of EDY’s AOR/COR staff to monitor and evaluate the performance of Education and Youth awards. This includes assisting AOR/CORs with mandatory data quality assessments and conducting site visits to enhance reporting and messaging. 

• Ensure the Agency’s J2SR approach underpins all capacity building activities. 

• Review MEL plans in project proposals and new awards. Work with stakeholders to ensure the application of high-quality MEL activities and data collection.

4. REPORTING AND PROGRAM/PROJECT/ACTIVITY                            PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT  20%

The PMS will lead the office in the design, collection, dissemination, and use of strategic information to enable evidence-based decision-making that leads to improved service quality and better education outcomes.

• Develop a learning agenda for the EDY portfolio linked to Mission and Agency learning agendas on basic education, youth workforce development, and higher education sub-sectors. Represent EDY in Agency-wide learning agenda-setting efforts.                                      
• Develop innovative and cross-cutting monitoring tools, including Data Quality Assessment and Improvement (DQA/I) tools in coordination with the Program Office and MEL contractors; tracks and maintains multiple sets of key indicators, common indicators related to standard components in all USAID programs/ projects/ activities, indicators at the strategic objective level, and detailed indicators at the activity level; and ensures proper collection of data, and that indicators serve are an appropriate measure of their corresponding results.                                                                     
• Provide technical strategic information and M&E expertise to the USAID/KEA Program Office and USAID/Washington to support EDY reporting requirements and contribution to the MEL components of USG annual planning and reporting including USAID/KEA’s Performance Management Plan (PMP), Performance Plan, and Report (PPR), the annual EDY portfolio review, including collection, assessment of validity, and improving data quality, and other reporting needs.                                                                            
• Provide expert direction and technical guidance and MEL services and support to IPs in the development and implementation of program/project/activity Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning Plans. Provides guidance to IPs in the understanding the PMP systems, and their role in the process, and advises on specific measurement techniques appropriate for their programs/ projects/ activities.                                                                                                  
• Provide technical leadership to CORs/AORs and IPs to ensure activity work plans and monitoring plans include relevant and effective performance measures, which together provide greater results and more accurate measurements. Provides expert guidance to EDY technical staff on defining measurable indicators and targets for desired results addressed by their activities, and edits quarterly semi-annual, and annual performance reports. 

• Respond flexibly and capably to a wide range of work-related requirements, including but not limited to Congressional inquiries or other inquiries, maintaining and reporting on EDY indicators, supporting and managing VIP visits, contributing the portfolio reviews, reviewing performance monitoring plans, and tracking accruals.  

• Utilize data findings to guide EDY in applying appropriate adaptive management approaches. Coordinate with EDY staff to disseminate data that enable evidence-based discussions for learning and adaptive management. Ensures that external communications and reporting related to MEL are accurate and consistent.  

• Lead, design, and perform assessments/studies/research requiring independent analysis and interpretation, on a regular and recurring basis; studies and research are cross-cutting and include substantive and often sensitive Mission and EDY Office topics. Briefs EDY and Mission leaders on findings and makes recommendations to impact strategic, operational, and programmatic direction; prepares data visualizations to facilitate presentations of findings to both internal and external audiences; understands current trends in data visualization and employs appropriate tools and resources to distill complex data into visually engaging products that are easily understood by a diverse audience including the U.S. Congress, U.S. taxpayers, the Government of Kenya, the Kenyan public, in addition to USAID, international donors, and implementing partners.

 POSITION ELEMENTS

A. Supervision Received: The incumbent is supervised by the Office Director or a designee. Completed work is reviewed in terms of achievement of program/project/activity goals, effectiveness in meeting host-country and USAID objectives, and integration with other initiatives in the Office and Mission portfolio. The incumbent will exercise considerable autonomy and judgment in discharging duties and assignments.

B. Supervision Exercised: None.

C. Available Guidelines: The position requires an understanding of an array of USG and USAID regulations, and comprehension of host-country regulations and practices as they affect USAID/KEA operations. Available guidelines include USG program/project/activity guidance, rules, and requirements; USAID Mission Orders, Mission strategy, CDCS, and other relevant reports; the Automated Directives System (ADS); USAID Mandatory and Standard Provisions, and the FAR and AIDAR; Operational Plans, host-government Five-Year Strategic Plans (or equivalent), and other published and unpublished guidelines. Guidelines are often general in nature and not specific to the situation at hand, requiring considerable interpretation.

D. Exercise of Judgment: A high degree of independent judgment and initiative is expected. The incumbent receives general guidance and minimal day-to-day supervision. The incumbent is expected to carry out all duties in an independent manner, calling on the supervisor for highly complex decisions and matters of policy. Exercise of sound judgment for management issues, politically sensitive issues, and routine implementation issues is required. The incumbent represents the USAID/KEA and USG position to internal and external stakeholders.

E. Authority to Make Commitments: The incumbent has no authority to commit funds on behalf of the USG. However, the incumbent is fully responsible for and is expected to provide monitoring and evaluation expertise and recommendations to EDY. The incumbent is expected to take initiative and act independently with little direction and may speak with authority to contacts within and outside of USAID about USG project implementation requirements and regulations in the capacity of advisor and information resource. The incumbent may be designated as a COR or AOR and will have full authority and responsibility as delegated by the Automated Directives System (ADS) and other USAID guidelines for these functions.

F. Nature, Level, and Purpose of Contacts: The Specialist has a full range of contacts at all levels in the Mission and maintains contact with IPs of USAID-funded programs/projects/activities in the sector. The incumbent will have regular contact with USAID/Washington staff; donors and implementation partners; GOK representatives at the national and county levels; higher education institutions; and youth networks and NGO partners.

G. Time Expected to Reach Full Performance Level: One year.

 

Prior Work Experience: A minimum of five (5) years of experience in monitoring, evaluation, and learning, and evaluation of program/ project/ activity implementation, indirect program/project/activity management, or in a closely related activity in developing country contexts using both qualitative and quantitative methods. The incumbent must demonstrate technical expertise in monitoring and evaluating programs funded by international donors. Relevant development experience is required.

Job Knowledge: The PMS must have in-depth, professional-level knowledge of development approaches and methods for performance analysis, data visualization, and program design, monitoring, and evaluation. The Specialist must have excellent knowledge of MEL systems, education sector programming, and international donor operations in the sector. Must have a comprehensive and thorough knowledge of concepts, principles, techniques, and practices of monitoring and evaluation in the development context. The incumbent must have detailed knowledge of Kenya’s education and youth sectors. Thorough knowledge of development problems in the education sector in the country and the region; an understanding of the resources, resource constraints, and overall development prospects and priorities of the host country and the region is required. The incumbent must be able to apply methods and criteria for data quality assurance and data quality assessment; develop or determine appropriate performance indicators to measure outcomes, outputs, and context.

1. Skills and Abilities: The PMS must have the ability to plan, organize and execute complex MEL activities, including the ability to provide technical leadership and apply this ability to programming in the host country and the region. The PMS must have the ability to issue precise and accurate factual reports using rigorous analytical and interpretive skills. The incumbent must operate independently. The incumbent must have strong computer skills, including the ability to use the Microsoft Office suite, Google suite, and statistical software such as SPSS. The incumbent must be able to quickly analyze and synthesize data for decision-making, solve complex problems, manage difficult situations, and plan ahead. The incumbent must be able to develop and maintain a range of contacts with high and working-level officials throughout USAID/KEA, the U.S. Embassy, USAID/Washington, and implementing partners as well as GOK officials, donors, and NGOs. The incumbent must be able to effectively identify, mobilize, and draw upon the expertise of Mission personnel and track and evaluate the latest MEL developments. The ability to provide information and advice with objectivity is required. The ability to orient and train personnel is required. Strong administrative, management, policy, and diplomacy skills are necessary.

EVALUATION AND SELECTION FACTORS

Applicants must submit a resume/cv which describes how their relevant professional experience and education has prepared them to meet the specific challenges of the duties and responsibilities described above.  As part of the interview process, those applicants ranked highest may be required to submit a timed writing sample on a topic provided.  The selection committee may conduct reference checks at any time during the selection process.

Applications that do not meet the required minimum qualifications will not be scored. 

• Prior work experience (30 points)
• Job Knowledge (40 points)
• Skills and abilities (30 points)

Total possible points:  100

Candidates meeting the above required qualifications for the position will be evaluated based on information presented in the application and reference checks.  References will be asked to assess the applicant’s technical knowledge, work performance, communication skills, and group dynamics, using the above criteria. USAID reserves the right to conduct interviews with the top ranked short-listed applicants.  The interview will be one of the determining factors in the final selection.

How to Apply

Step 1:  Register inMyJobsInKenyaat www.myjobsinkenya.com    

Step 2:  Completethe job application questionnaire at www.myjobsinkenya.com  The applicant must answer all the questions in the Questionnaire.

Step 3: Internal Applicants/Current USG Employees: Attach an updated curriculum vitae/resume (no more than five pages), a copy of your most recent Performance Evaluation Report, and copies of all relevant certificates. Scan and attach all the documents and upload to MyJobsInKenya.

                                                      OR

External Applicants/Not Current USG Employees:Attach an updated curriculum vitae/resume(no more than five pages) and copies of all relevant certificates. Upload all the documents to MyJobsInKenya.

Note to Applicants:

1. Applications must be received by the closing date and time specified in Section I, item 3,and submitted through myjobsinkenya.com as stated in Section IV.

2. Submissions will only be accepted through myjobsinkenya.com Late and Incomplete applications (those that do not contain the applicant’s most current and up to date detailed CV and relevant education certificates) will not be considered for the position. The closing date for receipt of applications is indicated above.

3. USAID DOES NOT CHARGE A FEE AT ANY STAGE OF THE RECRUITMENT PROCESS (APPLICATION, INTERVIEW MEETING, PROCESSING, OR TRAINING) AND DOES NOT CONCERN ITSELF WITH INFORMATION ON APPLICANTS' BANK ACCOUNTS.