Senior Economic Evaluation Specialist, MENA MELS Activity, Remote
Management Systems International (MSI), a Tetra Tech Company, is a Washington, D.C. metro area management consultancy with a 40-year history of delivering results for our clients. Our expertise is in the fields of monitoring and evaluation; democracy and governance; peace and stability; rule of law and accountability; education; gender and inclusion; strategic communications; and leadership and organizational development. MSI has implemented projects in 90 countries around the world such as Colombia, Indonesia, Jordan, Kenya, Mexico, Nigeria, Pakistan, Syria and Ukraine, and works domestically. We support clients ranging from the U.S. Government (e.g., the U.S. Agency for International Development, U.S. Department of Defense, U.S. Departments of State and Labor, and the Millennium Challenge Corporation) to large bilateral and multilateral donors (e.g., the World Bank and the United Nations Development Program). We also work with national and local governments, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), think tanks, foundations and universities. For more information, please visit our website at www.msiworldwide.com.
Project Summary:
MSI implements USAID’s Middle East & North Africa Monitoring, Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning Services (MENA MELS) Activity, which supports the design and implementation of rigorous research, assessments, evaluations and learning activities for USAID’s Middle East Bureau and its operating units (OU) in 10 countries in the Middle East and North Africa, including Egypt. Project services include monitoring systems, evaluations, assessments and research; analysis and synthesis; learning and utilization; and MEL capacity building and training. Additional information on the MENA MELS Project is available here. Under MENA MELS, the MSI team will conduct an evaluation of the USAID/West Bank and Gaza (WBG) Small and Medium Enterprise Assistance for Recovery and Transition (SMART) activity. Launched in September 2021, SMART is a $40 million, four-year activity designed to rapidly recover the Palestinian small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and put them on a path towards revitalization following the unprecedented COVID-19 crisis and other economic shocks faced by the private sector. Furthermore, SMART aims to rapidly respond to the severe damages to, and losses of, the private sector in Gaza resulting from the May 2021 conflict and help jump-start the production cycle of affected firms that can sustain and increase employment opportunities and/or maintain or increase their market shares.
**Please note: All citizenships are eligible for this position**
Position Summary:
The Senior Economic Evaluation Specialist will contribute to identifying relevant secondary literature and inputting into the evaluation framework as well as the design of the evaluation approach and selection of methods. The Specialist will also contribute to the review and quality assurance of data collection instruments, high level analysis (no modelling is expected), and suggestions to help formulate actionable recommendations. The period of performance is from October 2024 -February 2025. The level of effort is expected to be around 25-30 days.
Responsibilities:
- Execute the evaluation design/work plan.
- Participate in the evaluation inception meeting with USAID and the implementing partner as well as presentations of findings, conclusions, and recommendations for USAID and stakeholders.
- Participate in a team planning workshop (TPW) with evaluation team members to review the approved evaluation design/ work plan, including research approach and methods, roles and responsibilities of team members, activity timeline and deliverables.
- Support the drafting of instruments and pretests to finalize the instruments.
- Participate in data collection with other evaluation team members.
- Participate in weekly check-in calls with evaluation team members and the MSI activity manager to share information and insights.
- Contribute to drafting and finalizing the draft and final evaluation report, including responding to comments from USAID and MSI.
- Support presentation(s) to USAID regarding findings, conclusions, and recommendations from the evaluation.
Qualifications:
- Master’s degree in economics required.
- Minimum eight years of relevant experience in monitoring and evaluation required, including performance evaluations.
- Experience in mixed methods for data collection and analysis preferred.
- Experience working in evaluation teams, including conducting data collection and analysis of private sector support programs required.
- Experience working in Palestine preferred.
- Experience conducting evaluations of USAID-funded activities preferred.
- Knowledge of USAID program cycle and USAID evaluation requirements and relevant Agency guidance, preferred.
- Strong client-facing communication, presentation, and advanced writing skills required.
- Fluency in written and spoken English required.
MSI is an equal opportunity employer that values diversity and inclusion. We strive to develop and maintain a culture that honors the perspectives and identities of our employees, our communities and those impacted by our work.
We do not discriminate on the basis of any protected attribute, including race, religion, color, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, age, marital or veteran status, pregnancy or disability, or any other basis protected under applicable law. In accordance with applicable law, we make reasonable accommodations for applicants’ and employees’ religious practices and beliefs, as well as any mental health or physical disability needs.
MSI is an Equal Opportunity Employer/Affirmative Action/Americans with Disabilities/Veterans Employer.
Reasonable Accommodations:
MSI is dedicated to hiring an inclusive workforce. If you would like to request reasonable accommodations during the application process, please visit Tetra Tech’s Disability Assistance Page. Our recruitment team looks forward to engaging in an interactive process to provide reasonable accommodations for candidates.
Only candidates who have been selected for an interview will be contacted. No phone calls, please.