Job Description
BACKGROUND
The United States Agency for International Development (USAID)’s Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance (BHA) is responsible for facilitating and coordinating U.S. Government (USG) humanitarian assistance overseas in response to all types of international disasters, including slow-onset disasters such as droughts or famine, natural disasters such as earthquakes or floods, or man-made disasters such as conflict or war. BHA is responsible for planning, coordinating, developing, achieving, monitoring, and evaluating international humanitarian assistance falling into two conceptual areas:
- Humanitarian Response activities comprise needs-based humanitarian assistance provided to save lives, alleviate suffering, and protect human dignity during and in the aftermath of emergencies. Humanitarian assistance is grounded in humanitarian principles and is directed toward the most vulnerable populations.
- Early Recovery, Risk Reduction, and Resilience (ER4) activities will set the initial foundations for longer-term recovery as appropriate, and will work in close conjunction with humanitarian assistance. Early recovery is an approach that supports communities impacted by crises to protect and restore basic systems and service delivery. Early recovery builds on humanitarian response efforts and establishes the initial foundations of long-term recovery. Early recovery activities are implemented for a specified, appropriate timeframe that assists populations recovering from an identifiable shock. Risk reduction is the prevention of new and reduction of existing disaster risk and management of residual risk, which contributes to strengthening resilience and to the achievement of sustainable development. Resilience is the ability of people, households, communities, countries, and systems to mitigate, adapt to, and recover from shocks and stresses in a manner that reduces chronic vulnerability and facilitates inclusive growth.
BHA has seven offices, as follows:
The Bureau’s three geographic offices are: (1) Office of Africa; (2) Office of Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean; and (3) the Office of the Middle East, North Africa and Europe. Each geographic office designs, provides, and assesses humanitarian assistance for their respective regions, including assistance related to responding to, recovering from, and reducing the risk of man-made and natural disasters, while linking with other USAID investments that build resilience.
The Office of Global Policy, Partnerships, Programs, and Communications (G3PC) shapes and influences USAID’s role within the international humanitarian system; leads engagement on a range of policy, programmatic, and operational issues; and positions the Agency to influence collective response to emergency needs across the globe.
The Office of Technical and Program Quality (TPQ) leads the Bureau’s efforts to provide high-quality programmatic and technical leadership, oversight, and guidance. In addition, TPQ leads the Bureau’s external engagement with academia and coordinates research to advance the effectiveness, efficiency, and impact of humanitarian and multi-year programming.
The Office of Humanitarian Business and Management Operations (HBMO) is responsible for maintaining 24/7 operability by providing leadership, planning, quality assurance, technical expertise, and process management. HBMO ensures effective stewardship of the Bureau’s support services, including workforce planning, staffing, financial management, internal controls, facilities operations and infrastructure.
The Office of Field and Response Operations (FARO) leads and manages operational assistance and the purchase and delivery of goods and services in response to declared foreign disasters and international humanitarian needs in key functional areas, including supply-chain management, procurement, logistics, oversight, and operational coordination with the U.S. military.
DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES
The M&E Advisor will perform the following duties and responsibilities:
At the GS-13 Equivalent Level:
Technical Assistance
- Provide technical assistance to Third Party Monitoring contracts for the design and implementation of monitoring systems.
- Review monitoring approaches, indicators, and evaluation methods proposed in proposals for humanitarian response, early recovery, risk reduction, and resilience programs.
- Review semi-annual and annual results reports submitted by implementing partners; identify challenges and lessons learned, synthesize and aggregate data, and prepare summary reports.
- Assess needs for remote monitoring when necessary; advise appropriate remote monitoring approaches and tools; review third-party statements of work; provide technical support to third-party monitoring contracts; review appropriate and relevant reports.
- Independently lead and advise on and contribute to the development and implementation of evaluations, indicators, surveys, measurement approaches, and learning practices, including assisting with evaluation and selection of prospective monitoring and evaluation awards.
- Provide technical assistance to BHA, Missions, and partners’ staff to design and implement monitoring systems for humanitarian response, early recovery, risk reduction, and resilience programs.
- Provide technical assistance in defining relevant qualifications and design and implementation of monitoring systems for the acquisition of Third Party Monitoring contracts.
Capacity Building
- Develop checklists and other tools for humanitarian assistance officers to improve capacity and objectivity in field visits.
- Develop the capacity of BHA and implementing partner staff to implement BHA monitoring and evaluation requirements, and monitor BHA programs.
Data Analysis
- Analyze quantitative and qualitative data as tools in assessing program performance; discerning lessons learned, and making recommendations for improved outcomes.
- Synthesize evidence and best practices into written and oral learning products, including training materials, to build capabilities of Agency staff and partners.
- Answering key questions in analytic and learning agendas through designing, managing, and disseminating findings from analyses, research, and evaluations.
- Using various data mining tools, explore plausible relationships among different variables based on the theory of change of early recovery, risk reduction, and resilience programming. Provide technical assistance to BHA contractors and partners on data analysis and presentations;
Data Management
- Review and edit performance data and reporting materials, submitted by BHA awardees; provide feedback to awardees or contractors as appropriate, and upload data to Feed the Future and other databases as requested by the M&E Team Lead.
- Manage performance data and update the M&E database regularly; ensure that BHA contractors and awardees comply with USAID and BHA data privacy and security policy; track submission of data to USAID data library.
Evaluation
- Review evaluation scopes of work submitted by BHA awardees, research partners, and contractors; review proposed evaluators; design and participate in evaluations.
Coordination and Collaboration
- Contribute to BHA internal and external documents, such as planning documents, BHA technical guidance, and internal guidance for humanitarian assistance officers.
- Coordinate with the other members of the M&E team; DMEAL division; with geographic offices and other relevant offices such as the Office of Global Policy, Partnerships, Programs, and Communications; TPQ, for technical support, training, data utilization, knowledge capture and sharing.
- Coordinate with the M&E teams in other bureaus, such as the Bureau for Policy, Planning, and Learning (PPL); Bureau for Resilience and Food Security (RFS), Bureau for Conflict and Violence Prevention (CVP), Bureau for Global Health (GH); Bureau for Development, Democracy, and Innovation (DDI); Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration (PRM); and with other key USAID partners on evaluations, best practices, and harmonization of indicators.
- Represent USAID or BHA at external events.
- Sign up for and serve, as needed, on the Washington-based Response Management Teams (RMTs), which provide services and support to Disaster Assistance Response Teams (DARTs) deployed in response to disasters. The duties on RMTs will vary.
- As needed, serve on DARTs which may require immediate (within 24 hours) deployment overseas for an extended period of time.
- As needed, may serve on temporary detail within the Bureau to meet operational needs during staff shortages. Duties performed while on detail will be aligned with the Team’s existing duties and responsibilities and will be directly related to the statement of duties provided.
- The Monitoring and Evaluation Advisor does not have supervisory responsibilities, however, the PSC may serve in an acting leadership role within the bureau in order to meet short-term staffing needs, not to exceed 120 days in a 12-month contract year.
- Become certified and serve as an Agreement Officer’s Representative/Contracting Officer’s Representative (AOR/COR), as assigned. The AOR/COR provides financial and programmatic oversight of all aspects of managing an agreement or contract; this includes but is not limited to. reviewing invoices, requests for approvals, program/project deliverables (i.e., work plans, annual reports, month status reports), travel requests, key personnel requests, and financial/budget reports. They are responsible for drafting and submitting annual contractor performance evaluation reports such as Contract/Assistance Performance Assessment Review System (CPARS/APARS). They prepare and review contract/assistance modifications documentation and assist the Contracting/Agreement Officer to ensure performance is compliant with the terms and conditions of the contract/agreement, the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR), and other relevant USAID policy. AOR/CORs are responsible for all related requirements in the COR designation letter and the AOR designation letter.
At the GS-14 Equivalent Level:
The M&E Advisor will perform the following in addition to the duties and responsibilities outlined above at the GS-13 level:
Leadership
- Provide high-level technical and strategic leadership on a wide range of technical areas in monitoring and evaluation as practiced in the humanitarian context, risk reduction, and resilience programs; identify emerging M&E approaches, methods, and tools including geospatial, and other remote data collection tools to expand data collection in non-permissive and/or pandemic environments.
- Provide expert technical leadership to the BHA M&E Team to identify emerging monitoring and evaluation methods and tools including earth observation data, machine learning tools, and other remote data collection and methods.
Capacity Building
- Develop new or update existing monitoring and evaluation guidance for humanitarian response, risk reduction, and resilience programs for internal and external communications. Periodically review, update, and/or create new performance indicators in coordination and collaboration with other technical teams within the Office or within the Agency, when relevant and appropriate.
- Develop new or update existing trainings, workshops, and other capacity building initiatives, materials, and resources for BHA/Washington staff, BHA Mission staff, and implementing partners; deliver trainings, workshops, brown bags, and other engagements to build capacity of BHA and Agency staff and implementing partners.
Coordination and Collaboration
- Coordinate strategic engagement with the regional Missions and regional humanitarian advisors to understand monitoring and evaluation needs for the region, periodically check in to receive feedback and tailor M&E support based on the needs.
Evaluation
- Lead, advise on, conduct, and review complex analyses and evaluations in support of humanitarian response, recovery, risk reduction, resilience and food security programs, and processes, including areas where definitions, methods, and/or data are incomplete, controversial, or uncertain.
- Integrate results of various evaluations and analyses into comprehensive technical briefings, reports, and technical papers.
- Lead the design, procurement, management, and dissemination of external performance or impact evaluations and other analyses to answer key questions relevant to the programs overseen by BHA.
- Develop or update monitoring and evaluation guidance for humanitarian response, risk reduction, and resilience programs for internal and external communications. Periodically review and updates indicators.
- Sign up for, and serve, as needed, on Washington-based Response Management Teams (RMTs), which provide services and support to Disaster Assistance Response Teams (DARTs) deployed in response to disasters. The duties on RMTs will vary.
- As needed, serve on DARTs which may require immediate (within 24 hours) deployment overseas for an extended period of time.
- As needed, may serve on temporary detail within the Bureau to meet operational needs during staff shortages. Duties performed while on detail will be aligned with the Team’s existing duties and responsibilities and will be directly related to the statement of duties provided.
- The Monitoring and Evaluation Advisor does not have supervisory responsibilities, however, the PSC may serve in an acting leadership role within the bureau in order to meet short-term staffing needs, not to exceed 120 days in a 12-month contract year.
- Become certified and serve as an Agreement Officer’s Representative/Contracting Officer’s Representative (AOR/COR), as assigned. The AOR/COR provides financial and programmatic oversight of all aspects of managing the agreement or contract; this includes but is not limited to reviewing invoices, requests for approvals, program/project deliverables (i.e., work plans, annual reports, month status reports), travel requests, key personnel requests, and financial/budget reports. They are responsible for drafting and submitting the annual contractor performance evaluation in Contract/Assistance Performance Assessment Review System (CPARS/APARS). They prepare and review contract/assistance modifications documentation and assist the Contracting/Agreement Officer to ensure performance is compliant with the terms and conditions of the contract/agreement, the FAR, and USAID policy. AOR/CORs are responsible for all related requirements in the COR designation letter and the AOR designation letter.
MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS REQUIRED FOR THIS POSITION
EDUCATION/EXPERIENCE REQUIRED FOR THIS POSITION
(Determines basic eligibility for the position. Offerors who do not meet all of the education and experience factors are considered NOT qualified for the position.)
At the GS-13 Level:
A Bachelor’s degree preferably with significant study in or pertinent to the specialized field, including but not limited to, economics, agricultural economics, biostatistics, statistics, nutrition with a focus on econometrics or statistics, or other related fields with course work and experience in quantitative techniques or analysis plus a minimum of seven (7) years of progressively responsible experience working in monitoring and evaluation as it is practiced in the field of humanitarian assistance including resilience programs.
OR
A Master’s degree preferably with significant study in or pertinent to the specialized field, including but not limited to, economics, agricultural economics, biostatistics, statistics, nutrition with a focus on econometrics or statistics, or other related fields with course work and experience in quantitative techniques or analysis plus five (5) years of progressively responsible experience working in monitoring and evaluation as it is practiced in the field of humanitarian assistance including resilience programs.
OR
A PhD from an accredited U.S. or internationally recognized institution with experience in data analysis, or in a field with a focus on econometrics or statistics, or other related fields with quantitative coursework, plus a minimum of three (3) years of professional experience in humanitarian assistance including resilience programs.
At the GS-14 Level:
A Bachelor’s degree preferably with significant study in or pertinent to the specialized field including, but not limited to, economics, agricultural economics, biostatistics, statistics, nutrition with a focus on econometrics or statistics, or other related fields with course work and experience in quantitative techniques or analysis plus a minimum of nine (9) years of progressively responsible experience working in monitoring and evaluation as it is practiced in the field of humanitarian assistance including resilience programs.
OR
A Master’s degree preferably with significant study in or pertinent to the specialized field, including but not limited to, economics, agricultural economics, biostatistics, statistics, nutrition with a focus on econometrics or statistics, or other related fields, with course work and experience in quantitative techniques or analysis plus a minimum of seven (7) years of progressively responsible experience working in monitoring and evaluation as it is practiced in the field of humanitarian assistance including resilience programs.
OR
A PhD from an accredited U.S. or internationally recognized institution with experience in data analysis, or in a field with a focus on econometrics or statistics, or other related fields with quantitative coursework, plus a minimum of five (5) years of professional experience in humanitarian assistance including resilience programs.
CLOSING DATE AND TIME FOR RECEIPT OF OFFERS: February 21, 2023, 12:00 P.M. Eastern Time
