Team Lead - Zambia

Job Description

Democracy International (DI) is seeking to hire a Team Lead to conduct a midline performance evaluation of the Local Impact Governance Activity (“Local Impact”) in Zambia, contracted by SoCha and implemented by the USAID/Zambia Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning Platform (Z-MELP). The Midline Performance Evaluation will aid SoCha assess the performance of the USAID Local Impact Activity to date and inform any mid-course corrective actions and adaptive management that can help to strengthen performance and address identified shortcomings. The Team Lead will manage the day-to-day implementation of the evaluation, ensuring the quality and timely submission of evaluation deliverables (including leading the drafting of the evaluation report), and serving as the evaluation’s main point of contact for Z-MELP.

The purpose of the Local Impact Governance Activity is help the Government of the Republic of Zambia (GRZ) build-up a sub-national system of governance for devolved service delivery that is more responsive to citizen needs. By supporting the transformation of sub-national governance to be more responsive to citizen needs, Local Impact engages national and sub-national authorities to expand the capabilities of district-level governance bodies to deliver sustainable development outcomes, increase effective citizen and private sector involvement in development planning and monitoring, and improve public financial management (PFM) and domestic revenue generation.

This will be a part-time consultant position based in Lusaka, Zambia. This position will be contingent on contract award and funding and only open to Zambian citizens. The evaluation is estimated to begin in January 2024 and end in June 2024.

Essential Job Duties:

The position’s responsibilities will include:

• Manage the day-to-day implementation of the evaluation,
• Collaborate with key personnel on Local Impact, responding to SoCha’s questions and criteria, with a focus on analysis-based, actionable, and operational recommendations to inform strategic decision-making and programmatic decisions;
• Ensure the quality and timely submission of evaluation deliverables and lead the drafting of the evaluation report;
• Serve as the evaluation’s main point of contact for Z-MELP;
• Contribute to designing and conducting desk review, including compiling and analyzing relevant;
• Lead the identification of key stakeholders and conduct interviews with key informants, experts, and other stakeholders in field locations in collaboration with other members of the team;
• Participate in all sessions of the synthesis meetings after fieldwork to share notes and collaboratively review data collected to contribute to reports and final assessment.
  
  
  

Qualifications:

• A Master’s degree (or higher) and 5 years relevant work experience, or relevant work experience of 7 years instead of an advanced degree;
• Extensive experience in evaluation design, methods;
• Extensive experience leading the management and implementation of evaluations;
• Strong research skills relating to the collection and analysis of qualitative data;
• Demonstrated expertise in Zambia in decentralization, sub-national/local governance, local government financing and service delivery,
• Experience in local government-private sector linkage-building preferred;
• Strong interpersonal skills to effectively coordinate with a wide range of stakeholders;
• Demonstrated experience in conducting interviews to gather meaningful information;
• Strong interpersonal skills to effectively coordinate with a wide range of stakeholders, and team members;
• Professional fluency in English (both spoken and written) required;
• Zambian citizens strongly preferred.
  
  
  

Reporting:

This position reports to the Team Lead and DI home office.

Application Process:

Interested applicants MUST submit a cover letter and CV. Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis and the position will be filled as soon as a qualified candidate is identified. DI will only contact candidates of interest.

About the Organization

DI provides technical assistance, analytical services and project implementation for democracy, human rights, governance and conflict mitigation programs worldwide for the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), the U.S. State Department and other development partners. Since its founding in 2003, Democracy International has worked with civil society organizations, political parties, election-management bodies, government agencies, legislatures, justice-sector institutions, and others in 80+ countries.

DI welcomes and supports a diverse and inclusive work environment. We are committed to equal employment opportunities (EEO) for all applicants seeking employment and for DI employees. DI makes employment decisions based on organizational needs, job requirements and individual qualifications without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability, marital status, sexual orientation, personal appearance, military status, gender identity or expression, genetic information, political affiliation, educational status, unemployment status, place of residence or business, source of income, or reproductive health decision making. Additionally, harassment or discrimination based on these characteristics will not be tolerated at DI. To perform the essential functions of this position, reasonable accommodations are available to qualified individuals with disabilities.