Team: USAID/Nigeria MEL Support Activity

Project: Election Portfolio Performance Evaluation USAID/Nigeria

Location: Federal Capital Territory – Abuja, Nigeria

Reporting to: Assessment and Evaluation Advisor

Employment Type: Independent Contractor / Short-Term Technical Assistance (STTA)

Period of Performance: October 2023 – May 2024

Number of Positions: 1

Navanti supports a Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning (MEL) Support Activity program that assists USAID/Nigeria in advancing its broader organizational learning and development efforts. This program strengthens the Mission’s capacity and performance in programmatic monitoring, evaluation, learning, collaborating, and adapting. The MEL Support Activity closely aligns with USAID/Nigeria’s Country Development Cooperation Strategy (CDCS) and provides a broad range of specialized technical assistance, training, data gathering and analysis, field-based monitoring, evaluations and assessments, facilitation of organizational learning and adaptation initiatives, and short-term technical assistance.

Performance Evaluation Objectives:

USAID/Nigeria has engaged the MEL Support Activity to conduct a performance evaluation of the election portfolio. The purpose of the performance evaluation under DO3 IR 3.3 (Enhanced Credibility of Elections) is two-fold:

1. To assess the extent to which the Sustaining Electoral Engagement for Democracy (SEED) and Responsive Political Party Program (RPPP) activities contributed to enhancing the credibility of elections
2. To inform activity design for future election-related activities

This evaluation will be used primarily by USAID Nigeria’s Peace and Democratic Governance (PDG) team to inform activity design for future election-related activities. However, PDG will share the evaluation report with the broader USAID audiences, including USAID/Washington to help agencies better understand the electoral context of Nigeria and, most importantly, the efficacy of support to political parties, voter education via radio, and other channels.

The estimated start date will be November 13, 2023. The evaluation is expected to last until May 2024, and the estimated LOE will be 63 days, maximum.

Candidates are advised to submit applications early.

Position Description:

Navanti is seeking an International Team Leader who will be responsible for the overall management of the evaluation team’s effort and ensuring a rigorous and high-quality evaluation. Under the technical leadership of the MEL Support Activity, the team leader will be working alongside four national team members. The team leader will consult with and facilitate input from all team members throughout the evaluation.

Locations:

1. Abuja, Federal Capital Territory
2. Adamawa State
3. Anambra State
4. Bauchi State
5. Bayelsa State
6. Benue State
7. Ebonyi State
8. Ekiti State
9. Osun State
10. Kaduna State
11. Sokoto State

Responsibilities:

The Team Leader will be responsible for the overall management of the evaluation. S/he will be the primary person responsible for ensuring a rigorous and high-quality evaluation design. The Team Leader will develop the outline for the draft report, present the report, and after incorporating USAID/Nigeria staff feedback/comments, submit the final report to USAID/Nigeria through the MEL Support Activity within the prescribed timeline.

The Team Leader is also expected to:

1. Oversee and lead major evaluation activities, including the evaluation design, methodology development of instruments, data collection, synthesis of data, presentations, and preparation of final report with team contributions.
2. Provide leadership for the team and coordinate activities as necessary.
3. Coordinate with MELSA and USAID/Nigeria weekly on the evaluation process.
4. Oversee the work plan development and ensure all team members are contributing expertise and technical inputs.
5. Perform desk review and identify additional information required for analysis.
6. Schedule and interview key stakeholders and beneficiaries.
7. Coordinate team's ongoing analysis of qualitative and quantitative data.
8. Lead the preparation and presentation of the In-brief and Out-brief to USAID/Nigeria and other stakeholders as requested.
9. Write the draft Evaluation report with support from the team members, taking into consideration feedback from the Out-brief presentation.
10. Respond to USAID comments on the draft report, incorporate USAID/Nigeria staff comments into the final version of the report, and finalize the report.
11. Present evaluation results to diverse audiences according to USAID standard reporting.
12. Work collaboratively with team members throughout design, implementation, analysis, and report writing to complement each other's areas of expertise.

Qualifications:

The candidate is expected to have the following qualifications:

1. A minimum of a master’s degree (doctorate preferred) in a relevant field: political science, measurement and evaluation, international development, or related fields.
2. Minimum of ten years of professional experience in governance space with clear understanding of Nigerian democracy and elections. This could be through academia, civil society, or the international community.
3. Demonstrated experience in performance evaluation of USAID interventions.
4. Experience in preparing persuasive technical reports and making verbal presentations, explaining issues clearly and concisely.
5. Required oral and written communication and presentation skills in English.
6. Demonstrated experience in collaborating across projects stakeholder groups and donor projects.
7. Experience/background in USAID’s cross-cutting program priorities, such as gender equality, inclusion, and diversity.
8. Experience leading a team of evaluators.

Only selected candidates will be contacted for an interview. Please, no phone calls.