Job Description

Title: Project Management Specialist (Monitoring and Evaluation), FSN - 10

Company Name: USAID Bangladesh

Vacancy: 02

Job Location: Dhaka

Employment Status: Full-time

Educational Requirements:
∎ Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA), Bachelor of Education (B.Ed)

Experience Requirements:
∎ At least 5 year(s)
∎ The applicants should have experience in the following area(s): Data Analysis, Data Collection, international development

Job Context:
∎ The Project Management Specialist (M&E) is expected to provide a broad range of support to the Mission in all matters related to M&E including data collection and analysis, and reporting. S/he is involved in all aspects of the PRO`s activities ranging from specific duties related to the management of the Mission`s M&E program, to more general PRO responsibilities such as reporting to Washington D.C. or representing USAID in external meetings involving other donors, implementing partners and Government of Bangladesh (GOB) Officials.
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∎ The job holder`s main role is to provide expert advice, guidance, and leadership toward the implementation of performance management at USAID/Bangladesh. The job holder builds the Monitoring and Evaluation capacity and learning of the mission technical offices by advising on the set-up of essential M&E systems in line with the Mission`s multi-tiered monitoring approach and the ADS 200 series. Key to his/her role are supporting the coordination of project monitoring, evaluation, assessment, and reporting activities, and strategically linking M&E findings to continuous learning and decision making. The job holder plays an important quality assurance role, advising the TEC offices on policies, procedures, and lead lines related to performance management, as well as advising on new systems which foster learning.

Job Responsibilities:
∎ The job holder provides expertise and technical assistance focusing on determined project outcomes and impact and integrating that information into USAID/Bangladesh's monitoring and evaluation systems, programming decisions, and collaboration with partners. Serves as COR for the M&A support services contract, ensuring those specific duties are carried out, and that required training and certification remain current. The job holder contributes to the Mission's intellectual leadership by helping to coordinate and implement project capacity in the following areas: Performance Monitoring and Evaluation, Documentation and Reporting, and Program Coordination. The ability to keep Mission Senior Management up-to-date with all issues that affect project performance is more important than ever, and the job holder's contribution to ensuring the implementation of the multi-tiered monitoring approach will provide the evidenced-base data on which the leadership can act upon.
∎ This position serves as the technical point of contact for M&E related actions for mission projects to include coordinating the implementation of the Development Information Solution (DIS), which manages the agency's portfolios to capture one cohesive development story - from strategy to results - for internal and external stakeholders. Specifically, the job holder will use the system to aggregate data across Operating Units to gain a corporate view of the mission's portfolio; run customizable reports and queries to improve evidence-based decision-making, and identify over/under performing activities to effectively monitor foreign assistance more efficiently. The job holder will also have a significant role in the monitoring of the New Partnership Initiative (NPI), providing performance management guidance, contributing to strategy, project design and development, while ensuring lessons learned and best practices are shared among the wide community of practice. The position ensures that Mission monitoring and evaluation efforts are properly planned and carried out in a high-quality manner by doing the following:
∎ Performance Monitoring and Evaluation 60%
∎ Ensures the implementation of the multi-tiered monitoring approach to verify USG resources are being utilized efficiently and appropriately, fill in information gaps and recommend specific improvements for USAID/Bangladesh's monitoring and evaluation systems, and collaborating across the mission to ensure learning and adapting approaches are incorporated into activities. In this role:
∎ Continuously reviews the mission activities monitoring and evaluation status by assessing available information on the Mission's M&E systems, staff capacity, and the linkages of M&E information to decision-making. Provides recommendations on ways to improve M&E capacity and procedures. Coordinate closely with technical teams and relevant support offices on the integration of learning approaches into portfolios.
∎ Advise on and oversee M&E data collection and knowledge management in the USAID/Bangladesh PRO to promote better performance management and learning. Explore the feasibility and cost of utilizing technology and innovation in a manner that strengthens the Mission's programmatic monitoring, coordination, and evaluation.
∎ Engage other development partners who are addressing similar assistance objectives to promote effective knowledge and data sharing and use of information.
∎ Assists the mission with responding to periodic data calls, audits, and taskers, as well as responding to ad hoc requests for information related to monitoring and evaluation and program implementation.
∎ Propose, design, and conduct studies, strategic analyses, performance, and impact evaluations related to mission projects using MEL data collection and analysis methods.
∎ Contributes to the Office's intellectual leadership by helping to coordinate and implement the Office's analytical and evaluation agenda. The job holder serves as the Office's expert in charge of development and oversight of the Office's M&E approaches and strategy and provides technical guidance on activities
∎ Analyzes evaluation findings and lessons learned for applicability to mid-course corrections and future programs and to ensure that these findings are communicated effectively to Mission staff, partners, and USAID Washington. Provides recommendations based on key findings from evaluations and assessments for Mission processes and procedures. Identify cross-cutting issues and opportunities for coordination and leveraging interventions and results across development objectives.
∎ Assists in preparing scopes of work for assessments and evaluations, participate in contractor selection, review evaluation reports, and coordinate the process of providing written comments on draft reports to evaluators.
∎ Provides technical expertise and guidance to technical teams on: Performance Plan and Report; Portfolio Reviews; Project M&E Plan development; Implementing Partner Quarterly and Annual Reports; Performance Management Plan development; and Monitoring Overviews.
∎ Advises Technical Teams on M&E plans in project and activity designs. In collaboration with TEC AORS/CORs/Activity Managers/On-budget managers, the job holder ensures implementing partners M&E plans contain a performance monitoring framework with clear-cut outcomes, outputs, inputs, processes, indicators, data needs and sources, and reporting formats for effective monitoring.
∎ Ensure adequate resources are allocated in project and activity designs to conduct robust monitoring and evaluation activities; advise on and oversee the warehousing and analysis of monitoring and evaluation data and serves as a member of project design teams for one or more technical sectors, providing expert technical advice on development of: monitoring and evaluation plans, log frames, indicators, baselines, and targets.
∎ Documentation and Reporting and Program Coordination 40%
∎ Reviews and provides guidance to improve results frameworks and indicators for new designs and implementing partner Performance Monitoring Plans. Drafts and reviews monitoring and evaluation plans for new project designs.
∎ The job holder advises technical offices on the creation of Annual Work Plans and Performance Management Plans for their priority projects. The job holder works with AOR/CORs to make sure that these plans are well-organized and realistic so that projects will be monitored effectively. Reports on program achievements, assists with implementation of monitoring, evaluation, and reporting systems for mission programs, coordinates with COR/AORs, technical team members, and others to plan, procure and implement the mission's project/program evaluations, studies, assessments and surveys.
∎ Liaises with all technical offices and counterparts in the M&E Working Group to keep abreast of new developments related to mission programs monitoring and evaluation policies and procedures. The job holder is responsible for helping technical staff design monitoring plans during the design phases of their projects. This entails helping them create logical frameworks for their projects and helping them think through how they will monitor the relevant indicators during implementation. Helping draft or review scopes of work and participating in site visits.
∎ The job holder tracks the monitoring plans of mission activities to ensure that they are executing their monitoring responsibilities as originally envisioned. If projects are not effectively monitoring and reporting the relevant information, the job holder reports this to the M&E Team Lead, and applicable program managers. Job holder maintains all project files, both hard copies and electronic files on the USAID system. This includes timely and efficient data submissions in all Mission program reviews, data calls, and presentations related to his/her gender project evaluations and ensuring timely submission of deliverables are being made. Additionally, when needed for other reporting and outreach communication purposes, job holder will coordinate closely with the mission's development outreach communications (DOC), by reviewing or developing success stories, providing performance data to contribute to the missions' publicity and information materials.

Additional Requirements:
∎ A minimum of five (5) years of progressively responsible experience in development and implementation of projects and/or programs, development of program related evaluations and statistical analysis, development of strategic design and program policy, development of program impact indicators, data collection and analysis, performance reporting, development and utilization of programmatic monitoring tools, performance evaluation coordination, impact evaluations and knowledge management with international development organizations, government institutions, donor organizations, or diplomatic missions is required.

Salary: Tk. 2585595 - 4664016 (Yearly)

Compensation & Other Benefits:
∎ T/A, Mobile bill, Tour allowance, Medical allowance, Provident fund, Weekly 2 holidays, Insurance, Gratuity
∎ Festival Bonus: 2

Application Deadline: 2 Feb 2021

Company Information:
∎ 12 Jan 2021
∎ USAID Bangladesh
∎ Address : US Embassy, Baridhara, Dhaka
∎ Web : www.usaid.gov/bd
∎ Business : The largest US agency in the US Embassy, Dhaka, Bangladesh.

Category: NGO/Development

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