CARANA Corporation (www.carana.com), a U.S. based international consulting firm and contractor for the United States Agency for International Development, designs and directs innovative economic growth strategies to help countries and businesses compete globally, reducing poverty and raising living standards around the world. For 25 years, we have specialized in market-led solutions to development challenges in more than 80 countries, packaging our expertise with on-the-ground resources for continuing, cost-effective results.
CARANA is implementing the Market Linkages Initiative (MLI) project, a two-year USAID-funded project focusing on agriculture market activities covering Kenya, Malawi, the DRC, Rwanda, Burundi, Uganda and Southern Sudan. The monitoring and evaluation specialist will be based in the Nairobi, Kenya field office.
The MLI project will monitor implementation results and evaluate their impact on the East African economy. The USAID-required tools to monitor project goals and results include the PMP and Workplan. The Task Order requires these documents to be prepared and updated on an ongoing basis and to implement a system to accurately collect and document project activities, outputs and outcomes.
The M&E Specialist will be responsible for these Task Order requirements and will report directly to the COP.
Objective:
The M&E Specialist will review all implementation activities of the MLI Project to assess results and the impact on local beneficiaries. The M&E Specialist will gather and evaluate information and ensure that these findings are accurately presented in all USAID reporting and tracking tools including, but not limited to, the PMP, Workplan, and Monthly Reports.
In addition, the M&E Specialist will maintain information about the MLI project on key public relations media such as the project's website and newsletter. The M&E Specialist will also assist the local Kenyan staff with written communications by editing English language documents that will be released for publication or sent to USAID for internal reporting.
Key Skills and Experience:
The M&E Specialist must have relevant international business development experience, preferably working on USAID economic development projects. The M&E Specialist must have a solid understanding of private sector development approaches, USAID regulations and reporting requirements, as well as excellent English writing ability.
The M&E Specialist must have a Bachelors degree from an accredited university and prior experience evaluating USAID private sector project plans, especially related to private sector value-chain development. The M&E Specialist must be able and willing to travel extensively throughout East Africa to conduct on-site field reviews. Strong interpersonal skills are needed to work with local project staff and beneficiaries. Communication skills are essential for this position because the M&E Specialist must be able to write effectively and persuasively in English and be able to present information in a variety of settings and formats. The M&E Specialist must be an energetic, self-starter with the ability to work independently. This is a full time, mid-level position.
Responsibilities:
1. Responsible for tracking MLI indicators, collecting and verifying information and maintaining PMP reports, workplans and monthly reports.
2. Provide assistance to MLI's local staff with respect to editing documents and reports and communicating their work results to USAID and CARANA.
3. Attend organized field visits of applicants' business to validate the results of MLI's assistance.
4. Assist the COP with preparing reports, writing project procedures, preparing recruiting advertisements and responding to USAID requests for information.
5. Conduct on-site reviews of MLI project initiatives.
6. Verify that MLI project activities were implemented as described in project applications, grant agreements and implementation plans.
7. Verify that technical assistance was satisfactorily delivered.
8. Evaluate the effectiveness of project interventions and the impact on the East African economy as outlined in the PMP.
9. Identify strengths and weaknesses of the intervention activities and recommend ways that the project results could have been positively enhanced.
10. Suggest follow-on activities to leverage the results of the project.
11. Produce easy-to-read written reports in English of the review and evaluation results, accompanied with pictures of the project facilities.
The M&E Specialist must be a Kenyan national and preferrably living in Kenya. No relocation costs will be covered.
To apply: please send CV and cover letter stating date of availability to consultant-monitoring@carana.com. No phone calls please.
Sunday, October 4, 2009
Monitoring and Evaluation Specialist, CARANA Corporation - Kenya
