Monitoring & Evaluation Advisor

CTG overview:

• CTG staff and support humanitarian projects in fragile and conflict-affected countries around the world, providing a rapid and cost-effective service for development and humanitarian missions. With past performance in 17 countries – from the Middle East, Africa, Europe, and Asia, we have placed more than 20,000 staff all over the world since operations began in 2006.
• CTG recruits, deploys and manages the right people with the right skills to implement humanitarian and development projects, from cleaners to obstetricians, and mechanics to infection specialists, we’re skilled in emergency response to crises such as the Ebola outbreak in West Africa. Key to successful project delivery is the ability to mobilise at speed; CTG can source and deploy anyone, anywhere, in less than 2 weeks and have done so in 48 hours on a number of occasions.
• Through our efficient and agile HR, logistical and operational services, CTG saves multilateral organisations time and money. We handle all our clients’ HR related issues, so they are free to focus on their core services.
• Visit www.ctg.org to find out more

Overview of position:
Our client is an operational arm of the UN, supporting the successful implementation of their partners’ peacebuilding, humanitarian & development projects around the world. Their mission is to help people build better lives & countries achieve sustainable development. Our client areas of expertise cover infrastructure, procurement, project management, financial management & human resources. Our client offers short & long term work opportunities in diverse & challenging environments across the globe. They are looking for creative, results focused professionals with skills in a range of disciplines. With over 4,000 personnel & approximately 7,000 personnel recruited on behalf of our clients partners spread across 80 countries, their workforce represents a wide range of nationalities & cultures. They promote a balanced, diverse workforce, a strength that helps them better understand & address their partners’ needs & continually strive to improve their gender balance through initiatives & policies that encourage recruitment of qualified female candidates. Our client values its people & recognizes the importance of balancing professional & personal demands. Their hub in Amman implements projects in Jordan, Lebanon, Iraq, Syria, Turkey & Yemen, in partnership with bilateral donors, national governments (govt’s.), & other UN agencies. With an established presence across the region, the office runs operations including large scale procurement, project development & technical management & provides financial, human resources & infrastructure related services. The functional objective of their hub in Amman is to deliver their projects in an efficient & effective manner & in line with the principles, rules & regulations of the UN, in order to support the response to the current needs & national priorities in the region. Our client is committed to achieving a fully diverse workforce. The Iraq Information Centre (IIC) was launched in 2015 following an inter-agency assessment into the information and communication needs of displaced populations in Iraq. Responding to one of the most complex humanitarian crises in the world, the Humanitarian Country Team agreed to the establishment of an inter-agency accountability mechanism that allows affected populations to directly influence the evolution of humanitarian response in Iraq. The IIC is implemented by our client & is funded by a range of partners. Since its launch, the IIC has handled more than 800,000 calls, giving information to more than 2 million individuals. The IIC’s primary objective is to promote 2 way communication between affected populations to:

• Empower communities through the provision of accessible & timely information on how to access humanitarian services & resources required to improve their situation.
• Help ensure efficient & effective coordination of humanitarian actors operating in Iraq by collecting & circulating information about the urgent needs & priorities of affected populations, as well as the information gaps between them & delivering actors.
• Support an environment of transparency & accountability by establishing an easy to access & safe mechanism through which critical feedback & complaints can be submitted & referred to humanitarian actors to influence humanitarian programming & shape advocacy.

Role objectives:
Our client is seeking an International Consultant (IC) to conduct an objective assessment of impact, effectiveness, efficiency, relevance & sustainability aspects of the performance & progress of the IIC project in an effort to improve the lives of affected populations in Iraq. The evaluation will be conducted by a team of 2 external Consultants including 1 National Evaluator. The IC will act as the Team Leader (TL). The outcome of the consultancy is to identify additional avenues to increase cooperation & accountability between the IIC & its stakeholders including the cluster partners, International Non Government Organisations (INGO’s) & other UN agencies in order to ensure:

• Clear positioning of the IIC within the broader collective accountability framework of the humanitarian system in Iraq by reinforcing IIC mandate & objectives to stakeholders & partners.
• Ensure effective channeling of feedback & complaints to humanitarian actors to influence humanitarian programming & inform evidence based advocacy. In this regard, the consultant is expected to have an open dialog with all stakeholder through conducting various meetings, key informant interviews, etc.
• Analyze the relevance of the IIC’s current focus & recommend direction with the evolving operating context from humanitarian to early recovery.
• Evaluation of the IIC user’s experience (all steps the caller is doing when calling to the IIC) & the application of the information provided to the agencies for program decision making to ensure the closure of the feedback loop.

The incumbent is responsible to abide by security policies, administrative instructions, plans & procedures of the UN security management system & that of our client & s / he will report to the Project Manager (PM) who reports to the Head of Program who is based in the operational hub for our client in Amman. In light of the above specific objectives, the following are some of the key evaluation questions, whereas the selected individual Evaluator is expected to refine the questions in their inception report:

Relevance:

• To what extent are IIC’s interventions relevant to the needs & priorities as defined by beneficiaries?
• To what extent are IIC’s interventions aligned with relevant normative frameworks for gender equality & women’s empowerment?
• What is the relevance of the IIC & its scope of work specifically in the evolving Iraq context?
• What is the replicability of the IIC approach within different contexts?

Sustainability:

• To what extent is capacity developed in order to ensure sustainability of efforts & benefits?
• To what extent are the benefits of the projects likely to be sustained after the completion of this project?
• What are the recommendations for the sustainability of the project in future?
• Describe key factors that will require attention in order to improve prospects of sustainability of project outcomes & the potential for replication of the approach?
• Describe the main lessons that have emerged?
• Guide our client on the replicability of the call center approach.
• What is the sustainability of the call center assuming that donors remain interested in maintain this service?

Effectiveness:

• Is the project effective in delivering desired / planned results?
• To what extent is the 2 way accountability mechanism contributing in meeting project results?
• How effective is the 2 way accountability mechanism in the implementation of the project?
• How effective has the 2 way accountability mechanism been in responding to the needs of the beneficiaries & what results were achieved?
• What are the future intervention strategies & issues?

Impact:

• What is the impact of the timely, effective & efficient provision of relevant information to callers as well as service providers?
• What were the unintended effects, if any, of the intervention?

Efficiency:

• To what extent is the IIC providing an impact & effective service to callers as well as service providers?
• To what extent is the IIC providing a feedback to callers from flagged cases?

Monitoring & progress controls:
Methodology:

• The Steering Committee (SC) for the project shall guide & oversee the overall direction of the consultancy. The consultant will devise a methodology in a participatory, inclusive & evidence based approach. The evaluation will provide both quantitative & qualitative data.
• As the project enters its 7th year & ongoing, the aim for this evaluation is to be formative & summative in order to see if our client can improve current project implementation & practices, as well as to better utilize the lessons learned. In order to answer these above outlined questions & to adequately meet the evaluation expectations, rigorous mixed methods (involving document review, Key Informants Intervention (KII’s), observation technics, online survey, Focus Group Discussion (FGD’s) etc.) will be required.
• The consultant will be responsible for developing a sound method, which clearly outline how objective sound conclusions are going to be reached. In addition, s / he consultant will need to describe an analytical framework & an approach to evaluate in line with the international evaluation criteria mentioned above. This method will be further explained in an inception report to be provided by the consultant.
• The inception report, outlining the key scope of the work & intended work plan of the analysis & evaluation questions, shall be submitted after 5 days of commencing the consultancy. The consultant will prepare an inception report which will outline the scope of work, intended work plan & analysis. The inception report will provide IIC PM, our client, SC & key stakeholders the opportunity to verify that they share the same understanding about the evaluation objectives. The inception report should detail the consultant understanding of what is being evaluated & why, showing how each evaluation question will be answered by addressing the proposed methods, proposed sources of data & data collection procedures. The inception report should include a proposed schedule of tasks, activities & deliverables, designating a team member with the lead responsibility for each task or product. The inception report will be discussed & agreed upon with all stakeholders.
• The consultant’s final evaluation methodology will be reviewed & approached by the IIC SC.
• The evaluation will be conducted by a team of 2 external consultants including 1 National Evaluator. The IC will act as team leader & will be responsible for all the deliverables of the assignment. The National Evaluator will support the IC & perform duties assigned by the IC as per the scope of his / her TOR. The Evaluators selected should not have participated in the project preparation & / or implementation & should not have conflict of interest with project related activities.

Deliverables:
Overall, the International Evaluation Consultant (Team Leader) will be responsible for providing overall leadership on the independent evaluation of the IIC project based on inputs & insights from the National Evaluator. More specifically, the IC has to provide the following deliverables:

• Develop an inception report.
• Power point presentation.
• Presentation of draft report during dissemination workshop with IIC staff & its partner on the findings of the evaluation.
• Final evaluation report that is clear, concise, simply written & free of jargon (not more than 30 pages) excluding preliminary pages, executive summary & annexes / appendices.
• The final report will be submitted to the SC & our clients office in Amman in English (1 hard copy & a soft copy & USB flash drive).

Outline of the evaluation report:
The main body of the evaluation report will not exceed 30 pages & contain the different elements mentioned below:

• Cover page.
• Table of contents.
• Abbreviations & acronyms page.
• An executive summary that can be used as a document in its own right. It should include the major findings of the evaluation & summarize conclusions & recommendations.
• A short introduction to the project, the objectives of the evaluation & methodology.
• A justification of the methods & techniques used (including relevant underlying values & assumptions, theories) with a justification of the selections made (of persons interviewed, villages or camps visited).
• Eventual limitations of the evaluation.
• A presentation of the findings & the analysis thereof (including unexpected, relevant findings).
• All key priority areas & learning points above should be addressed, paying attention to gender issues.
• Conclusions, which will analyze the various research questions. Conclusions have to be derived from findings & analysis thereof.
• Recommendations should be clearly related to conclusions & include how they might be implemented.
• Recommendations should be practical & if necessary divided up for various actors or stakeholders.

Report appendices that include:

• Terms of reference.
• Technique used for data collection (including list of informants & locations visited).
• List of questions used or ‘interview guide’ or topic list (also for possible group discussions).
• Program adherence (data & main features of the activities carried out, organogram).
• Concepts & list of abbreviations.
• List of documents & bibliography.

Project reporting:

• The incumbent is responsible to abide by security policies, administrative instructions, plans & procedures of the UN security management system & that of our client & s / he will report to the Project Manager (PM) who reports to the Head of Program who is based in the operational hub for our client in Amman.

Key competencies:

• Master’s Degree in Project Management, Development Policy & / or Planning, Business Administration or any relevant discipline. Bachelor’s Degree with a combination of 2 years of relevant professional experience in Program / Project Evaluation, may be accepted in lieu of the Masters Degree.
• Minimum of 5 years of progressive experience in Monitoring & Evaluation (M&E), data collection & analysis is required.
• Experience in program & project evaluation techniques & participating in evaluation missions is required.
• M&E experience in Iraq or similar contexts is desired.
• Good computer skills & familiarity with statistical packages is required.
• Good contextual knowledge of local issues, community priorities, social & cultural constraints & realities is desired.
• Strong background in data collection, analysis & presentation.
• Experience in drafting & producing high quality reports.
• Conceptual analytical & evaluative skills to conduct independent research & analysis, including familiarity with & experience in the use of various research sources, including electronic sources on the internet, intranet & other databases.
• Excellent communication & writing skills, in English is required.
• Must be fluent in English & fluency in Arabic is desired.
• Develops & implements sustainable business strategies, thinks long term & externally in order to positively shape the organization. Anticipates & perceives the impact & implications of future decisions & activities on other parts of the organization.
• Treats all individuals with respect, responds sensitively to differences & encourages others to do the same. Upholds organizational & ethical norms. Maintains high standards of trustworthiness. Role model for diversity & inclusion.
• Acts as a positive role model contributing to the team spirit. Collaborates & supports the development of others. Acts as positive leadership role model, motivates, directs & inspires others to succeed, utilizing appropriate leadership styles.
• Demonstrates understanding of the impact of own role on all partners & always puts the end beneficiary first. Builds & maintains strong external relationships & is a competent partner for others (if relevant to the role).
• Efficiently establishes an appropriate course of action for self & / or others to accomplish a goal. Actions lead to total task accomplishment through concern for quality in all areas. Sees opportunities & takes the initiative to act on them. Understands that responsible use of resources maximizes their impact on our clients beneficiaries.
• Open to change & flexible in a fast paced environment. Effectively adapts own approach to suit changing circumstances or requirements. Reflects on experiences & modifies own behavior. Performance is consistent, even under pressure. Always pursues continuous improvements.
• Evaluates data & courses of action to reach logical, pragmatic decisions. Takes an unbiased, rational approach with calculated risks. Applies innovation & creativity to problem solving.
• Expresses ideas or facts in a clear, concise & open manner. Communication indicates a consideration for the feelings & needs of others. Actively listens & proactively shares knowledge. Handles conflict effectively, by overcoming differences of opinion & finding common ground.

Team management:

• This role has no team management responsibility.

Further information:

• A total of 30 calendar days will constitute the evaluation period, 5 days for desk review & to prepare the research tools, an estimated 15 days for field work, 10 days for compiling the information gathered, analyze, draft & complete the evaluation report.
• The consultant will arrange for a feedback meeting to share a draft of the evaluation report with the program staff.
• A final report in English shall then be presented after concluding all the received comments.