Country: Lao People's Democratic Republic (the)
Closing date: 14 Nov 2018
Evaluation Coordinator – Lao PDR
USAID COMET Final Performance Evaluation
Social Impact (SI) is a Washington, DC-area international development management consulting firm. SI’s mission is to improve the effectiveness of international development programs in improving people’s lives. We provide a full range of management consulting, technical assistance, and training services to strengthen international development programs, organizations, and policies. We provide services globally in the areas of monitoring and evaluation, strategic planning, project and program design, organizational capacity building, and gender and social analysis. SI services cross-cut all development sectors including democracy and governance, health and education, the environment, and economic growth. SI’s clients include US government agencies such as USAID, the Millennium Challenge Corporation, the US Department of State, bilateral donors, multilateral development banks, foundations, and non-profits.
Background
USAID’s Lower Mekong Initiative-Connecting the Mekong through Education and Training (LMI-COMET) Activity is a five-year workforce development program (2014-2019) to support ASEAN in improving economic integration and global competitiveness by equipping Lower Mekong youth with the skills they need to succeed in the 21st century marketplace. Implemented by the Education Development Center (EDC), LMI-COMET works to train youth with market-driven skills, promote gender-balanced employment in key sectors, and increase technology-based learning in classrooms and the number of workers in Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics, Accounting, and Tourism (STEM+AT). In addition to hard skills, employers in Southeast Asia identify soft skills in leadership, culture, and engagement to be significant workforce capability gaps in keeping pace with rapid economic growth in the region.1 The Activity aims to bridge the gap between education and business by building linkages between education providers and employers through public-private partnerships (PPPs). These PPPs include collaboration with American companies (Cisco, Intel, and Amazon Web Services) and universities (Texas A&M) to leverage cutting edge educational approaches and technologies and facilitate educational opportunities in the Lower Mekong countries while improving workforce capacity for international and American companies.
Mekong Learning Centers (MLCs) are the skills and leadership development institutions that collaborate with local industry partners under LMI-COMET, to equip youth with highly sought after workplace skills in soft skills, technology, and hands-on work. Currently, there are 12 MLCs (two in Cambodia, two in Lao PDR, one in Myanmar, two in Thailand, and five in Vietnam) that make up the Mekong Skills2Work network (MS2W). Social Impact’s (SI) evaluation design below will seek to assess the durability and effectiveness of linkages between education providers and employers.
Position Description:
SI is seeking an Evaluation Coordinator to support the USAID COMET evaluation data collection by conducting qualitative phone interviews with Mekong Learning Center staff and industry partners for 5 days (40 hours) of non-consecutive labor in mid-November. The Coordinator will use the pre-developed Data Collection Tools to conduct the Key Informant Interviews or Group Interviews for in-country contacts and provide daily updates and notes uploads to Social Impact’s SharePoint database.
Responsibilities:
- Become familiar with program background and any relevant COMET-related vocabulary/terminology.
- Support COMET data collection by conducting remote Key Informant Interviews and Group Interviews with project administrators and beneficiaries, taking detailed notes, and uploading them daily to an online database.
- Communicate regularly with SI project management personnel to ensure interviews are completed on time.
- Carry out other tasks as requested.
Qualifications:
- Fluency in English and Lao is required;
- 3-5 years of experience in monitoring and evaluation or qualitative data collection;
- Experience in data quality assurance and cleaning;
Proficiency in rapid typing/digital notetaking;
USAID experience a plus;
Come join our energetic and innovative team! We offer you the opportunity to play a leading role in the growth of our company, work as part of a creative and committed team, and make a difference in the well-being of our world.
To learn more about Social Impact, please visit our website: http://www.socialimpact.com
SI is an EEO/AA/ADA Veterans Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, disability or protected veteran status.
Only selected candidates will be contacted for an interview. Please, no phone calls.
How to apply:
https://chp.tbe.taleo.net/chp02/ats/careers/requisition.jsp?org=SOCIIMPA2&cws=1&rid=2431