Position overview

The Mid Level Monitoring and Evaluation Specialist will support all work that the Monitoring & Evaluation team provides to the Department of State under its Statement of Work (SOW), to include program design, performance monitoring, and evaluation.

Primary/Major Duties and Responsibilities (Essential Functions):

• Assist in the development of on-going monitoring and evaluation logic framework. and serves as the onsite expert in the content and implementation of the framework and its incorporation into Syria/Bilateral awards.
• Provide support to ensure that monitoring and evaluation are incorporated into Syria/Bilateral processes and that the logic framework is up to date and aligned to the organization’s needs.
• Provide support to conduct up to 5 annual independent evaluations and 3 internal reviews (as needed). Provide additional analytical products on best practices, known methodologies, and current data and methodological trends on development and countries in the region.
• Conduct performance monitoring of projects and programs to provide routine feedback on foreign assistance programming
• Contribute to and author evaluations requested by the client on select projects, programs, or thematic issues to improve programs and to inform policy
• Contribute to efforts to improve program design for projects and programs
• Participate in field visits to collect data for both monitoring and evaluation purposes
• Identify lessons learned to improve programming
• Work effectively and collaborating with fellow M&E team members to deliver high-quality work

Required Qualifications and Experience:

• Candidate(s) must have at least 5 years of experience designing, analyzing, monitoring, and evaluating international development/foreign assistance projects for the USG (preferably the Department of State and/or USAID).
• Demonstrated knowledge of current social science, evaluation and analytical tools and quantitative and qualitative methods required.
• Strong analytical skills, organizational skills, detail-oriented, and timeliness of performance
• Demonstrated excellence in written and verbal communication, and interpersonal skills
• Proficient in Excel and working with pivot tables
• Understanding of data quality standards and methodologies
• Bachelor’s degree required - Master’s degree in international affairs, Middle East studies, political science, Sociology, Social Sciences, or other relevant fields preferred.
• The ability to travel internationally on short-term assignments (currently postponed due to pandemic)

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience working in the Near Eastern Affairs (NEA) region
• Any relevant language skills (Farsi, Arabic, Kurdish, French)