Consultant International Team Leader for Evaluation of the USAID/Bangladesh Health Activity

Position Description

EnCompass LLC is seeking an international Consultant to serve as Team Leader for the Evaluation of the USAID Bangladesh Health Activity. EnCompass is implementing the four-year United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Bangladesh Upoma Activity, providing a range of analytical and advisory services in support of USAID’s design, performance monitoring, evaluation, and operational learning and adapting efforts. Under Upoma, EnCompass has been tasked to conduct a Performance Evaluation of the USAID-financed Marketing Innovations for Sustainable Health Development (MISHD) activity in Bangladesh.

Implemented by Social Marketing Company (SMC), MIHSD has the overall goal to contribute to sustained improvements in the health status of women, children, and families across 19 rural districts and 5 peri-urban districts in Bangladesh. Specifically, the objectives of the MISHD Activity are: (1) to expand access to public health products related to maternal and child health, family planning, reproductive health, and nutrition in Bangladesh; (2) to promote the effective use of these products and encouraging healthy behaviors through behavior change communication (BCC) efforts; (3) to enhance the ability of private sector healthcare providers to deliver proactive, high-quality services and referrals, while fostering strong partnerships to secure support from both public and private sector collaborators.

To achieve the program goal and objectives, interventions under MISHD are grouped into the following Intermediate Results for the life of the program:

• Intermediate Result 1: Increased access to affordable healthcare products and services.
• Intermediate Result 2: Increased adoption of healthy behavior and practices by families and communities.
• Intermediate Result 3: Enhanced engagement of private sector partner for delivery of quality health care/services.

To conduct the evaluation and lead a team of local subject matter specialists, EnCompass LLC seeks an international Team Leader with an advanced degree in Public Health, Global Marketing, Business Administration, Social Marketing, Development and Economics, or related field.

The Learning Questions (LQs) of the evaluation are:

1. Is MISHD on track to achieve the objectives outlined in the Program Description/scope in terms of:
   1. Increasing adoption of healthy practices
   2. Improving family planning services
   3. Improving maternal and child health services (e.g. antenatal and postnatal care services)
   4. Improving nutrition services (eg. micronutrient supplements for mothers, children and adolescents, growth monitoring for children etc.).
2. What can be done differently to intensify interventions that are equitable and adaptive?
3. What are the key learnings of the social marketing approach and private sector engagement How does USAID plan to use learnings from the current Global Development Alliance (GDA) to design a future intervention?
4. How successful were the private sector ‘Star’ Providers (Blue and Gold Star Member) in delivering MCH, FP and nutrition services and supporting program activities How can these star providers be utilized differently to scale their service and be sustainable? What are other private sector options that USAID can tap into?
5. To what extent was MISHD able to strengthen the linkage of the ‘Star’ providers (Blue, Pink, Rose and Green) to the public health system (Sustainability)? What are the learnings and challenges faced while linking ‘Star’ providers into the public system? How can this intervention be done innovatively and differently to make it sustainable?
6. To what extent did MISHD contribute to reducing the equity gap, and to responding to sudden shocks and emergencies (flash flood, landslide, cyclones, COVID 19)?

How successfully did SMC optimize the funding support from USAID? What were the resource optimization strategies and efforts taken by SMC over the years? Did these efforts benefit the health system? Can the approach be replicated to gain efficiency throughout the system?

This is a consultancy located at Barishal, Chattogram, Dhaka, Mymensingh, and Sylhet divisions, Bangladesh

Position Duties and Responsibilities

Essential functions:

• Work closely with the Deputy Team Leader to lead the evaluation team including two subject matter experts (one MNCH-FP-N Technical Expert, one SBCC Specialist), and one Logistics Support Specialist.
• Lead the development and implementation of an Inception Report, including methodology, tools, and a timeline to execute the performance evaluation and answer the LQs.
• Provide expert analysis on social marketing and private sector engagement, informing the inception report, the development of data collection tools, and the preliminary list of key respondents.
• Collect primary data through various means, such as interviews and focus groups, and stakeholder surveys, ensuring data quality and integrity.
• Manage the team’s primary data collection efforts, ensuring methods are ethical and thorough.
• Oversee the collection, analysis, and synthesis of primary and secondary data.
• Lead the development of the draft and the final version of the evaluation report.
• Act as the principal point of contact for USAID’s DRG Activity Manager, providing regular updates on the progress of the evaluation. Conduct an in-brief meeting with USAID on arrival to Bangladesh and an out-brief meeting with USAID upon completion of primary data collection, prior to departure from Bangladesh.

Deliverables and Timing:

• Inception report including work plan, detailed methodology, data collection tools, lists of KIIs and FGDs, outline of the final report presenting the proposed structure of the report, and timeline.
• In-brief meeting with USAID’s Activity Manager upon arrival in Bangladesh.
• Conduct any additional meetings with USAID, if needed.
• Regular progress reports/updates to the Upoma Task Manager.
• Out-brief meeting with USAID at the end of field work/data collection to share preliminary findings and recommendations.
• A draft version of the evaluation report, not to exceed 35 pages (excluding Executive Summary and annexes)
• Detailed notes or transcripts in English from KIIs and FGDs.
• Data sets of any quantitative data collected through stakeholder surveys.
• A PowerPoint presentation on findings and practical, actionable recommendations.
• Facilitation of a co-creation workshop with USAID to discuss findings and recommendations.
• A final version of the evaluation report, incorporating feedback from USAID from the co-creation workshop.

Period of Performance and Level of Effort (LOE): The LOE for the Team Leader is approximately up to 61 days. The period of performance is from on or about October 15, 2024, to March 31, 2025.

Travel: The position requires travel by the Team Leader to Bangladesh.

Position Requirements

Academic Qualifications:

• A master’s or an advanced degree in Public Health, Global Marketing, Business Administration, Social Marketing, Development and Economics, or related field is required.

Experience and Skills:

• Master’s or higher degree in a relevant discipline such as Global Marketing, Business Administration, Social Marketing, Development and Economics, or Public Health
• A minimum of 15 years of experience in international Private Sector/Social Marketing
• A proven record of leading research, assessments, and/or evaluations
• Expertise in application of qualitative and quantitative research methodologies
• Excellent communication and report writing skills in English
• Excellent organizational skills and ability to keep to a timeline
• Excellent writing skills, with extensive report writing experience
• Familiarity with USAID policies and practices preferred