Deputy Chief of Party /MEL Director

Position Description

EnCompass LLC is seeking Deputy Chief of Party (DCOP)/MEL Director candidates for the awarded four-year United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Upoma Activity, based in Dhaka. This activity is a central Mission-wide platform that provides a range of analytical and advisory services to the USAID Mission in Bangladesh, including project and activity design, performance monitoring, evaluation, and operational learning and adapting efforts. The activity will play a significant role in ensuring evidence informs strategy and adaptation.

The DCOP / MEL Director will have a high level of responsibility for the success of the contract. They will support the Chief of Party on day-to-day oversight of the activity, including client relations, management, and technical quality. They will directly engage with and provide continual MEL support to the USAID/Bangladesh Economic Growth Office and oversee other staff who are providing similar support to other technical offices. Under the strategic direction of the COP, the DCOP/MEL Director will lead/oversee all technical workstreams under this contract, including: analytical services, performance management support, capacity development, learning, and communities of practice, ensuring quality, timeliness and use of all technical work.

Candidates must have substantial evaluation/research experience in the Economic Growth sector (including agriculture and food security, private sector engagement, and/or skill development). They should have an excellent track record leading research, analytical work, and MEL for development projects. They should have expertise designing and implementing quantitative and qualitative data collection and analytical methods to support evaluation design and implementation in complex environments. They also should have strong collaborative learning experience to support Upoma’s CLA tasks.

The position will be full-time and be based in Dhaka with travel throughout the country.

Position Duties and Responsibilities

Essential functions:

• Adapt EnCompass technical systems and processes to USAID/Bangladesh need and context.
• In collaboration with other country team staff, provide leadership on the design of technical products and services.
• Ensure the strategic and robust integration of contract technical workstreams.
• Ensure adequate and appropriate resources, scopes, and timelines for Mission requests.
• Provide day-to-day oversight and quality assurance for all technical workstreams, ensuring that all products and services under this contract are of high quality, timely, useful, aligned to USAID guidance, and within budget. Conduct quality assurance reviews on deliverables, products, or task results as required; products are expected to be well-written, accurate, and to meet pre-determined expectations in SOWs.
• Engage directly with USAID/Bangladesh, implementing partners, and other stakeholders.
• Oversee the selection and management of consultants and Bangladesh organizations who are supporting implementation of contract work. Ensure that all who engage in technical work understand the expected rapid-quality delivery balance and adhere to agreed timelines.
• Employ strong CLA practices throughout the work, with an understanding of the USAID Program Cycle.
• Represent the contract, as needed, before a range of audiences and in a variety of platforms.
• Provide ongoing technical engagement and support to the USAID/Bangladesh Economic Growth Office.
• Serve as Acting COP when the COP is unavailable.
• Engage fully as a member of the contract team, including participating in staff meetings and other events, and providing administrative support to other teams.
• Other duties as assigned.

Position Requirements

Qualifications

Academic Qualifications

• PhD in agriculture, international development, sociology, or related field and 10 years of professional experience highly preferred.
• Non-PhD candidates must have vast experiences in the areas of economic growth, agriculture, private sector, skill development, and food security sectors with a good record of analytical work will be acceptable as well.

Experience and Skills

Required:

• Must have at least eight years of work experience in one or more economic growth areas including agriculture, private sector, skill development, and food security.
• Demonstrated experience in MEL or related work for development projects working with a broad range of stakeholders, with a proven track record in leadership.
• Experience managing international donor funded projects/organizations.
• Experience working with or providing support to Economic Growth projects or activities of USAID.
• Superior communication written, oral, and presentation skills in English.
• Strong interpersonal skills.

Highly Preferrable:

• At least 12 years of overall relevant experience including at least 7 years’ experience managing large donor funded projects.
• Local Bangladeshi
• Expertise in environment and climate change issues will be an added advantage.
• Demonstrated experience leading complex portfolios of evaluative, research, monitoring, and learning activities for improved development outcomes.
• Strong track record in research and evaluation for development projects, preferably on USAID projects. This includes expertise across the research/evaluation lifecycle: design, data collection, analysis, reporting, dissemination, and use.
• Experience supporting and leading MEL efforts in the environment and climate change sectors.
• Previous work experience in Bangladesh or region, highly preferred.
• Experience building evaluative and learning capacities of USAID staff, implementing partners, and government counterparts.
• Familiarity with USAID/Bangladesh Mission.
• Understanding of USAID MEL and CLA regulations, policies, and guidance.
• Demonstrated experience managing learning and adaptive management approaches with USAID or other International Development organizations.
• Proven experience identifying and using diverse evidence sources to encourage robust decision making

Please submit CV and cover letter and complete the application on the Careers & Consulting to

https://encompassworld.clearcompany.com/careers/jobs/9f1d466a-e213-da44-52d1-f77c5ee266f6/apply?source=3050687-CS-52073