Evaluation Team Leader Consultancies – Central Asia

Background

SoCha holds an umbrella contract mechanism to provide monitoring, evaluation, and learning services to USAID/Central Asia. SoCha is seeking qualified evaluation experts to serve as Team Leaders in supporting several anticipated evaluations in the region that will be issued under this contract mechanism in the near and long term.

SoCha will retain a pool of qualified applicants to whom it will reach out to when relevant short-term evaluation consultancy opportunities arise in the future. We expect at least three consultancy task orders to begin in September/October 2024, addressing WASH, energy, and gender topics. Additional evaluations are expected in the future, addressing these and other topics including health, education, human trafficking, environment, agriculture, trade and economic growth, rights and governance, technology, gender and youth, etc. Such work will take place in countries supported by USAID/Central Asia, which includes Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan.

Interested applicants are strongly encouraged to submit their CV, even if they are not immediately available for near-term projects.

Scope of Work

The Team Leader for each USAID evaluation will be responsible for the management of the entire evaluation and technical management of the evaluation team. Responsibilities may include but are not limited to:

• Serve as the chief technical advisor for the project’s evaluation efforts.
• Design and implement appropriate evaluation methodologies to assess project impact or outcomes. This includes:
  • Completing desk review of relevant materials.
  • Developing overall evaluation design and methods, aligned with evaluation questions.
  • Developing data collection instruments.
  • Undertaking field visits to review activities and interview stakeholders, including partner country officials, implementing partners, and program recipients.
  • Supervising the technical quality of work from local data collection subcontractors, as applicable.
  • Analyzing data using a well-documented, systematic approach according to industry best practices.
• Serve as lead author for evaluation design report and final evaluation findings report, using USAID templates and guidelines.
• Ensure the quality, accuracy, and rigor of the evaluation process.
• Manage and coordinate the evaluation team’s activities and tasks.
• Ensure timely delivery of high-quality evaluation deliverables and reports that are compliant with USAID policies and guidelines.
• Assume a leadership role with a high degree of professionalism and collegiality across evaluation team members and in interactions with USAID and local stakeholders.

Minimum Qualifications and Experience

• Advanced degree in a relevant field such as monitoring and evaluation, international affairs, or social science.
• More than ten (10+) years of demonstrated professional experience in designing/conducting evaluations of donor-funded projects.
• Proven skills and experience in developing methodological tools and instruments for evaluations, such as interview protocols or questionnaires, data processing sheets, etc.
• Proven skills in data analysis, whether qualitative (using systematic analytical processes or coding), quantitative (using software like Stata, SPSS, or other), or both.
• Past experience leading evaluation teams, with the ability to foster positive collaboration.
• Strong familiarity with conducting evaluations in the USAID context, including USAID’s guiding policies.
• Strong English communication skills are required, both interpersonal and written.
• Prior work experience in Central Asia strongly preferred.
• Fluency or working proficiency in Russian strongly preferred.
• Additional proficiency in other local languages such as Kazakh, Kyrgyz, Tajik, Turkmen, or Uzbek is highly desirable.

Location

Future short-term consultancies are expected to be based in at least one of the following countries: Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. Some assignments may require travel to multiple countries.

Estimated Level of Effort

Each consultancy assignment is expected to require 20-100 days of effort, depending on the nature of the assignment.