Summary
Date Posted: Saturday, October 14 2023, Base Salary: Not Disclosed

JOB DETAILS:
1. General Statement of Purpose of the Contract.

USAID/Uganda is seeking qualified candidates for the position of Program Management Specialist (Monitoring and Evaluation), (PMS/M&E).

The Program Management Specialist (Monitoring and Evaluation), (PMS/M&E) position is located in the Program Office -Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning (MEL) sub-team. The Specialist serves as advisor to USAID/Uganda management, its partners, and implementing partners (IPs) on systems for monitoring, evaluating, and reporting on USAID development impact. The Specialist ensures monitoring, evaluation, and learning (MEL) is incorporated into all appropriate Mission policy documents and activity designs. The Specialist provides technical leadership to the Mission on strategic planning, performance monitoring, evaluation and learning to ensure that strategic results are systematically tracked and analyzed to support accountability, learning and adaptations in strategies and approaches. To this end, the Specialist coordinates and provides technical guidance to other M&E Specialists in the Mission technical offices in delivery of key MEL tasks required at both the Mission and Implementing Partner (IP) level. The Specialist also serves as the Contracting Officer’s Representative (COR) for a US $27 million Mission-wide MEL Activity.

The Specialist reports to the Supervisory Project Management Specialist (Collaborating, Learning and Adapting (CLA)) and the position is nonsupervisory.

Background: USAID/Uganda provides development assistance to Uganda through its Country
Development Cooperation Strategy (CDCS), with a focus on increasing health security, enhancing resilient growth and strengthening accountability in local and national governance systems. The CDCS is implemented by over 70 IPs of USAID/Uganda.

The Program Office provides strategic and technical support to technical teams at USAID/Uganda and its IPs to ensure that the Mission’s portfolio is fully aligned to the development results of its CDCS, resources are budgeted for to implement the planned activities and results are systematically tracked and analyzed to support accountability, learning and adaptations in strategies and approaches.

2. Statement of Duties to be performed.
• Development, Management and Maintenance of the Mission Performance Management Plan – 40 %
• Provides strategic and technical leadership in the ensuring the alignment of existing USAID/Uganda Activities with the strategic results framework of the new CDCS.
• Works closely with office directors/team leaders, Agreement/CORs (A/COR) and USAID IPs to develop and implement a mission-wide Performance Management Plan (PMP). In doing so, provides technical leadership in the design, implementation and management of strategic and activity evaluations, studies and investigations as defined in the Mission Learning Agenda.
• Provides technical leadership in selecting indicators to measure overall context in areas of interest to the Mission, as well as performance indicators and tools for measuring progress toward the Mission’s development objectives, intermediate results, and sub-intermediate results.
• Provides technical guidance to A/CORs in ensuring that the Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning Plans (AMELPs) of their Activities, including performance indicators, targets and learning plans are fully aligned with the PMP of the CDCS.
• Development and Implementation of Mission wide M&E Tools and processes – 40 %
• Provides technical leadership and guidance to Mission teams and implementing leadership in the design, implementation and update of various MEL tools and processes in line with the new CDCS by:

• Reviewing and updating IP annual and quarterly work planning and reporting templates and provides guidance to IPs in the design and execution of baseline surveys, studies, operational research. Takes a lead role in the development of other MEL tools and ensures their dissemination to IPs as part of a consolidated MEL starter pack.

• Coordinating the development and implementation of USAID/Uganda’s Data Quality Assurance (DQA) Plan. In so doing, the Specialist is responsible for consolidating the DQA plans of various offices, ensuring budget availability for implementation, coordinating timely implementation, and ensuring that the DQA reports are produced, discussed, and follow up actions agreed upon in a timely and quality manner.
• Providing technical guidance to A/CORs in reviewing the quality of periodic IP progress reports and performance data in Development Information Solutions (DIS), with a focus on accuracy and completeness to ensure overall coherence and timeliness in the compilation of the annual Performance Plan and Report and the portfolio review(s).

• Works closely with A/CORS across the Mission in identification of MEL capacity gaps of their IPs and developing periodic MEL training clinics and technical assistance towards strengthening both the Mission and IP’s M&E systems.

• Collecting, preparing, and analyzing performance monitoring data for quarterly and annual results reporting, annual portfolio reviews and mid-course stocktaking to determine program progress by the implementing partners and the Mission.

• Facilitating learning from and appropriate management/use of data analysis.

• Providing technical and administrative oversight as the COR for a US $27 million Mission-wide MEL Activity that aims to help improve the overall performance management of USAID/Uganda, through evidence-based programming.

• Management of the Mission’s Performance Management Information System – 20 %
• As the Mission Point of Contact for the DIS, oversees the smooth running of the Mission’s performance management information system, the DIS by:

• Providing technical support to A/COR in ensuring that their IPs are enrolled in the DIS by: having their accounts set up, access rights granted and working closely with the A/CORs to ensure timely data certification and utilization of the data for decision support.

• Liaising closely with A/CORs to ensure the timely entry by periodic (quarterly and annual) performance data and information by IPs into the DIS. Further, the Specialist undertakes in-depth analyses of the data in the DIS and the periodic progress reports from IPs to ensure overall consistency and coherence to facilitate decision support by A/CORs.

• Providing regular technical inputs to the DIS System developers and administrators to ensure that the DIS functionality is regularly updated and remains responsive to the needs of USAID/Uganda.

3) Supervision Received: The Specialist will work under the supervision of the Supervisory Project Management Specialist (CLA) in the Program Office.
4) Supervision Exercised: Supervision of other USAID staff is not contemplated.

12. PHYSICAL DEMANDS: The work requested does not involve undue physical demands
II. MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS REQUIRED FOR THIS POSITION
Offers will be initially screened for compliance with application instructions and eligibility in accordance with the minimum qualification criteria listed below. To ensure compliance with the entire set of this solicitation instructions (please see page 6 to 9 –

III. EVALUATION AND SELECTION FACTORS and

IV. SUBMITTING AN OFFER sections), the offer package must be completed and signed (hand or electronic signature) where indicated - and offerors must include in their offers information to demonstrate that they:

(1) have attained the required education level; and
(2) meet the experience requirements, etc.

Education:
• Bachelor’s degree in social sciences, economics, demography, evaluation and management, or a related field is required.

Prior Work Experience:
• Minimum of five (5) years of progressively responsible, professional level experience in monitoring and evaluation of development programs. Professional experience related to the development of monitoring and evaluation plans at different levels, design and management of evaluations, surveys and studies, operation of management information systems and reporting involving working with teams in dynamic environments is required. Experience in supporting teams utilize evidence to guide program adaptation is required.

Language Proficiency:
Level IV (fluent) English writing and speaking ability is required.

Job Knowledge:
Possess a thorough knowledge and understanding of Uganda’s development issues including familiarity with key government programs and their measurement frameworks, donor programs and a sound awareness of the country’s social economic environment.

Skills and Abilities:
Must possess strong interpersonal skills and demonstrated ability to work effectively within different team environments, demonstrated ability to guide, facilitate and collaborate with both internal and external counterparts to achieve quality results on time; strong conceptualization and problem-solving skills; excellent communication skills, including outstanding writing skills, with special attention to detail and yet succinct, timeliness, and quality; ability to conduct quantitative and qualitative data analysis and conversant with the use of software analysis packages.

III. EVALUATION AND SELECTION FACTORS

The Government may award a contract without discussions with offerors in accordance with FAR 52.2151. The CO reserves the right at any point in the evaluation process to establish a competitive range of offerors with whom negotiations will be conducted pursuant to FAR 15.306(c). In accordance with FAR 52.215-1, if the CO determines that the number of offers that would otherwise be in the competitive range exceeds the number at which an efficient competition can be conducted, the CO may limit the number of offerors in the competitive range to the greatest number that will permit an efficient competition among the most highly rated offers. The FAR provisions referenced above are available at https://www.acquisition.gov/browse/index/far 

The technical evaluation committee may conduct reference checks, including references from individuals who have not been specifically identified by the offeror, and may do so before or after a candidate is interviewed.

Offers will be initially screened for compliance with the solicitation instructions and eligibility in accordance with the qualification criteria below.

To ensure compliance with the entire set of this solicitation instructions (please see page 9 to 10, IV SUBMITTING AN OFFER section), the offer package must be complete, and signed (hand or electronic signature) where indicated - and offerors must include in their offers information to demonstrate that they have attained the required education level and meet the experience requirements, etc.

Offerors will be evaluated and ranked based on the information provided for the four Quality Ranking Factors (QRFs) that must be addressed as required in the supplemental document – Item IV – Submitting an Offer 1 (iv).

Offerors must, therefore, address each of the four Quality Ranking Factors (QRFs) in their offer. Top ranked Offerors who meet the minimum qualification will be invited for an interview and given a written evaluation.

Management may consider the following when determining successful candidacy: nepotism, conflicts of interest, budget, and residency status.

Current employees serving a probationary period are not eligible to apply. Current employees with an Overall Summary Rating of Needs Improvement or Unsatisfactory on their most recent Employee Performance Report are not eligible to apply.

The four Quality Ranking Factors (QRFs) that must be addressed as required in the supplemental document – Item IV – Submitting an Offer 1 (iv) are:

1. Skills and Abilities (50 points):

Must possess strong interpersonal skills and demonstrated ability to work effectively within different team environments; --10 points

Demonstrated ability to guide, facilitate and collaborate with both internal and external counterparts to achieve quality results on time; --10 points

Strong conceptualization and problem-solving skills; --10 points

Excellent communication skills, including outstanding writing skills, with special attention to detail and yet succinct, timeliness, and quality; --10 points

Ability to conduct quantitative and qualitative data analysis and conversant with the use of software analysis packages. --10 points

2. Job Knowledge (20 points):

Possess a thorough knowledge and understanding of Uganda’s development issues including familiarity with key government programs and their measurement frameworks, donor programs and a sound awareness of the country’s social economic environment.

3. Prior Work Experience (30 points):

Minimum of five (5) years of progressively responsible, professional level experience in monitoring and evaluation of development programs. --10 points

Professional experience related to the development of monitoring and evaluation plans at different levels, design and management of evaluations, surveys and studies, operation of management information systems and reporting involving working with teams in dynamic environments is required. --10 points

Experience in supporting teams utilize evidence to guide program adaptation is required. --10 points

4. Education and Professional Qualifications (Pass/Fail):

Offerors will be given a passing score if they have a relevant level of education. Offerors without a relevant level of education will not be considered for award or proceed forward in the evaluation process. Pass/Fail

Bachelor’s degree in social sciences, economics, demography, evaluation and management, or a related field is required.



Work Hours: 8

Experience in Months: 60

Level of Education: Bachelor Degree

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