Policy LINK Short-term CLAME Specialist, Part-time or Full-time

Posted: June 11, 2024

Background

The seven-year (2019 – 2026) Feed the Future Policy Leadership, Interactions, Networks and Knowledge (Policy LINK or LINK) project will strengthen the capacity of local actors and institutions to lead and manage the agricultural transformation process and contribute effectively and collectively to improved, broad-based food security policy outcomes. Specifically, the program aims to strengthen food security policy systems by investing in and reinforcing productive human and social capital and developing strategic partnerships that help bring these innovations and capacity investments to scale in order to achieve a critical mass of local actors with the ability and opportunity to effect positive policy change through collective action.

Policy LINK is a global program that plays an integral role in transforming agricultural policy systems worldwide and improving food security outcomes in line with the U.S. Global Food Security Strategy and advancing countries on their journeys to self-reliance. Rather than developing policies or directing policy-making processes outright, LINK strengthens the capacity of local actors and institutions to lead agricultural transformation processes in their respective countries and regions. It builds on USAID’s and DAI’s almost nine years of experience on the Africa Leadership Training and Capacity Building Program (Africa Lead) and Building Capacity for African Agricultural Transformation (Africa Lead II).

Objectives

Policy LINK employs a facilitative approach to strengthen the capacity of system actors and foster collective action to transform agricultural policy systems, and as such, employs a flexible learning and evidence-building approach based on Collaborating, Learning, Adapting, Monitoring, and Evaluation (CLAME) and implemented through a Developmental Evaluation (DE). DE is the continuous adaptation of interventions and learning through the use of evaluative thinking and tools. DEs are methodologically agnostic and utilization-focused. They adjust as the project changes to deliver contextualized and emergent findings on an ongoing basis to inform learning and adapting. Policy LINK’s DE includes a project/global-level DE, as well as DE Leads embedded in buy-in offices in Ghana and Ethiopia (Champions for Food Security, C4FS).

The DE team is conducting evaluation and learning that will require future support on the following Policy LINK activities: Outcome Tracking and Emergent Outcome Harvest, Communities of Practice, Bangladesh Buy-In, Ethiopia Champions for Food Secruity (C4FS). In order to respond to increased work volume facilitate use of the study findings, the DE team needs to process and analyze the incoming data quickly. As we have learned from previous engagements, a timely turn-around necessitates short-term assistance to support full-time staff.

The proposed consultants would work with the DE team to code qualitative data from interviews, focus group discussions, supplementary text documentation, and any other qualitative data sources in Dedoose, conduct primary and secondary analysis of the data, and assist in drafting findings and conclusions. CLAME Specialists may also facilitate CLAME for LINK by ensuring consistent and high-quality MEL plans, supporting in-country and global team MEL staff as needed with tools, guidance and assistance, and designing and facilitating training and subsequent technical support.

Qualifications

The proposed consultant(s) will have experience in qualitative research methods and/or evaluation scoping, coding, and analysis, and a background in international development. CLAME Specialists should also have contextual knowledge of USAID operations and relationships with implementing partners (IPs), an understanding of industry and donor relationship management, experience working with clients to clarify their needs and identify project scope, and experience adapting to emergent changes and challenges during evaluation activities.

CLAME Specialists should also have experience in the following: community engagement; participatory evaluation/research; user-centered design; project management; and planning, facilitating, designing, and conducting data interpretation workshops, meetings to scope evaluation and learning activities, and other client and team coordination meetings.

Specialists will have a Master’s Degree in a relevant field and 6-8 years of related experience.

Tasks and Deliverables

CLAME Specialists are responsible for supporting CLAME efforts at the project-level and buy-in level, as well as working with the DE team, through tasks such as:

• Help Policy LINK staff at DAI think through creative, fit-for-purpose methodologies for monitoring, evaluation and CLA activities;
• Assist with development and updating Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning (MEL) Plans for Policy LINK’s project and buy-in activities, as needed;
• Leading design efforts for evaluative activities through coordination meetings between the global learning POCs, buy-in leads, and others, as needed, and leading or supporting implementation of evaluative activities;
• Plan, manage, and implement workshops/training to build LINK staff capacity for CLAME; offer refreshers or additional capacity-building support as needed;
• Work closely with the Global MEL team, to stay apprised of developments at the global level and with buy-ins and to coordinate on MEL support;
• Provide support and technical assistance to MEL staff in-country, as requested;
• Help inform updates at the project-wide level by having visibility across the LINK buy-in portfolio.
• Conduct qualitative analysis (including data coding) on existing documentation, provided data sets, and newly collected data
• Draft findings, conclusions, and recommendations, based on qualitative analysis
• Contribute to drafting reports or other learning products, based on analysis
• Maintain trackers on progress, contribute to individual and team work planning and coordination, and regularly participate in team communications to maintain consistency and quality assurance throughout data collection and analysis
• Provide quality assurance of all deliverables

Reporting

The Short-Term CLAME Specialists for Headlight Consulting Services will report to the CLAME Lead for Headlight, Monica Matts.

Compensation

The hourly rate for a short-term CLAME Specialist position will be between $47-60/hour depending on experience, education, and qualifications.

How to Apply

Candidates should be comfortable working with a team that primarily operates in the US East Coast time zone (UTC-4 from March through October and UTC-5 from November through February).

Interested persons should send a CV and Cover Letter that highlights experience aligned with the requirements above to info@headlightconsultingservices.com. Please include in the subject line of your email, “Policy LINK Short-term CLAME Specialist.”