Research Assistant, USAID Tuberculosis Local Organizations Network (TB-LON) Regions 1, 2 and 3 Midterm Performance Evaluation at Social Impact (SI)

Timeline: September 2022 – January 2023

Scope of Work

• Research Assistant of Tuberculosis Local Organizations Network Regions 1, 2 and 3 Midterm Performance Evaluation
• Social Impact is a global development management consulting firm. We provide monitoring, evaluation, strategic planning, and capacity building services to advance development effectiveness.
• We work across all development sectors including democracy and governance, health and education, the environment, and economic growth. Since 1997 we have worked in over 100 countries for clients such as US government agencies, bilateral donors, multilateral development banks, foundations, and nonprofits.
• In Nigeria, SI supports Navanti to implement the Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning (MEL) Support Activity which provides comprehensive MEL and Collaborating, Learning, and Adapting (CLA) support to strengthen USAID/Nigeria’s results for increased learning and accountability and contribute to implementation of its Country Development Cooperation Strategy.

Project Objective

• USAID/Nigeria has engaged the MEL Support Activity to conduct an external Midterm Performance Evaluation of a Tuberculosis - Local Organization Networks (TB-LON) Activity. This Activity is a partnership of local stakeholders implementing locally generated solutions focusing on empowerment and accountability to improve TB services and leverage additional resources in Nigeria. The activity is divided into 2 separate but similar awards that support 18 states and have been grouped into 3 regions as follows: 
• Organization: 
  • KNCV:
    • Region 1: Bauchi, Kaduna, Kano, Katsina, Plateau, Taraba, Nasarawa.
    • Region 2: Akwa Ibom, Anambra, Benue, Cross River, Imo, Delta, Rivers.
  • IHVN:
    • Region 3: Ogun, Osun, Oyo, Lagos.
• The primary purpose of this mid-term performance evaluation is to improve the implementation and enhance the impacts of TB LON, and to provide feedback on its design and how this might be improved in future projects.   
• The evaluation will achieve this purpose by assessing the project’s design, its development hypothesis, its performance, its progress towards intended results, and TB LON’s contributions and position in the NTBLCP’s response to TB, and then recommending ways in which implementation can be enhanced. 
• The estimated start date will be September 19, 2022. The evaluation is expected to last until January   2023, and the estimated LOE will be 38 days, maximum.

Position Description

• SI is seeking a Research Assistant who will be supporting evaluation team’s effort. Under the technical leadership of the MEL Support Activity, The Research Assistant will be working alongside one Team Leader and two other Nigerian team members.
• The Evaluation Specialist will consult with the team and provide input to the deliverables throughout the duration of the evaluation.

Responsibilities

• Contribute expertise and technical inputs to the work plan. Support the design of the evaluation, methodology, development of instruments, data collection, synthesis of data, presentations, and report.
• Perform desk review and identify additional information required for analysis.
• Schedule and interview key stakeholders and beneficiaries.
• Maintain accurate records of interviews, safeguarding the confidentiality of subjects, as necessary
• Summarize interviews
• In consultation with the Team Leader, support team's ongoing analysis of qualitative and quantitative data.
• Support the preparation and presentation of the Inbrief and Outbrief to USAID/Nigeria and other stakeholders as requested.
• Write assigned sections of the draft Evaluation report in coordination with the team members, taking into consideration feedback from the Out-brief presentation.
• Support the Team Leader to respond to USAID comments on the draft report and prepare a final report.
• Work collaboratively with team members throughout design, implementation, analysis, and report writing to complement each other's areas of expertise.

Qualifications

The candidate is expected to have the following qualifications:

• An undergraduate degree in a related field
• A minimum of two years of post-graduation experience as research assistant in evaluating large health and TB projects, including baseline and mid-term studies of health and TB projects in Nigeria.
• Strong background in qualitative data collection methods, including focus group discussions (FGD), key informants/ in-depth interviews (KII/IDI).
• Advanced skills in quantitative data collection and analysis with the use of softwares such as Dedoose, NVivo, Stata or R.
• S/he must demonstrate high command of English language written and verbal fluency.
• Background in USAID’s cross-cutting program priorities, such as gender equality and women’s empowerment, youth, etc.
• The ability to contribute to produce preliminary and final reports on time.