The Aga Khan Foundation (AKF), alongside its sister AKDN agencies, has implemented innovative, community-driven solutions to development challenges for over 50 years. It brings together human, financial and technical resources to address some of the challenges faced by the poorest and most marginalised communities in the world. Special emphasis is placed on investing in human potential, expanding opportunity and improving the overall quality of life, especially for women and girls. It works primarily in six areas: Agriculture and Food Security; Economic Inclusion; Education; Early Childhood Development; Health and Nutrition; and Civil Society.
“The Aga Khan Foundation (AKF) is committed to safeguarding, which means it promotes respectful relations with and between all staff, associates, beneficiaries and wider communities with whom it works, and takes all reasonable measures to prevent harm, including all forms of sexual exploitation, abuse, harassment (PSEAH), bullying, discrimination, harassment and abuse of power that may arise from contact with its staff, programmes or operations.
AKF also adheres to child safeguarding principles, as set out by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the Convention on the Rights of the Child.
All selected candidates will undergo rigorous reference and background checks. Background checks will include the verification of academic credential(s), employment history and any potential history of misconduct. Selected candidates may be required to provide additional information to conduct a full background check.
All employees of AKF are required to adhere to the organizational safeguarding standards and principles and at all times to act with dignity, respect and to contribute to a safe environment free from any type of harassment, abuse or discrimination.”
Position summary
AKF USA is seeking to hire a Learning Advisor who will serve as a consultant for 9-12 months for the AKF and USAID jointly-funded Local Impact Leader with Associate (LWA) award. With an eye toward conflict prevention and resolution, Local Impact will target marginalized and vulnerable communities to: (1) Catalyze inclusive economic growth and ensure basic livelihoods; (2) Enhance infrastructure and access to basic services with a focus on clean energy; (3) Enhance the capacity of citizens and local institutions; and (4) Promote pluralism and social cohesion.
The Learning Advisor is expected to provide support to the Local Impact Global Lead and the MERL Unit in designing and oversight of learning products planned under the award. Beside the traditional M&E framework, the Local Impact will rely on the other approaches, such as Learning Agendas, Feedback Loops and research studies to measure the broader impact of the program interventions.
This will be a 9-12 months consultancy. Ideally the Learning Advisor will be based in Bishkek or Dushanbe, but remote work may be possible. However, these challenges will span Kyrgyzstan, Afghanistan, and Tajikistan and traveling often would be needed when it is safe and permissible.
PRIMARY DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES
- Drafting a Learning Agenda which outlines global learning questions, activities, and products which align with AKF’s mission and USAID’s metrics;
- Managing evaluation and learning components globally in close consultation with the Local Impact Lead and an AKDN MERL Working Group;
- Designing and carrying out relevant targeted studies;
- Lead the tendering and onboarding of the Local Learning Partners
- Working closely with local learning partners to move Learning Agenda and MERL activities forward and generate lessons from across Associate Awards;
- Ensuring a systematic application of Collaboration, Learning and Adaptation (CLA) approaches throughout the Leader and Associate Awards to leverage the benefits of adaptive management which provides a mechanism of rapid feedback loops, course correction, and project improvement;
- Organizing and leading learning events with AKF and USAID;
- Manage the implementation of research activities and projects. Once the MERL Working Group approves research projects, the Learning Advisor will prepare scopes of work, identify, and contract third-party research consultants, supervise and provide technical support during research fieldwork, and ensure high quality submission of research products.
- Ensure that research consultants work closely with local learning partners and AKDN field colleagues with the goal of building local research capacity (i.e. studies, assessments, evaluations).
- Assume leadership for internal learning strategies. These strategies will be ultimately determined by the MERL Working Group and included in annual plans. However, we anticipate that the internal learning strategies will consist of workshops, seminars, and conferences.
- Forming consortia with partners with specific methodological or approach-focused areas of expertise; and
- Along with other MERL Working Group members, participate in the selection of research topics and projects.
- Traveling internationally where required to deliver on the responsibilities articulated above including potential travel to Afghanistan, Tajikistan, and the Kyrgyz Republic.
QUALIFICATIONS AND EXPERIENCE
- A minimum of five years of experience managing and implementing public health or international development projects.
- A masters degree, preferably in rural or social development, applied research or other MERL related fields;
- At least 5 years of experience in:
- USAID Monitoring and Evaluation methods and approaches including CLA;
- Planning, design, and implementation of integrated M&E systems;
- Research methodology as applicable to international development programming;
- Utilization-Focused Evaluation;
- Designing and conducting quantitative and qualitative surveys and assessments, and writing comprehensive reports for a variety of internal and external stakeholders;
- Spoken and written fluency in English is essential, and knowledge of Russian, Tajik or Dari is an asset.
- Excellent written and verbal English-language skills;
- Practical experience in the monitoring and evaluation of activities in integrated development programs, particularly in agriculture, market development, education, health, and civil society sectors;
- A minimum of 12 years of relevant professional experience, with at least 7 years of direct experience in a development context within complex M&E units, particularly in Central and South Asia;
- Extensive knowledge of Learning Agendas;
- Demonstrated knowledge and capacity to design and implement qualitative and/or quantitative research methods for the purpose of program evaluation;
- Demonstrated capacity to write results-based and donor reports;
- Experience with the development of data collection methods and tools (forms, formats, questionnaires) as well as systems for the entry, analysis and storage of qualitative data (e.g. MAXQDA, or others);
- Able to work independently in a fast-paced organization by prioritizing and managing multiple priorities. Strong attention to detail and follow-through required;
- Experience with quantitative and qualitative research;
- Experience on data analysis.
- Field experience in capacity building for monitoring, evaluation, and research.
- Ability to travel 30-50% of the time.
Values and Attitudes
- Diversity and Inclusion: Treats all people with dignity and respect; sensitive towards others; open and understanding toward other people’s cultures, values, autonomy, and faiths; demonstrates compassion and empathy; is courteous to others with respect for their background, religion, gender and age.
- Integrity and Commitment: Demonstrates equity, transparency and integrity with high personal and organizational ethical standards; is fair, honest and trustworthy with respect for confidentiality; inspires and builds trust; values and advances community-level agency in decision-making for projects.
- Ethics and Safeguarding: Committed to acting ethically and upholding safeguarding standards towards all staff, volunteers and beneficiaries of the organization.
How to apply:
Interested applicants should apply through AKDN career website www.akdn.org/careers/1831658 not later than 2nd July 2021.