Research Officer Consultant -IWMA Baseline Assessment (1)

CAMRIS International 

USAID’s Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning Project, Nepal

Position Title: – Research Officer Consultant -IWMA Baseline Assessment (1) 

CAMRIS International is an international development and research firm that realizes innovative solutions to health and development challenges through high-quality, cost-effective program and research management services. With experience working in more than 80 countries, we combine our proven systems with today’s most effective, evidence-based best practices to improve the lives of people around the world. We apply a customized, customer-centric, cost-effective business approach to offer greater value to our clients and challenge the way things have always been done in our field.

CAMRIS clients include U.S. government agencies and multilateral and private organizations. Our core practice areas include public health, agriculture, and food security, economic development, education, environment, humanitarian assistance, democracy and governance, monitoring, evaluation and learning, and medical research. 

CAMRIS International implements USAID/Nepal’s Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning (MEL) Activity a five-year project. The Nepal MEL Activity assists the Mission in planning, designing, conducting, disseminating, and learning from more rigorous monitoring and evaluation of development activities. This includes designing and implementing both quantitative and qualitative evaluations and assessments, as well as providing expert analysis and technical assistance to USAID/Nepal’s programs. The Nepal MEL Activity has three major components:

• Component 1: Support greater rigor and coherence in USAID/Nepal’s M&E efforts
• Component 2: Design and conduct analyses, evaluations, surveys, studies, and assessments
• Component 3: Support improved knowledge management within the Mission

In support of the CAMRIS-implemented, USAID/Nepal Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning (MEL) Activity, we seek a Research Officer Consultant for the upcoming baseline assessment and performance monitoring supporting the cross-project efforts of the Integrated Watershed Management Activity (IWMA). The two-year IWMA in Nepal has an overall goal of improving water security, access, and equity of use through integration of USAID activities. IWMA requires four key deliverables: 1) Integration Plans for Lower Karnali and Rangun Khola Watershed; 2) MEL Plan for each watershed; 3) Organization and facilitation of quarterly planning/review sessions; and 4) Semi-annual and annual progress reports. 

The purpose of this baseline assessment is to understand how a mechanism designed to support ongoing activities in targeted geographical areas helps improve coordination and integration with those other activities and how it contributes to improving water security and watershed management. As part of the baseline assessment, MEL also may be requested to oversee collection of data in comparison areas and for individual indicators. The indicators required to be collected by MEL remain under discussion as of this posting.

This assessment will collect information on three levels of outcomes related primarily to process (short term), results (medium term) and lessons for USAID’s strategic planning. It will rely on secondary and some primary information to measure how the indicators related to IWMA’s theory of change adjust over time. The assessment also will measure how the integration plan for each watershed contributes toward addressing water security issues, well-being, public health, economic growth, environmental sustainability, political stability, and disaster risk reduction. The overall assignment is planned to be conducted in three phases (baseline, midline, endline) between late November 2018 and January 2020 to review, assess, monitor and compile evidence from the pilot watersheds where IWMA is operating. Exact timing of each is to be determined in discussions with the client and during design of the assessment methodology and workplan. 

Responsibilities:

• Regular meetings with partners and other stakeholders to gather existing data and information
• Explore other sources for secondary data, gather them, and check their validity and reliability
• Review and analyze secondary data and information
• Prepare meeting notes and progress briefs
• Conduct field visit to gather primary data, code and analyze them
• Draft certain parts of the report as required by the team leader
• Any other tasks assigned by the team leader
• Coordinate closely with CAMRIS office in Kathmandu and provide periodic updates

Qualifications

• A graduate degree in relevant field.
• At least 3-5 years of monitoring, evaluation and/or research experience. 
• Cross-cutting experience across relevant issues including water security, public health, well-being and economic growth, environmental sustainability, political stability, and disaster risk reductiondesired.
• Experience involving collecting and analyzing data broadly across water quality and water security issues is desirable.
• Experience in quantitative and qualitative research methodologies with some background in statistics and qualitative methods required.
• Experience of working in watershed management projects preferred.
• Good oral and written communication skills in English required.

Interested qualified applicants are requested to apply through the following link by 4th November 2018

https://careers-camris.icims.com/jobs/3801/research-officer-consultant/job