Monitoring and Evaluation Specialist, USAID/Liberia

SOLICITATION NO: SOL-669-15-000035 ISSUANCE DATE: September 4, 2015 CLOSING DATE: September 25, 4:30 pm LOCAL TIME SUBJECT: Solicitation for U.S. Personal Services Contractor (USPSC) "Local Hire" for Monitoring and Evaluation Specialist, USAID/Liberia To All Interested Applicants The United States Government, represented by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), is seeking applications (Offeror Information for Personal Services Contracts - Form AID 302-3) from qualified U.S. Citizens to provide services for Monitoring and Evaluation Specialist under a Personal Services Contract, as described in the attached solicitation. The place of performance for this position is Monrovia, Liberia. Submissions to this solicitation shall be in accordance with the attached information, at the place and time specified. Email submissions shall be sent to sbrowne@usaid.gov and kpaudel@usaid.gov. Incomplete, unsigned or late applications will not be considered. Applicants should retain for their records copies of all enclosures which accompany their applications. USAID/Liberia will not consider an extension to the submission deadline for this procurement. Any questions or comments regarding this solicitation should be in writing and directed to sbrowne@usaid.gov and kpaudel@usaid.gov. Only short listed candidates will be contacted. Phone calls or e-mail to any address other than the one specified in this solicitation will not be accepted. Sincerely, Hector Morales Supervisory Executive Officer USAID/Liberia USAID/Liberia Mailing Address: 8800 Monrovia Pl Dulles, VA 20189 ATTACHMENT 1: Solicitation 1. SOLICITATION NUMBER: SOL-669-15-000035 2. ISSUANCE DATE: September 4, 2015 3. CLOSING DATE/TIME: September 25, 2015, 4:30 PM Local time 4. POSITION TITLE: Monitoring & Evaluation Specialist, USAID/Liberia 5. MARKET VALUE OF POSITION (Base Pay): GS-13 ($73,115-$95,048 per annum). 6. PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE: One year, to start on or about December 1, 2015 with extension options for a total of two years. Extensions will depend on the need for continuation of such services, availability of funds, and satisfactory performance. 7. AREA OF CONSIDERATION: U.S. Citizens 8. PLACE OF PERFORMANCE: Based in Monrovia, Liberia 9. JOB DESCRIPTION: Monitoring & Evaluation Specialist 10. BASIC FUNCTION OF POSITION Although significant challenges remain, Liberia's health has made substantial progress since the civil war ended in 2003. Liberia's civil wars, which spanned 1989 to 2003, decimated basic infrastructure, including water and sanitation, electricity, roads, education, and health services - factors that contributed to the spread of disease and premature mortality. More than a decade following the end of the conflict, Liberia still remains among the poorest countries in the world, facing significant public health challenges as well as weak systems for delivering basic health services. Supply chain systems remain weak leading to recurrent stock-outs of basic supplies and medications, availability of skilled health workers is still low by regional standards, management capacity at all levels remains thin, and service provision in many areas is dependent on support from donors and NGO partners. Health systems weaknesses were among the factors that enabled the 2014 Ebola outbreak to quickly escalate into a full-scale national emergency, and threatening to further reverse years of progress made in improving the health status of Liberians. The Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) Specialist will join the Mission Health Team which presently consists of 14 positions including three US Direct Hires (USDHs), and a combination of US and Third Country National (TCN) Personal Services Contractors (US/TCN PSCs), and locally engaged Foreign Service Nationals (FSNs). The team is organized into two sub-teams, each headed by a USDH Foreign Service Officer: the Service Delivery Sub-team, and the Health Systems Strengthening Sub-team. The Health Systems Strengthening Sub-team leads management of the Mission's flagship wrap-around technical assistance activity, Collaborative Support for Health Systems Strengthening (CSH), and coordinates the health portfolio's WASH activities which cut across both the Service Delivery and the Health Systems Strengthening Sub-teams. The Service Delivery Sub-team leads management of a Government-to-Government (G2G) Fixed Amount Reimbursement Agreement (FARA) the Ministry of Health (MOH), as well as a diverse portfolio of technical assistance and support in cross-cutting areas of primary health care service delivery including maternal/reproductive and child health. In addition, the health portfolio has a strong and extensive President's Malaria Intiative (PMI) that, coupled with the Global Fund investment, covers the entire country. The Monitoring & Evaluation (M&E) position will join the Health Office at USAID/Liberia to oversee and coordinate the monitoring and evaluation of all health program activities in Malaria, Maternal & Child Health (MCH), Family Planning & Reproductive Health, HIV/AIDS, Ebola, and health systems strengthening. The Office of Health's monitoring and evaluation functions include, but are not limited to: project performance monitoring (including participation on an advisory level in the Ministry of Health's stewardship and M&E oversight); program level data gathering/validation; trend monitoring and reporting; implementation of public health evaluations and special studies; and strengthening of health management information systems, national surveillance systems and population based surveys. The specialist will be an integral member of the Health team providing leadership and technical guidance to effectively monitor and evaluate the full range of program progress and results. The M&E Specialist will also serve as the Program Office liaison on behalf of the Health Team around monitoring, evaluation, and learning. The Specialist will lead planning, logistics and implementation of key programmatic activities, such as the annual performance plan and report, operational plan, annual and semi-annual reporting (including USAID's PPR, ad-hoc reporting required for special initiatives, etc.), monthly Congressional mandated reporting for Ebola activities, partners' M&E plans, work-plan reviews, and health portfolio review. The M&E Specialist will also interact closely with the broader health team; the President's Malaria Initiative (PMI) members, and the interagency Ebola Team and will collaborate on programmatic responses from headquarters. The Specialist will interact with the Government of Liberia (GOL), non-governmental organizations (NGOs), the private sector, USAID implementing partners, and any other key stakeholders involved in health programming. The Specialist will also lead the development, streamlining and implementation of strategic processes, tools and systems across the board for the Health Office. The Specialist is expected to complete assigned duties with little direct supervision and will work extensively through diverse teams. While the incumbent will report directly to the Health Team Leader, he or she is expected to work closely and collaboratively with the Service Delivery and Health Systems Strengthening Sub- teams as appropriate. 10. MAJOR DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES The M&E Specialist performs a variety of duties and must possess the ability to multi-task. Good organizational skills, attention to detail, and understanding systems, databases and associated authorities are required. In particular the incumbent will be responsible for the following activities: A. Provide technical leadership for the Health Team's Assessment, Monitoring Evaluation, and Learning priorities and activities - Serves as the team's expert and champion in charge of coordinating assessments, monitoring and evaluation of activities - including both impact and program/process evaluations of health development activities - in close coordination with the Program Office M&E Specialist and mission partners, including implementers, contractors, and the Government of Liberia. - Leads the development of the team's assessment, monitoring and evaluation systems and frameworks; keeps team members informed of developments in program assessments, monitoring and evaluation activities; and provides technical guidance on how these may be applied within the Mission setting. - Works with the team's A/CORs to better determine internal programmatic information needs for contract/grant management, learning and adaptation, and reporting purposes for both routine and special initiative reporting - such as for the Global Health Security Agenda, the Presidents Malaria Initiative (PMI). - Assists AOR/CORs to determine and utilize the most effective performance indicators that meet the needs of USAID for both reporting, as well as performance management. - Serves as the team's technical expert for design and implementation of USAID/Liberia's health sector performance monitoring plan (PMP) and alignment of activity-level M&E plans. - Participate as the Health team representative to the Mission-wide Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning (MEL) working group, led by PPD. Working group member's primary function will be to serve as M&E/CLA "champions" within their teams, keep PPD informed of M&E and Collaborative Learning and Adaptation (CLA) needs, and to support the Mission's efforts to further the M&E and CLA agendas, ensure higher quality M&E work, and share lessons learned. - Works with PPD's Collaboration, Learning, and Adaptation (CLA) Advisor and implementing partner(s) to champion CLA in the Health Team's day-to-day activities, champion development of a health team learning agenda, and support COR/AORs to operationalize the Mission's learning agenda in the Health team. - Identifies and prioritizes projects for external evaluation, coordinates/advises development of evaluation Scopes of Work, reviews and provides input to draft evaluation data and narrative report to ensure quality, and ensures that resulting monitoring and evaluation findings are disseminated. - Serves as the Health Office's - Point of Contact' for all related assessments, monitoring and/or evaluation efforts. - Conducts and/or coordinates periodic analyses of program and M&E reporting data and presents findings for collaboration, learning and adaptation and other periodic mission needs, such as to support portfolio reviews or annual results reporting, or for reports presented internally or externally. - Serves as the health team focal point to establish, review, and maintain the Mission-wide Performance Monitoring Plan (PMP). B. Provide management, coordination and/or oversight of Monitoring, Evaluation, Data Management and Reporting activities - Is responsible for coordinating the development, presentation, analysis and reporting on indicators for all projects supported by USAID/Liberia's Health Office through the yearly Performance Plan and Report (PPR) and monthly Ebola Supplemental Funding reports, working in close collaboration with CORs/AORs/Activity Managers and implementing partners to ensure overall conformity with USAID guidance. - Actively participates in the Mission's Program and Project Planning process. - Works with USAID Health implementing partners and contractors to ensure timely and quality data reporting into USAID/Liberia's M&E reporting database (presently the Performance Indicator Database System (PIDS), which is managed by an external contractor). The M&E Specialist will work with PPD and the contractor to propose additions and refinements and work with Mission AOR/CORs and Health DO Implementing Partners to ensure programmatic data integrity and compliance. - Develops plans for conducting regular site visits to review implementation of M&E efforts in close collaboration with CORs/AORs/Activity Managers. Based on information collected during field visits, communicate findings and recommendations for strengthening M&E activities to the Health Team and, as appropriate, implementing partners and GOL counterparts. - Reviews Implementing Partner Activity/Programmatic M&E Plans for Agency compliance with standard / required indicators and data reporting, Mission strategy, and Liberian context; assists DO Team AOR/CORs to track data quality assessment needs and follow-up to ensure findings are addressed. - Maintains an inventory of M&E data, reports, tools, and other information related to the health sector and USAID health programs. Assures Health Team compliance with USAID policies regarding performance measurement and evaluations. - Provides the team with input in the development of award solicitations to integrate assessments, monitoring and evaluation guidance. - Assists in developing a DO team monitoring and evaluation plan in line with the team's targets, as well as ensures that partners develop project monitoring plans and report in a timely manner on their activities. - Develops plans for conducting regular site visits to review implementation of M&E efforts in close collaboration with COR/AOR/Activity Managers. Based on information collected during field visits, communicate findings and recommendations for strengthening M&E activities to the Health Team and, as appropriate, implementing partners and GOL counterparts. - Independently conducts formal or informal reviews to assess program accomplishments; Analyzes program processes and impact, and makes recommendations for effective changes; Leads Health Team in coordination and presentation at the Annual Strategic Portfolio Review. - Coordinates design, and as assigned participates as Health Team activity manager / point of contact for external evaluation teams, and ensures effective Mission management of health mid-term and end-of project evaluations in collaboration with relevant Contracting Officer's Representative (COR) and Assistance Officer's Representative (AOR) and the Mission M&E Specialist in the Program and Project Development (PPD) team. - Works with USAID Health implementing partners and contractors to ensure timely and quality data reporting into USAID/Liberia's mission M&E reporting database (presently the Performance Indicator Database System (PIDS) system, which is managed by an external contractor). The M&E Specialist will work with PPD and the contractor to propose additions and refinements and work with Mission AOR/CORs and Health DO Implementing Partners to ensure programmatic data integrity and compliance. Other duties as assigned 15. REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS: a. Education: A Master's degree in public health, public administration, economics, international development or international relations. b. Prior Work Experience: The M&E Specialist will have at least 5 years of professional experience in designing and implementing Monitoring and Evaluation activities in progressively responsible positions, with demonstrated field experience in assessment, monitoring, evaluation, and analysis of program operations. c. Technical Experience and Skills - Demonstrated ability to provide expert technical advice and leadership in the design and implementation of M&E activities - Strong analytical skills and experience in the collection and analysis of data - Demonstrated in-depth knowledge of state of the art approaches in monitoring and evaluation of development or public health programs - Familiarity with USG policies and requirements preferred but not required. - Demonstrated experience working collaboratively with technical host-country counterparts, donors and other stakeholders at national and decentralized levels. d. Teamwork and Interpersonal Skills - Demonstrated strong interpersonal skills and ability to work in a multi-cultural setting. - Demonstrated ability to work in a team - oral and written interpersonal communication is critical. - Demonstrated experience working closely with government decision-makers and program managers at central and decentralized levels in a developing country. e. Language, Communication and Computer Skills - Strong written and verbal communication skills. Must be fluent in English (FSI Level 4) and have proven ability to communicate quickly, clearly and concisely in both speech and writing. Excellent writing skills must include ability to produce and edit documents in a timely manner. - Able to facilitate meetings and make logical and persuasive oral presentations to senior officials and partners in a multi-cultural context. Ability to communicate technical information to health and non-health audiences. - Excellent written communication skills are required to prepare regular and ad hoc reports, activity documentation and briefing papers. - Strong working knowledge of word processing and data management tools (MS Word, Excel, PowerPoint); knowledge of statistical analysis programs a plus but not required. f. Post Entry Training: USAID's in-house courses for monitoring & evaluation and other Agency courses, as needed. g. Language Proficiency: Must have proven ability to communicate quickly, clearly and concisely - both orally and in writing in English (Level 4). Demonstrated ability to make sensitive oral presentations logically and persuasively to senior USG and other donors; 16. POSITION ELEMENTS: a. Supervision Received: The M&E Specialist works under the general supervision of the Health Office Director or his/her designee. Assignments are made orally and in writing. Most assignments are self-generated, and occur in the normal course of the work. The Specialist exercises independence in most phases of the assignment, but determines those situations that must be coordinated with the supervisor. The supervisor provides a review of the assignment, the goals and objectives to be achieved, and the results expected. The Specialist seeks advice and assistance as required. Completed work is accepted as technically correct, and the overall assignment is reviewed in terms of results achieved. The supervisor will assess the Specialist's performance in conformance with policy and results achieved against Annual Work Plans with major input from other 360 degree sources. Incumbent functions with a degree of latitude and independence. b. Available Guidelines: The USAID Automated Directive System (which replaces A.I.D. Handbooks), USAID's Monitoring & Evaluation Guidelines, Evaluation Policy, Country Development Strategy for Liberia and Performance Monitoring and Evaluation Mission Orders. c. Exercise of Judgment: Managerial judgment is required to effectively deal with public and private sector representatives, to achieve the objectives of USAID's assistance program and to handle implementation issues with government offices and within and outside the Mission. The incumbent works with a high level of independence in managing the Health Team's monitoring and evaluation systems, and in informing and advising technical staff and implementing partners on data collection and measurement. The incumbent uses considerable judgment in developing ideas and proposals, and in determining the appropriate analytical approach to be used for a particular analysis. The incumbent also exercises considerable judgment in determining who to involve or not involve in a particular activity, and proposes teams to accomplish the objectives and analyses agreed to. d. Authority to Make Commitments: Commitments to final policy and funding will require the co-signature of the Health Office Director (or her designate). e. Nature, Level and Purpose of Contacts: Maintains a range of contacts with host-government professional staffs, representatives of other donors, and senior-level professional staff of other Offices within the Mission. Maintains contact with leaders from the private-sector, GOL, USAID implementing partners, and non-governmental organizations. The purpose of these contacts is to collect information, organize input into program reviews and strategic objective/activity evaluations, and on occasion to explain the entire USAID Health program and its objectives. f. Time Required to Satisfactorily Perform Full Range of Duties After Entry into the Post: One year ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ACQUISITION AND ASSISTANCE POLICY DIRECTIVES (AAPDs) contain information or changes pertaining to USAID policy, regulation and procedures concerning acquisition and assistance including Personal Service Contracts. Please refer to the USAID website http://www.usaid.gov/procurement_bus_opp/procurement/psc_solicit/ to locate relevant AAPDs. As a matter of policy, and as appropriate, a PSC is normally authorized the following benefits. 1. ALLOWANCES: as applicable.* ? Temporary Lodging Allowance (Section 120). ? Living quarters allowance (Section 130) or government furnished housing. ? Post Allowance (Section 220). ? Supplemental Post Allowance (Section 230). ? Separate Maintenance Allowance (Section 260). ? Education allowance (Section 270). ? Educational Travel (Section 280). ? Post differential (Chapter 500). ? Payments during Evacuation/authorized Departure (Section 600), and 2. BENEFITS: ? Employee's FICA Contribution ? Contribution toward Health & Life Insurance ? Pay Comparability Adjustment ? Annual Increase ? Eligibility for Worker's Compensation ? Annual & Sick Leave ? Access to Embassy medical facilities, and pouch mail service Note: If a US citizen, the Contractor's salary will be subject to employee's FICA and Medicare contribution. FEDERAL TAXES: USPSCs are not exempt from payment of Federal Income Taxes. 3. Contract Information Bulletins (CIBs) Pertaining to PSCs. 97- 16 Class Justification for Use of Other Than Full & Open Completion for Personal Services Contracts with U.S. Citizens Contracted with Locally with CCNs and TCNs Subject to the Local Compensation Plan, and for Overseas Contracts of $250,000 or Less 97-11 (Corrected) 1997 FICA & Medicare Tax Rates for Personal Services Contracts 97-6 Contractual Coverage for Medical Evacuation (MEDEVAC) Services 97-3 New USAID Contractor Employee Physical Examination 96-23 Unauthorized Provision in Personal Services Contract 96-19 U.S. Personal Services Contract (USPSC) - Leave 96-11 PSC's Annual Health Insurance Costs 96-8 Determining a Market Value for PSCs Hired Under Appendix D, Handbook 14 94-9 Sunday Pay for U.S. Personal Services Contracts (PSCs) 93-17 Financial Disclosure Requirements Under a Personal Services Contract (PSC) List of Required Forms for PSCs 1. Form AID 302-3 **2. Contractor Physical Examination (AID Form 1420-62). **3. Questionnaire for Sensitive Positions (for National Security) (SF-86), or **4. Questionnaire for Non-Sensitive Positions (SF-85). **5. Finger Print Card (FD-258). Note: Form 5 is available from the requirements office. _____________ *Standardized Regulations (Government Civilians Foreign Areas). **The forms listed 2 thru 5 shall only be completed upon the advice of the Contracting Officer that an applicant is the successful candidate for the job. INSTRUCTIONS TO APPLICANTS: All Applicants must address how they meet the Minimum Qualifications, as described below: a. Submit a fully completed and hand-signed copy of an Offeror Information for Personal Services Contracts (AID 302-3), cover letter and a current resume/curriculum vita (CV) containing the following information which clearly demonstrates your education, experience, knowledge, skills and abilities as they relate to the evaluation criteria. Forms are available at the USAID website, http://www.usaid.gov/forms/ or internet http://www.gsa.gov/Portal/gsa/ep/formslibrary.do?formType=ALL or at Federal offices). b. Contractor Employee Biographical Data Sheet (AID 1420-17) All applications packages are to be submitted to: Sylvester Browne Deputy Executive Specialist USAID/Liberia Email: sbrowne@usaid.gov and kpaudel@usaid.gov Please cite the solicitation number and position title within the subject line of your email application. Any attachments provided via email shall be Microsoft Word or PDF and should not be zipped. Note that attachments to email must not exceed 3 MB.