Job Vacancy at Search for Common Ground (SFCG) for an Embedded Evaluator for Evaluation Development

Search for Common Ground (SFCG) is an international non-profit organization that promotes peaceful resolution of conflict. With headquarters in Washington DC and in Brussels, SFCG’s mission is to transform how individuals, organizations, and governments deal with conflict - away from adversarial approaches and toward cooperative solutions. SFCG seeks to help conflicting parties understand their differences and act on their commonalities.  With a total of approximately 800 staff worldwide, SFCG implements projects in 49 countries, with permanent offices in over 35, including in Asia, Europe, the Middle East, the United States and Africa. We are recruiting to fill the position below: Job Title: Embedded Evaluator for Evaluation Development Location: Maiduguri Goals and Objectives

• The goal of the project is: Expanding and strengthening early warning and early response processes to enhance community and state actors’ ability to protect citizens in Borno and Adamawa States. It is supported by three specific objectives:
  • Obj. 1: Reinforce and expand a community-based early warning and early response system;
  • Obj. 2: Strengthen engagement between state and local actors to secure communities;
  • Obj. 3: Strengthen Partners’ Capacity to Support and Monitor Early Warning Systems.
• It is constructed on existing initiatives of supporting an overarching community-owned peace architecture in North Eastern Nigeria. The project builds on a process of convening and training influential local leaders for community dialogue-to-action processes in order to promote increased collaboration and confidence in insecure areas, supported through a suite of media and community activities, and strengthening structures to work with the state and linking them to civil society groups.
• A core component is an early warning/ early response system to identify emerging conflict threats and appropriate solutions. The project also develops strategies to increase learning and building capacity of partners engaged in the project.

• Given the innovative nature of the project, and the fluidity of the implementation zones, there is an important learning and adaptation approach.
• Through active monitoring and evaluation processes, the project seeks to continually identify and adapt lessons learned to develop activities, identify shortcomings and opportunities to address drivers and risks in the region.
• Lastly, lessons learned from the project shall be used to support the institutionalization of EW/ER systems and inform similar interventions in Nigeria and elsewhere. SFCG follows monitoring and evaluation (M&E) best practices based on an inclusive participatory process for engaging and sharing with the State Department, local partners, and the peacebuilding community.
• Lessons learned and best practices will be use to adapt the program design to ensure it is as effective and impactful as possible.
• Data generated from the monitoring and evaluation will also be shared, when relevant, both at Local Government Area (LGA) level through Community Security Architecture Dialogue and at State level through Peace Architecture Dialogues.
• Included in this project are two important complementary and evaluation element that will capture emerging lessons learned and measure the projects’ expected impact, namely a developmental evaluation and a quasi-experimental evaluation.

• A developmental evaluation (DE) approach is apt for the project considering the innovative aspects as well as its dynamic environment.
• The project is part of a highly complex system, and the evaluation shall explain how the issues are embedded in the system and how it can be part of the solution.
• It is critical to incorporate the concepts of systems and observe, document, and discuss, as it is frame through which problems and solutions can be understood
• The embedded evaluator is a core member of the project team, and will focus on capturing innovative, strategic and timely learning, as well as provide ongoing advice and evidence-based program suggestions to the program team and the management.
• S/he shall incorporate findings into reports outlining critical evidence, lessons learned, and adaptive management best-practices. Moreover, s/he shall write case studies to document project outcomes of critical processes such as: dialogue process and shift in relationships between stakeholders within communities.
• These case studies will be supported with quantitative and qualitative data, and will be shared with communities, local partners, and with DRL.

• The embedded evaluator will have overall responsibility for the design and implementation of the DE and ensure its quality. She/ he will be responsible for the following:
• Collaboratively conceptualize and develop the DE design (learning framework, methodology, reporting, etc.) using a participatory approach, including an introduction workshop for SFCG, partners and other stakeholders;
• Incorporate findings into monthly/ quarterly reports, and elaborate DE reports every six months which are shared with DRL outlining critical evidence, lessons learned, and adaptive management practices;
• Develop case studies to document project outcomes of critical processes such as: dialogue process and shift in relationships between stakeholders within communities;
• Develop a living work plan for the DE and DE data collection tools;
• Conduct DE data analysis, document findings, and recommendations and share regularly with program staff and management for real-time and evidence-based decision making;
• Record decision-making and other cores processes, program changes and/or changes in the environment in report logs (that track details of DE and document events that occur i.e. planned and unplanned and associated outcomes);
• Provide DE related capacity building to SFCG staff and partners.

• Given the nature of the DE, deliverables are expected to evolve throughout the course of implementation and will be adjusted and negotiated on a rolling basis. Preliminary expected deliverables include, but are not limited to:
• Introduction workshop and after-action report regarding learnings, key findings, and results;
• Develop DE design plan;
• Submission of a work plan for the DE;
• Monthly and quarterly progress reports;
• DE donor reports every six months;
• Bimonthly meetings with Deputy Country Manager and te International Learning Team;
• Case studies;
• Draft and final evaluation report.

• The embedded evaluator is part of the project and M&E team, and reports the Deputy Country Director. S/he has a close collaboration with the Institutional Learning Team. The evaluator will be located in Maiduguri until 31 July 2018.

• Programming and evaluation experience in peacebuilding, conflict resolution or other related sectors;
• Experience in international development;
• Technical knowledge, skills and expertise in evaluation design, evaluating complexity, and multi-methods, in particular qualitative and participative methods;
• Analytical skills in qualitative and quantitative research and proficiency in Excel;
• Facilitation skills, particularly design and execution of stakeholder consultations;
• Excellent oral and written communication and report writing skills in English
• Leadership and strategic thinking;
• Understanding and familiarity with North Eastern Nigeria and preferably prior working experience in the region;
• Experience with evaluating complex systems and familiarity with developmental evaluation;
• Graduate degree in Conflict Studies, International Development, Social Work, or other relevant degree;
• Speaker of Hausa and/ or Kanuri is of important value but not a requirement;