Project Summary:

MSI is a partner of EnCompass LLC in the execution of the Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning Platform for USAID in Senegal. The objective of the Platform is to support USAID/Senegal in its performance management and contribute to the establishment of a sustainable MEL culture in Senegal through holistic engagement and the strengthening of local actors and institutions. The Platform helps to facilitate evidence-based decision-making to support adaptive mission management, engage USAID partners in their continuous improvement efforts, and provide capacity strengthening for local partners and service providers. The Platform is conducting a mid-term evaluation to assess the performance achieved by Winrock International’s Entrepreneurship and Investment project after three years of implementation. Specifically, the evaluation team will collect feedback from beneficiaries, examine and analyze the project’s development hypothesis, review results achieved to date, and study the activity’s strategies and interventions to ascertain the likelihood of the activity meeting its high-level objectives.

Position Summary:
The Private Sector Finance Specialist will serve as an expert for a midterm evaluation of Winrock International’s Entrepreneurship and Investment project. The Specialist will examine the project’s business investment services, business-driven approaches, and banking and finance service approach. The specialist will review and assess the Senegalese business development service providers and finance service providers. The position will be based in Dakar, where the individual can travel to as needed. This assignment will include travel to project’s zones of intervention in Senegal. This is a Short-Term Technical Assistance (STTA) position reporting to the Platform’s Senior Monitoring & Evaluation Specialist, who is based in Dakar. The expected period of performance will run from May 2024 to September 2024, and the estimated level of effort is 30 working days.

**Please note: Only citizens of Senegal are eligible for this position**

Responsibilities:
-Examine the relevance, viability, and sustainability of business development models such as business development services, business investment services, financial services or any business models put in place during project implementation.
-Provide evaluation of how business development services including marketing assistance, technical assistance, or other consultancy institutions did or did not spur investment and/or business development.
-Provide evaluation of financial service providers such as banks, credit unions, or other financing institutions promoted a sustainable business model or incentives.
6Analyze the business enabling environment and overall business ecosystem as it relates to promoting entrepreneurship.
-Analyze how the market and competitiveness in developing private investment in the relevant sectors targeted by the project.
-Submit a weekly progress report during the field data collection.
-Review documents provided by USAID and other stakeholders, present findings, and conclude how this information will feed into data collection.
-Participate in presenting the synthesis of the results of the literature review.
-Contribute to the development of the workplan, under the supervision of the Team Leader and in coordination with the other team members.
-Participate in the enumerator training.
-Identify and conduct interviews with relevant stakeholders and organizations.
-Produce detailed interview notes after each interview.
-Contribute to the review of data to produce the evaluation report.
-Support the development of the evaluation findings and conclusions table.
-Support the presentation of the evaluation initial findings to USAID.
-Co-facilitate the workshop for the co-creation of recommendations with relevant stakeholders.
-Contribute to the development of the evaluation report, incorporating comments if necessary.
-Participate in revisions process to arrive at final report.
-Contribute to the PowerPoint presentation of the final results to USAID.
-Perform any other tasks or activities necessary for the success of the evaluation.

Qualifications:

-Master’s degree in economics, business management, marketing, or relevant field is required.
-Minimum five years of experience in evaluation and/or social science research is required.
-Minimum 10 years of work experience in the Senegal private sector required.
-Experience with and knowledge of the private sector agricultural and/or public policies related to the private sector in the agricultural or agribusiness field is required.
-Experience with participatory and iterative methods, including leading focus group discussions is required.
-Experience conducting or leading assessments, evaluations, and/or research with USAID is preferred.
-Experience in project evaluation, and knowledge of USAID’s evaluation approach is most appreciated.
-Familiarity with qualitative and/or quantitative software is preferred.
-Strong analytical, writing and synthesis skills is required.
-Fluency in French is required. Advanced proficiency in English is preferred.


**Deadline for applying for this position - May 10, 2024**