Spark ,Lead Researcher/Evaluator Jobs in Rwanda

General
SPARK information

SPARK has twenty
years experience in job creation and entrepreneurship in post-conflict states.
With offices in Amsterdam (HQ), Bujumbura, Kigali, Juba, Ramallah, Monrovia,
Benghazi, Gaziantep, Belgrade, Mitrovica and Pristina SPARK develops higher
education and entrepreneurship, so that young ambitious people are empowered to
lead their conflict affected society into prosperity. We aim to support the
ongoing development process in post-conflict societies by building the

capacity
of local economic and educational institutions in a way that is lasting and
demands the pro-active participation of local communities.
SPARK is currently
looking for a:

Lead
Researcher/Evaluator for a qualitative Impact Evaluation of SPARK Rwanda
Cooperative Support Programme (CSP) in Rwanda. (p/t)

General
description about the position

SPARK’s Cooperative
Support Programme (CSP) is a three year programme which started in 2013, with
financial support from the Dutch Embassy in Rwanda. In support of more rigorous
approaches to monitoring and evaluation in (youth) employment and value chain
programming, SPARK has received additional funding from the ILO to conduct an
impact evaluation of the programme. Initially an RCT design, with support from
JPAL affiliates, was proposed to add rigour to the research and lessons
learned. However, the small sample size (number of target cooperatives in the
programme is 100) meant it did not lend itself well to this experimental
design. Thus a qualitative research design, in consultation with the ILO, is
now being proposed.

Agriculture, the
main engine of economic development in Rwanda, is underdeveloped and
organizations, agencies and (state) institutions that ignite and stimulate
rural economic growth are insufficiently equipped to do so. At the same time,
rural areas suffer from food insecurity and high rates of un- and
underemployment, particularly for youth. The government of Rwanda views
cooperatives as a potential vehicle through which the cooperatives members
could create employment and expand access to income-generating activities, and
develop their business potential, including entrepreneurial and managerial
capacities through education and training. Many development organizations are
focusing on increasing yields and quality, but few are focusing on the business
aspects including processing, value addition and competitiveness on the
national and international markets. The Cooperative Support Programme aims to
enhance the business skills and competitive capacity of cooperatives and of
agribusinesses to enhance income, job creation and food security.

Thus, the rationale
for the Cooperatives Support Programme (CSP) is that there is limited
specialized cooperative support available in Rwanda to motivate, facilitate,
mentor and monitor cooperatives to improve their business outlook,
agri-processing activities, and marketing potential. The challenge is to
address the widely differing organizational capacities, business skills,
technical knowledge and physical resources of the existing cooperatives and
small and medium enterprises (SMEs) agri- businesses to increase and improve
their competitive position. The purpose of the intervention is to accelerate
agri-business development thus promoting rural economic growth and generating
jobs in the agricultural sector, which will altogether contribute to food
security and stability. The intervention is implemented by SPARK, an enterprise
development NGO working in Rwanda over 3 years.

A two pronged
approach is followed in the programme. Firstly, a select group of 100
cooperatives and agri-businesses will directly receive business development
services, including facilitation of financial services for new business
ventures. These cooperatives and agri-businesses will be supported and trained
for specific business ventures addressing market opportunities. Identifying
these opportunities began during this programme design stage and were further
refined with market research conducted in the inception phase. The cooperatives
will be coached intensively during the course of the programme in improving
their business skills and their competitive position step by step.

Secondly, the
programme delivers capacity building of service providers for cooperatives and
agri-businesses. The capacity building will entail training (with an emphasis
on-the-job) of trainers, advisors and coaches in business and organisation
development services and will be integrally linked to the first approach. The
rationale is that this “cooperative support network” or CSN will take over the
programme’s direct services delivery interventions in a later programme phase.

The proposed impact
evaluation examines only the programme’s first, direct service delivery
component. The different interventions that altogether make up the direct
support component are as follows:

(1) Direct training
of cooperatives members on cooperative administration, finance, marketing,
value addition, markets opportunities, contract compliance, access to finance,
loan administration, etc;

(2) Matching with an
advisor/ coach who will regularly follow up on the target cooperatives
including goal setting and reaching specific targets and goals;

(3) Study visits for
selected cooperatives members to model cooperatives;

(4) Agri-Business
Plan competition and follow up BDS support for youth;

(5) Access to
finance trajectory

The impact
evaluation will be looking into the specific needs of cooperatives and their members,
how they can be addressed, attitudes and opinions on coops’ contracting and
marketing channels, members’ individual training needs etc. This will then be
compared with how the projects interventions are qualitatively being evaluated
by coops and members as having helped effectively to address these needs and
constraints.

As such SPARK is
looking for a lead researcher to: help design the research protocol, including
the design of the data collection (questionnaire plus observation); oversee
data collection (in collaboration with a local data collection firm); and
provide support with the general logistics.

We foresee this
assignment being conducted in two phases: the initial phase will run from April
to June 2015 (3 months) when research tools are designed, data is collected and
analysed.

The second phase of
the work will take place from April to June 2016 (3 months) where the next end
point data is collected and a comparison between data sets is made. The
researcher is expected to coordinate and oversee the data collection of the end
point, data analysis, and coordinating a write-up and possible publication of
findings.

In between the two
intensive research periods the researcher will be expected to maintain contact
with the SPARK team on the ground and so some follow up.

Main tasks
and responsibilities

Phase 1 (April –June
2015) – full time

Be located in SPARK
Rwanda head office in Kigali to work closely with SPARK team to:

  • Lead on
    qualitative Impact Evaluation research design
  • Coordinate
    with Rwandan ethical research body
  • Conduct
    evidence review
  • Develop
    data collection tools
  • Oversee
    data collection and analysis (in collaboration with local research firm)
  • Improve
    outcome monitoring system at SPARK Rwanda
  • Frequent
    travel to field locations will be expected
  • Logging

Phase 3 (April –June
2016) – full time

  • Lead
    end point data collection.
  • Analyse
    and interpret results
  • Write
    up of findings to produce the final report
  • Make
    presentation of findings to SPARK and to donor

Requirements
and competencies

  • 5-10
    years’ experience conducting Impact Evaluations, with knowledge of
    qualitative and quantitative methods, counterfactuals, etc.
  • Strong
    knowledge of the field of agribusiness, cooperatives and development;
  • Good
    knowledge of the agricultural sector in Rwanda, policies and other
    interventions;
  • Masters
    or PhD in a relevant field of study; strong academic background in social
    science research methods
  • Fluent
    in English; French and/or Kinyarwanda an advantage but not essential.
  • Responsible
    and honest;
  • Excellent
    computer skills and good knowledge of Excel and other research data
    collection software;
  • Good
    team worker while able to work independently;
  • Ability
    to work under pressure and meet deadlines;
  • Excellent
    communication and social skills and able to work in multicultural setting.

SPARK offers

  • Contract
    for 40 hours/week for the two 3-month research periods.
  • Competitive
    salary in the Rwandan development research context.
  • International
    environment and dynamic working experience.

Selection
procedure:

Only shortlisted
applicants will be invited to interview and test. Two rounds of interviews.

How to apply:

For more
information, please visit the SPARK website: www.spark-online.org . If you are
interested, please email your letter of motivation and your CV to
csp[at]Spark-online.org before 15 March at 5pm. Vacancy Researcher/Evaluator
SPARK Rwanda Inquiries about the position can be made through email only
directed to a.gonzalez[at]spark-online.org .

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *