Learning and Research Communication Specialist, USAID Highlands Resilience Platform for Adaptive Learning (R-PAL), Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Company Profile:
MSI, a Tetra Tech Company, is a Washington, D.C. metro area international development firm with a 35-year history of delivering development results across the world. Our core expertise is in the fields of monitoring and evaluation (M&E), institutional development, public sector management, governance and anti-corruption. MSI has implemented projects in 90 countries around the world such as Jordan, Kenya, Indonesia, Syria, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Ukraine, Colombia and Mexico. As one of the leading companies in our field, MSI has partnered with organizations across all sectors of international development to support clients ranging from large bilateral and multilateral donors such as USAID, the World Bank and the United Nations Development Program to national and local governments, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), think tanks, foundations and universities. For more information on MSI, please visit our website at www.msiworldwide.com.
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Proposal Summary: **
The anticipated USAID-funded Highlands Resilience Platform for Adaptive Learning (R-PAL) will support agile learning, research, and collaboration with implementing partners and USAID/Ethiopia to facilitate joint action planning, enable adaptive management practices, and allow for evidence-based decision-making in the Ethiopian Highlands. R-PAL will directly support, assess, and collaborate with USAID's Transitioning into Graduation through Enhanced Resilience (TIGER) Project, a $740 million project consisting of multiple resiliency, food security, and livelihoods activities with multiple implementing partners. Support provided under R-PAL is likely to include assistance in implementing collaboration, adaptation, and learning (CLA) activities with USAID's implementing partners and mission staff; supporting, collecting data on, and tracking Problem Driven Iterative Adaptation (PDIA) activities to help implementing partners adjust their activities; rapid assessments; research and evidence generation, synthesis, and communication; and capacity building to help USAID's partners improve and scale their activities.
The project is expected to involve services across four objectives: (1) Collaboration and coordination with implementing partners, (2) Investments informed by learning, evidence, and research, (3) Adoption of adaptive management processes based on evidence and research, and (4) Early adoption and scaling of innovative programming based on rigorously tested approaches.
Position Summary:
The Learning and Research Communication Specialist will be responsible for leading and managing learning and workshop facilitation, collaborative activities with USAID partners, and research communication tasks. The Learning and Research Communication Specialist will be based in Ethiopia. The role of the Learning and Research Communication Specialist is to help R-PAL ensure USAID's partners and staff understand how research applies to them and to facilitate coordination and collaboration to put research into action.
Responsibilities:
- Work with MSI R-PAL team to communicate research and evidence on food security, resilience, and other relevant topics for multiple audiences, including USAID staff, partners, and local counterparts.
- Lead and manage collaboration activities, such as workshops, facilitated meetings, and exchanges with USAID partners to find research-driven ways to identify shared measurement approaches and improvement in collective impact.
- Work with Senior Monitoring and Evaluation Specialist and other R-PAL staff to plan and facilitate theory of change workshops, research symposia, and other activities to ensure Highlands investments are informed by learning, research, and evidence.
- Collaborate with R-PAL staff to develop research briefs, presentations, and other deliverables that make research and evidence accessible and relevant to USAID partners.
- Work with R-PAL staff to develop, facilitate, and manage peer-to-peer learning opportunities.
- Support R-PAL staff and USAID partners through innovative communications products and outreach, such as research briefs and virtual exchanges, to promote adaptive learning.
Qualifications:
- Understanding of basic research methods and ability, whether through coursework or applied experience.
- Demonstrated experience in communications, including crafting messages for a variety of audiences, such as those in government, civil society, and non-profit sector.
- Demonstrated workshop, training, or other in-person and remote facilitation experience.
- Demonstrated experience communicating complex research topics to non-technical audiences.
- Experience and familiarity with issues USAID partners address in the Highlands region, including food security, security, resiliency, and agriculture.
- Familiarity and understanding of the customs and norms in the Highlands region.
- Full professional proficiency in spoken and written English is required.
Only candidates who have been selected for an interview will be contacted. No phone calls, please.
MSI is an EEO/AA/ADA Veterans Employer.
MSI is dedicated to hiring an inclusive workforce. If you would like to request reasonable accommodations during the application process, please email MSI.Dept.HRRecruiting@tetratechinc.onmicrosoft.com with Reasonable Accommodations in the title. Our recruitment team looks forward to engaging in an interactive process to provide reasonable accommodations for candidates.
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