Team Lead and Legal Education Expert - MSI " Ramallah "
TEAM LEAD AND LEGAL EDUCATION EXPERT, USAID/ WEST BANK/GAZA MENA MELS ACTIVITY, REMOTE
Management Systems International (MSI), a Tetra Tech Company, is a Washington, D.C. metro area management consultancy with a 40-year history of delivering results for our clients. Our expertise is in the fields of monitoring and evaluation; democracy and governance; peace and stability; rule of law and accountability; education; gender and inclusion; strategic communications; and leadership and organizational development. MSI has implemented projects in 90 countries around the world such as Colombia, Indonesia, Jordan, Kenya, Mexico, Nigeria, Pakistan, Syria and Ukraine, and works domestically. We support clients ranging from the U.S. Government (e.g., the U.S. Agency for International Development, U.S. Department of Defense, U.S. Departments of State and Labor, and the Millennium Challenge Corporation) to large bilateral and multilateral donors (e.g., the World Bank and the United Nations Development Program). We also work with national and local governments, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), think tanks, foundations and universities. For more information, please visit our website at www.msiworldwide.com.
Project Summary:
MSI implements USAID’s Middle East & North Africa Monitoring, Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning Services (MENA MELS) Activity, which supports the design and implementation of rigorous research, assessments, evaluations and learning activities for USAID’s Middle East Bureau and its operating units (OU) in 10 countries in the Middle East and North Africa, including the West Bank and Gaza. The USAID/ West Bank and Gaza (WBG) Mission’s Democracy, Rights and Governance team commissioned a rapid assessment of the democracy, rights and governance sector in the West Bank. The rapid assessment is being carried out in two phases; phase one (completed) studied local governance institutions and ecosystems in the West Bank. Phase two will examine the broader DRG sector at the national level, including the key actors, institutions, organizations and government and donor funded initiatives that advance good governance at the national level. The purpose is to identify entry points for USAID programming and provide USAID/WBG with actionable and specific programmatic recommendations in the following areas: governance transparency, accountability and anti-corruption, legal education, media in the West Bank and Gaza, and inclusion of women, youth, and people with disabilities (PWD) in government and semi-government institutions, including access to government and public services, and initiatives by civil society and non-governmental organizations working in the governance space. The period of performance is on/about February 24, 2023 – April 20, 2023, with up to 45 days of LOE.
**Please note: All Palestinian citizens are eligible for this position.**
Position Summary:
The Team Lead and Legal Education Expert will simultaneously serve as the assessment team lead for a four-person team and act as a senior researcher for the legal education focus area. The Team Lead and Legal Education Expert will support the US-based MSI Activity Manager to manage the field work and to develop the rapid assessment draft report. This position will require maintaining regular communication with the other focus area Senior Researchers and overseeing implementation of the data collection and evaluation schedule to ensure activities are on track. The role will also assist Senior Researchers, as needed, to develop actionable recommendations for USAID programming in each focus area and the MSI Activity Manager to synthesize the research inputs from each focus area into a draft phase assessment report. This role will be located in West Bank.
Responsibilities:
- Participate in a kick-off planning workshop to review the approved rapid assessment work plan, including research approach and methods, roles and responsibilities of team members, activity timeline and deliverables, communication protocols, and draft data collections tool.
- Identify key national-level actors, government, semi-government, and non-governmental institutions and organizations for their respective focus area, along with key informants and further refine the data collection tools for their focus area.
- Identify and examine significant initiatives undertaken by USAID and other donors within their technical area.
- Conduct desk research as well as organize and conduct key informant interviews with legal education stakeholders or those with a view of legal education and related governance programming across the West Bank.
- Describe and analyze the current relationship between law schools and national governance institutions, as well as their support for and involvement in rule of law and good governance initiatives.
- Identify potential entry points for USAID, with reference to major activities and gaps in other donors’ programming, to support scaling up of good governance initiatives as well as efforts to improve the quality of legal education and increase access and participation of women, youth, and people with disabilities in law school enrollment.
- Upload notes from interviews need to be uploaded on a shared folder within 48 hours of interviews being completed.
- Ensure all desk review materials are organized, electronically filed and carefully cited.
- Monitor the completeness of note taking by other team members and their progress in scheduling and completing key informant interviews.
- Identify potential entry points and partners for USAID to promote legal education related entry points for USAID across the West Bank.
- Submit to the Activity Manager an internal report in English with summary findings and recommendations to inform development of the rapid assessment draft report.
- Synthesize data from the other focus areas covering inclusion, media, anti-corruption, and transparency and accountability.
- Facilitate weekly check-in calls with other Senior Researchers, MSI Activity Manager, and MSI WBG buy-in Team Lead to share information and insights, discuss findings and emerging recommendations, ensure overall coherence and consistency of the research across focus, and mainstream inclusion and other cross cutting themes that emerge.
- Facilitate a virtual syntheses workshop along with the MSI Activity Manager.
Qualifications:
- Master’s degree in law, public policy and/or research, or related subjects required.
- Minimum 10 years of relevant experience, including in the West Bank required.
- Experience researching, including conducting literature review/desk study and in-person semi structured interviews required.
- Experience leading assessment teams required.
- Experience with USAID WBG Mission and understanding of USAID’s operational parameters required.
- Knowledge and understanding of legal and governance sector institutions and actors at the national-level, as well as donor-funded support to the legal education sector required.
- Established existing networks with experts in the legal education field, such as law schools, academics, and civil society, preferred.
- Ability to travel in the West Bank required.
- Strong client-facing communication, presentation, and writing skills required.
- Fluency in written and spoken English and Arabic is required.