NORC at the University of Chicago (NORC) is Seeking a Proactive Data Collection Consultant based in Lesotho
Job Summary
On behalf of NORC, the Consultant will serve as a Data Collection Consultant for the performance evaluation of the Global Labor Program: Levi-Strauss Partnership activity funded by the United States Agency for International Development Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment Hub (USAID/GenDev) under Women’s Economic Empowerment (WEE) in Lesotho. The Global Labor Program: Levi-Strauss Partnership is a program focused on preventing and responding to gender-based violence (GBV) by implementing economic empowerment activities and developing the capacity of municipalities and authorities.
The Consultant will:
1. Review the background documents related to Global Labor Program: Levi-Strauss Partnership;
2. Participate in data collection training and review sessions with NORC’s technical leads;
3. Coordinate and conduct a maximum of four 1-hr semi-structured key informant interviews (KIIs) with program participants from Nien Hsing;
4. Coordinate and conduct a maximum of two 1.5-hr focus group discussions (FGDs) with representatives from local partner organizations;
5. Transcribe KIIs and FGDs; and
6. Contact at least 125 survey respondents from Nien Hsing via email, text messages, or over the phone.
All tasks are to be undertaken using remote means of communication, including email, phone calls and text messages. NORC will reimburse the Consultant for the communication expenses incurred to conduct the outreach to respondents. NORC and the Consultant will receive support from the local implementing partner by being introduced to potential respondents, specifically program staff and participants. The Consultant’s performance period is October 1, 2022 to February 24, 2023, equivalent to up to approximately 12 days (95 hours) of work for all tasks. During this period, the Consultant will coordinate and conduct interviews with program participants; coordinate and moderate FGDs with representatives from local partner organizations; recruit Nien Hsing employees for the survey; travel to FGD and KII sites; record FGDs and KIIs in audio; transcribe FGDs and KIIs and submit audio files, notes, and transcriptions to NORC through its secure transfer port; and update NORC periodically on progress. While the tasks listed below can change based on availability and preference of respondents, NORC’s technical leads and the Consultant will work to adjust the scope of work to be completed in a timeline that is satisfactory to both parties. Female consultants are encouraged to apply.
Required Qualifications
· A Bachelor’s degree, preferably in social sciences, such as sociology, anthropology, economics, public policy, psychology, education, etc.
· Three or more years of experience conducting semi-structured or in-depth interviewing.
· Experience working on projects related to gender or GBV.
· Three or more years of experience transcribing interviews from audio files.
· Two or more years of project coordination related experience, including recruitment of participants for research projects.
· Professional proficiency in English and fluency in Sesotho. Other relevant local languages for the task are an asset.
· Computer and social media literacy, including Microsoft Office Suite, WhatsApp, Facebook, etc.
· Ability to travel for interviews and FGDs and manage audio files for submission.
How to Apply
Interested candidates should email a CV and cover letter to [email protected]. Please use the following subject line in your email: “WEE Application – Lesotho.” Please also contact us at this email with any questions.
About this Evaluation
USAID/GenDev in the Bureau for Development, Democracy, and Innovation (DDI) has contracted NORC to carry out a performance evaluation of its GBV portfolio comprising four activity clusters:
1. Better Together Challenge (BTC), which includes six GBV-oriented activities to empower Venezuelan migrant women and create better lives for participants, their families, and others;
2. Collective Action to Reduce Gender-Based Violence (CARE-GBV), which supports USAID/GenDev in the development of guidelines, strategic plans, training, and professional networking support for its GBV programming;
3. The Resilient, Inclusive & Sustainable Environments (RISE): A Challenge to Address Gender-Based Violence in the Environment, which supports organizations to adapt and implement approaches addressing GBV in environmental programming; and
4. Women’s Economic Empowerment (WEE), which fosters women’s economic participation through directly working with grassroots beneficiaries or enabling systems-level and environmental change related to gender equality.
WEE activities funded by USAID/GenDev encompass a broad range of interventions to overcome barriers and foster women’s economic participation. WEE focuses on three pillars of programming as key pathways for improving women’s workforce engagement:
1. Advancing workforce development and vocational education to ensure women have the skills and training necessary to secure jobs;
2. Promoting women’s entrepreneurship and providing women with access to capital, markets, technical assistance, and networks; and
3. Striving to remove the legal, regulatory, and cultural barriers that constrain women from being able to participate fully and freely in the economy.
The purpose of this study is to understand what is working, challenges faced, knowledge gaps, and what can be improved in USAID/GenDev’s GBV portfolio.
About NORC at the University of Chicago
NORC is one of the largest and most highly respected social research organizations in the United States pursuing high quality social science research that serves the public interest. NORC’s International Programs designs and implements evaluations, data collection, and other analytical projects throughout the world and has developed close collaborative relationships with researchers, survey firms, and policy think tanks in numerous countries. NORC has also worked extensively throughout Africa.