United States of America: Standards Consultant

About the Position:
Position Type: Contract
Location: Washington, DC

Anticipated Duration: Approximately 14 weeks with an anticipated start date of September 21 and an end date of December 31, 2017
Reporting to: Director of Membership and Standards

Background:

InterAction is the association of 200 US-based international development and humanitarian civil society organizations. It seeks to revise and update its Standards, (formerly known as Private Voluntary Organizations (PVO) Standards) first established in 1994 and revised periodically.

Intended to ensure public confidence in the integrity, quality, and effectiveness of member organizations and their programs, the Standards define the financial, operational, and ethical code of conduct for InterAction member organizations. Compliance with the Standards is a goal for all InterAction members, who must complete a self-certification process every two years.

Since 1994, the Standards have been periodically updated to include gender and diversity amendments, material (gift-in-kind) assistance, food aid, clothing standards and educational material standards.

The InterAction Board has established a Standards Task Force to revise the standards and accomplish the following four objectives:

· Simplify the standards;

· Include impact measurement;

· Address gap areas that may be missing vis-à-vis other standards, i.e. Duty of Care

· Align the standards with other international standards, such as the Global Standards Project (International Civil Society Centre) and Sphere.

Position Summary:

The consultant will be responsible for surveying the field of impact measurement being applied or developed by other organizations and articulating meaningful impact/outcome measurement indicators to include as standards that could apply to a diverse set of development, humanitarian and other nonprofit organizations in terms of size, sector and activities. This review would include other standards-setting or evaluation agencies within InterAction’s field, as well those working in the broad field of charity evaluation (e.g., Charity Navigator, GuideStar, GiveWell, Impact Investment and Reporting Standards – IRIS, which is applied towards social impact investments, etc.).

The consultant’s work will include desk research and phone/in-person interviews with those at other evaluation and ratings organizations. A team of 5-6 graduate students from the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs at Syracuse University will provide literature review support.

Responsibilities:

During the project, the consultant will:

· Conduct environmental scan on the impact measurement field and how other actors with aims similar to InterAction (i.e., seeking “common denominator” measures that can be applied to a large number of organizations representing diverse sizes, sectors and programming activities) are measuring, tracking and reporting on this component.

· Present an overview and analysis of research findings

· Direct and manage graduate students assisting on this project

· Provide status update to Standards Task Force on monthly basis

· Following completion of the research, the consultant will complete a written summary of the research and a recommendation on the type of impact measurement standards to be integrated into revised Standards (no later than December 31, 2017).

Qualifications:

· Strong analytical skills, with the ability to deal with a range of complex issues in assessing impact measurement and data

· In-depth understanding of the nature, politics and prevailing cultures of INGOs

· Proven writing and editing skills

· Proven track record of project management

· Proven track record of conducting similar environmental scans

· Proven track record managing researchers

· Fluency in written and spoken English.

Competencies

Professionalism: in-depth knowledge and understanding of standards effectiveness and substantial professional experience within the sector; proven conceptual and analytical skills that lead to the formulation of policies, strategies and recommendations.

Communication: ability to draft and write in a clear and concise manner and to communicate effectively orally; strong inter-personal skills demonstrated by the ability to gain the assistance and cooperation of others for collaborative efforts

Accountability: reliability and commitment to timely delivery of high quality outputs

Physical Requirements:

Sedentary work. InterAction will make reasonable accommodation to enable individuals with disabilities to perform essential functions.

To Apply:

Please ensure that you submit full tendering information to jobs@interaction.org, including:

• A cover letter

• A work plan that outlines:

• Your proposed approach to the research, the main methodologies you would follow and anticipated key issues for completion of the research (including proposed outputs) (of not more than 3 pages)

• The issues likely to be at play in identifying a standard that is both appropriate for and acceptable for US NGOs that vary widely in core characteristics

• Availability to fulfil the consultancy, including:

• a proposed timeframe

• a breakdown of work days involved

• Anticipated number of days, daily rates and an estimate of any extra costs

• Your CV

• Sample written work on a relevant topic

• 2 references

Selection of the Consultant will be based on:

• How well the tender meets the requirements laid out in the terms of reference
• Cost of project meets funding available

Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted.

Deadline: Open until filled, with applications preferred by 9/8/2017

Applications should be submitted to jobs@interaction.org. When applying, please include Standards Consultant in the subject line.