Monitoring and Evaluation Specialist – (2 positions)

Compact Program Summary 

The Government of the Republic of Kosovo (the “Government” or “GoK”) and the Millennium Challenge Corporation (“MCC”), a United States government agency, signed the Compact Agreement, a grant aimed at accelerating the country’s transition towards an energy future that is more sustainable, inclusive, reliable and affordable. The Compact Agreement is being implemented by Millenium Challenge Account – Kosovo (MCA-Kosovo), an entity which was formed to oversee, manage, and implement the Compact Program. 

The Compact program will be implemented within five years and consists of three projects 1) Energy Storage Project, 2) Just and Equitable Transition Acceleration Project, and 3) American Catalyst Facility for Development Project.

The Energy Storage Project is based on the theory that two batteries (approximately 90 MWh and 250 MWh) will give Kosovo increased capacity to balance scheduled power and actual power between neighboring countries and between periods of low value and high value. This increased capacity would reduce purchases on the imbalances market and support the longer-term capability of the transmission grid to accommodate intermittent renewable energy generation. These outcomes support the Project Objective of supporting energy security, including the (1) usage of energy storage, (2) availability of the battery, and (3) reduced cost of securing adequate electricity for Kosovo, as Kosovo transitions towards clean energy. 

JETA Project aims to address an existing education and training system unable to respond to the current or future skill gaps in the energy sector and women’s low level of participation in this comparatively high-paying sector. The JETA Project is designed to address these issues and is comprised of two objectives (1) produce graduates who are hired in relevant jobs in the energy and adjacent sectors; and (2) increase employment of women among employers participating in the Inclusive Energy Sector Workforce Activity. 

Millenium Challenge Account – Kosovo is recruiting Monitoring and Evaluation Specialists (two positions), one focusing on the Energy Storage Project and one on the JETA project. 

Position Objective 

Under the direct supervision of the Monitoring, Evaluation and Economic Analysis (MEE) Director, the Monitoring and Evaluation Specialists are responsible for supporting the daily execution and supervision of all M&E activities, including but not limited to development and implementation of the M&E Plan, data collection, analysis, and entry, economic analysis, preparation and review of quarterly and periodic reports, and liaising with project staff, Implementing Entities, and other stakeholders. The positions are based in Pristina, Kosovo. 

Duties and Responsibilities 

1. Assist the MEE Director in managing monitoring, evaluation and economic analysis tasks, including MCA-Kosovo M&E Plan development, periodic revisions to M&E Plan, Cost-Benefit Analysis, and evaluation support in accordance with MCC policies and guidelines and in coordination with MCC and relevant stakeholders; 
2. Support the development and implementation of the Monitoring and Evaluation Plan for the MCA-Kosovo in coordination with the MEE Director, MCC (MCC M&E Leads and Economists) and associated independent consultants, including advising on the performance indicators to be monitored, baseline data collection activities and methodology to be employed in support of impact evaluations; 
3. Consolidate monitoring and evaluation metrics and documentation on project performance against milestones from program team and implementing partners, to support the evaluation of project implementation and impact; 
4. Assist in the management of M&E data collection, including but not limited to reviewing and/or designing surveys, implementing data collection and quality protocols, auditing data collection by MCA-K contractors, and managing data entry;
5. Gather economic statistics to feed into the analysis that are crucial to the design and implementation of projects; 
6. Train and guide the project team and implementing partners on the use of MCA-K M&E tools and formats, to strengthen the quality of M&E outputs; 
7. Monitor the adherence of the project team and implementing partners to M&E plans and schedules across different project stages, to ensure efficient implementation of M&E plans; 
8. Assist with review and management of submissions of quarterly Indicator Tracking Tables (ITTs), including conducting quality control for completeness and accuracy, managing changes to historical data, updating ITTs as necessary based on revisions to M&E plans, working with other departments and stakeholders to address any corrections or updates, and tracking timeliness of quarterly submissions;

9. Assist in setting up and managing the MCA-K Management Information System (MIS), including all related activities such as data collection, data entry, data analysis, and reporting;
10. Assist in the preparation and publication of periodic reports including, but not limited to, monitoring and evaluation reports, quarterly and annual reports, budgets, implementation reports from project managers and implementing entities, procurement reports, and others as defined in the implementation procedures;
11. Maintain documentation and databases related to M&E statistics and project results to support improvement of projects and of the overall M&E framework;
12. Perform all other duties and exercise as reasonably directed by the MCA-K MEE Director.

Required Knowledge and Skills 

• Bachelor’s degree in economics, statistics, management, social sciences or related fields (for the JETA specialist), or economics, statistics, engineering, energy, or related fields (for the Energy Storage specialist);
• Minimum of three (3) years professional experience with at least two (2) years conducting qualitative and quantitative analysis of program analysis or at least two (2) years of experience in monitoring & evaluation;
• Experience designing and implementing monitoring systems and program evaluations;
• Strong proficiency with Microsoft Office applications (Word, Excel, PowerPoint);
• Strong analytical, report writing, and communication skills;
• Excellent organizational skills related to data and document management;
• Fluency in Albanian and English.

Preferred background and work experience: 

• Master’s or other similar advanced degree;
• Experience conducting qualitative data collection (ex: key informant interviews, focus groups); conducting quantitative data collection (ex: household surveys, business surveys); and extracting and assessing the quality of secondary/administrative data;
• Experience working in the fields of energy, renewable energy or environment (applicable if the candidate is applying for the Energy Storage M&E Specialist); 
• Demonstrated experience with one or more of the following statistical analysis software and databases, such as R, STATA, SPSS, SAS, or Access; 
• Experience working in the fields of workforce development, capacity building, or women’s inclusion in the labor market (applicable if the candidate is applying for the JETA M&E Specialist); 
• Strong and demonstrable skills in technical aspects of procuring services (market research, drafting of terms of reference, cost estimation for services required), and contract management;
• Experience working with national government and international donor organizations preferred;
• Fluency in another official language of Kosovo (Serbo-Croatian or other). 

*Please note that MCA-Kosovo is advertising two (2) M&E Specialist positions. Candidates can apply for one or for both positions, but they need to state which position(s) they are applying in the Application Form. 

For more information on MCC and the Kosovo compact, please go to: 

Kosovo Compact | Millennium Challenge Corporation (mcc.gov) 

Millennium Challenge Account (MCA) – Kosovo | mcakosovo.org 

Application Procedure: 

All interested applicants are required to complete the offline Application Form, which you can download through this link. 

Please send electronically the required completed Application Form, including an up-to-date resume to  [email protected] no later than February 16, 2024 at 17:00 Kosovo time. Only completed application package will be accepted (resume and application form). The e-mail subject line must indicate the position title for which you are applying. 

Kindly note that applications received after the deadline, submitted in different formats than the given Application Form or in languages other than English shall not be considered. Only those candidates who are selected to participate in the subsequent stages of recruitment will be contacted. 

All MCA-Kosovo employees will be selected based on an open and competitive recruitment and selection process in accordance with the provisions of the Compact. In addition, the recruitment of all employees of MCA-Kosovo will be carried out in accordance with the principles and indications stipulated by the constitutional and legal provisions, including equal opportunity, merit, competency, transparency, and non-discrimination under all its forms.