Protect our Land, Ascend with Us!

Ascension is seeking experienced Country, Regional, Sector, and Language Evaluation Specialists to support a dynamic Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning (MEL) specialist bench supporting the U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of International Labor Affairs (ILAB) mission.

The ideal candidate is a subject matter expert with demonstrated experience conducting international development research, program evaluations, labor-sector analysis, stakeholder engagement, and qualitative and/or quantitative data collection in specific geographic regions, countries, industries, or thematic areas.

This role supports mission-critical evaluations of international technical assistance programs focused on labor rights, child labor prevention, forced labor reduction, human trafficking prevention, global supply chains, workforce development, and related international labor initiatives.

The successful candidate will bring deep contextual knowledge, cultural awareness, research expertise, and the ability to translate complex field-level information into actionable findings that improve program effectiveness and inform evidence-based decision-making.

Summary of Contractor Role

The Country / Regional / Sector / Language Evaluation Specialist provides specialized expertise to support ILAB-funded monitoring, evaluation, and learning activities. Specialists are activated on an as-needed basis based on task orders requiring specific geographic, sector, methodological, or language expertise.

The specialist will support evaluation teams conducting:

• Performance evaluations of technical assistance projects;
• Rapid and ad hoc evaluative studies;
• Political economy analyses;
• Stakeholder assessments;
• Labor-sector research;
• Supply-chain analyses;
• Field data collection;
• Qualitative interviews;
• Document reviews;
• Data interpretation;
• Evaluation reporting.

The specialist works collaboratively with Ascension’s Lead Evaluator, Project Manager, and other MEL professionals to ensure evaluation activities are contextually appropriate, culturally informed, methodologically sound, and aligned with client requirements.

The ideal candidate is:

• Detail-oriented and analytical;
• Comfortable working independently in complex international environments;
• Experienced engaging diverse stakeholders;
• Skilled at gathering and interpreting qualitative and quantitative information;
• Able to quickly understand unfamiliar programs and operating environments;
• Effective working remotely and across multicultural teams;
• Able to communicate findings clearly through written reports, presentations, and briefings.

Expected Responsibilities / Activities

The Country / Regional / Sector / Language Evaluation Specialist may:

• Conduct country, regional, or sector-level research supporting MEL assignments.
• Analyze political, economic, labor, workforce, and social factors affecting program outcomes.
• Conduct stakeholder interviews with government officials, implementing partners, beneficiaries, community organizations, and industry representatives.
• Support evaluation planning activities, including development of evaluation questions, data collection approaches, and analytical frameworks.
• Perform desk reviews of project documentation, policies, reports, and performance data.
• Conduct qualitative data collection through interviews, focus groups, surveys, and field observations.
• Support fieldwork planning and execution, including local coordination and stakeholder engagement.
• Provide subject matter expertise regarding labor rights, supply chains, workforce development, human trafficking, child labor, or related sectors.
• Translate contextual information into evaluation findings, lessons learned, and recommendations.
• Review evaluation reports for technical accuracy and contextual relevance.
• Support development of reports, presentations, briefing materials, and knowledge products.
• Provide translation and interpretation support when qualified and required.
• Participate in virtual and/or in-person evaluation activities.
• Collaborate with multidisciplinary evaluation teams across geographic locations.
• Validate AI-assisted research outputs to ensure accuracy, reliability, and appropriate interpretation.