Consultant-Evaluator

Location: Turbigo

The International Rescue Committee (IRC) responds to the world's worst humanitarian crises, helping to restore health, safety, education, economic wellbeing, and power to people devastated by conflict and disaster. Founded in 1933 at the call of Albert Einstein, the IRC is one of the world's largest international humanitarian non-governmental organizations (INGO), at work in more than 40 countries and 29 U.S. cities helping people to survive, reclaim control of their future and strengthen their communities.

A force for humanity, IRC employees deliver lasting impact by restoring safety, dignity and hope to millions. If you're a solutions‑driven, passionate change‑maker, come join us in positively impacting the lives of millions of people world‑wide for a better future.
Context Of The Assignment
IRC Italia is implementing WISE, a new European‑funded project integrating MHPSS and employment support components across four locations in Italy and Bulgaria. The project pairs a trauma and gender‑sensitive approach, mental health and psychosocial support (MHPSS) with employment services enabled by technology‑driven solutions to create a Holistic Support System for employable refugee women from Ukraine in Italy and Bulgaria. This project aims to enhance Ukrainian women’s employability, skills‑job match, lifelong learning, access and integration in the host‑country labor market, while improving their ability to navigate social and public services, as well as their mental and psychosocial well‑being.

On M4 of the project, project partners jointly with key stakeholders and Ukrainian refugee women have developed a first draft of the Holistic Support Center model. The HSC model will be designed as holistic centres integrating MHPSS support with employability and social services. Services will include, among others, job readiness, skills assessment using the Skill Lab AI tool, skills building, MH support, personalized case management, MHPSS group activities capitalising on the IRC Women Rise flagship Toolkit, all delivered through a one‑stopshop model.
Scope Of Work
RC Italy seeks a Consultant‑Evaluator to support an external evaluation of the HSC (Holistic Support Center) Model under the WISE project in Italy and Bulgaria. This evaluation, conducted after eight months of piloting, will assess the effectiveness, achievements, and socio‑economic impact of the HSC model on Ukrainian refugee women, using OECD DAC criteria. In the short‑term Ukrainian refugee women attending the HSCs are expected to enhance employability, acquire new skills, improve psychological well‑being, and achieve career goals, while in the long‑term, the HSC model will enable sustainable socio‑economic inclusion, career progression, durable psychosocial improvements, and transferable skills development.

Stakeholders are expected to improve collaboration, adopt best practices, and replicate the model across Europe. The overall objective of the external evaluation is to provide an unbiased and critical assessment of the effectiveness of the HSC Model, examining specific project achievements and the contribution to socio‑economic integration of UA women in Italy and Bulgaria. The evaluation will assess the level to which the envisaged aims and results of the HSC Model have been achieved, identifying both the successes and any specific shortcomings of the HSC Model, including the impact on beneficiaries of project activities.

Evaluation findings should inform continuous improvement of the HSC Model in the project Y2 activities, provide inputs for project impact assessment, and a solid basis to advocate for the HSC model’s sustainability and replication across the EU.

Key Responsibilities And Evaluation Approach

Conduct a transparent, participatory evaluation involving beneficiaries (refugee women from Ukraine in Bulgaria and Italy), project staff, key stakeholders, and partners through a mixed‑methods evaluation using Most Significant Change, Impact Value Chain, and quantitative KPIs, using OECD DAC criteria (especially effectiveness) and assessment of gender, age, and diversity factors.
Collect qualitative and quantitative data from review of…