Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning (MEL) Director At Pact

Pact is an international nonprofit that works in nearly 40 countries building solutions for human development that are evidence-based, data-driven and owned by the communities we serve. Founded in 1971, Pact works with partners to build resilience, improve accountability, and strengthen knowledge and skills for sustainable social impact.

Department

Program Operations (PrOps) – Pact exists to help create a world where those who are poor and marginalized exercise their voice, build their own solutions, and take ownership of their future. The Program Operations teams contribute to realizing this by: ensuring effective project management through supporting project startups, implementation, reporting and financial management as well as closeouts; portfolio coordination: providing a coordinating role across departments in DC that support country offices and programs; working with country teams to develop, refine and pursue their strategies by leveraging technical knowledge (our own and others) and supporting business development as needed; knowledge sharing and learning: enhancing communication between country offices and DC-based teams to ensure better understanding of the diverse operating environments and program approaches.

Position Overview

Pact seeks a Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning (MEL) Director for the Strengthening Youth and Women’s Civic Participation project in Sudan. The project aims to increase collaboration, sustainability, and resilience of civil society and independent media to advance the inclusion, participation and leadership of youth and women in Sudan. The activity will apply locally led, problem-driven, adaptive approaches. This is anticipated to be a five-year activity and the position will be based in Khartoum, Sudan.

The MEL Director will provide strategic guidance, vision, and management for successful monitoring, evaluation and learning of the Strengthening Youth and Women’s Civic Participation project in keeping with the principles of collaboration, learning, and adaptation as outlined in the draft Activity Monitoring Evaluation and Learning Plan (AMELP). The Director will lead in the development, implementation, and revision of the AMELP, overseeing all MEL activities; providing technical direction and support; ensuring the accurate and compelling reporting of results for the project’s activities; and ensuring the Activity aligns with Pact’s quality standards for MEL in close coordination with Pact’s Learning, Evidence, and Impact (LEAP) Team based in Washington, DC. The Director will supervise a team of MERL- focused staff on the project to ensure the strategic and functional integration of all MEL activities, as well as actively collaborate with sub-awardees and USAID.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead the development and maintenance of MEL systems including MEL plan, performance indicators, data collection & reporting tools, data management systems and standard operating procedures (data quality management plan) in collaboration with the Learning, Evidence and Impact (LEAP) team.
• Integrate technology in implementation of MEL activities for improving quality and availability of data for decision making.
• Manage evaluations including securing ethical approvals from local Institutional Review Board, designing and executing internal baseline, midterm and endline assessments as appropriate, and support the implementation of learning activities, with Pact’s DC LEAP Team.
• Coordinate any external evaluation processes, including drafting evaluation ToR and selection of firm, and managing the consultants in alignment with award.
• Oversee data collection, collation, storage, analysis, and reporting, ensuring that data is of high quality and audit worthy.
• Supervise other M&E staff and oversee consortium partners’ compliance with MEL system.
• Ensure appropriate training, mentoring and supportive supervision of all partners in developing and operationalizing monitoring and evaluation procedures, and data quality management practices in alignment with the MELP.
• Integrate Collaborating, Learning and Adapting (CLA) and Results-Based Management (RBM) into project workplan for evidence-based practice including leading the collection, analysis, documentation, dissemination and use of best practices and lessons learned.
• Conduct and manage Routine Data Quality Assessments (RDQA); ensuring implementation of corrective actions to improve data quality and accountability of staff and partners.
• Lead the project (indicator) performance reporting process including donor reporting, Pact’s Global Indicators and organizational KPI reporting through imPact (Pact’s version of DHIS2).
• Accountable for the data analysis, writing, and review of the results and learning sections of program reports in collaboration with program staff, before submission to donor.
• Ensure consortium partners’ compliance with internal data quality requirements and timely submissions for reporting.
• Establish and maintain strategic stakeholders’ relationships to promote collaboration, coordination and information sharing for effective National integrated health services delivery.
• Participate in Pact’s global Community of Practice of M&E professionals to share lessons via quarterly meetings. Partner with Pact’s LEAP team to ensure the project’s MEL systems and outputs meet minimum quality standards
• Contribute to Pact’s thought leadership by representing Pact at relevant conferences and supporting Pact’s portfolio learning agendas, as appropriate, through the project MEL plan.
• Other tasks as assigned.

Basic Requirements

• Master’s degree in social science, international development, public health, evaluation, statistics, or economics.
• At least ten (10) years of experience designing and implementing M&E activities; previous M&E experience on USAID-funded programs required.
• Knowledge of and experience with key democracy, human rights, governance programming indicators and USAID data collection and reporting systems.
• Experience with ‘full cycle’ M&E (including design, implementation, monitoring, and evaluation) from project start-up through close out activities.
• Knowledge of, and experience with, USAID’s collaborating, adapting, and learning (CLA) approaches.
• Demonstrated relevant technical skills in analyzing and interpreting quantitative and qualitative data, and packaging the findings.
• Must have professional fluency in written and spoken English and Arabic. Knowledge of the political, social, and economic context of Sudan.
• Extensive knowledge of reporting procedures, including USAID, best practices, guidelines, and tools for monitoring, evaluation and learning, including impact evaluation.
• Demonstrated to work well on team and with various partner organizations. Previous management and supervision experience required.
• Proficiency in Microsoft Office programs, i.e., Excel, Word, PowerPoint, etc., and the ability to use various commercially available statistical and data visualization software programs e.g., STATA, R, PowerBI, Tableau.

Preferred Qualifications

• Sudanese nationals strongly encouraged to apply.

Pact is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate in its selection and employment practices on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, political affiliation, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, marital status, disability, genetic information, age, citizenship status, genetic information, matriculation, family responsibilities, personal appearance, credit information, tobacco use (except in the workplace), membership in an employee organization, or other protected classifications or non-merit factors.