The International Republican Institute (IRI) is a non-profit, non-partisan organization and a world leader in promoting democracy and advancing freedom. Every employee of IRI is responsible for carrying out the Mission of IRI and demonstrating the Core Values in their day-to-day operations. The Core Values, which are IRI’s foundational building blocks, include:
Excellence – We believe in quality results delivered by investing in people. Freedom – We believe in exploration and experimentation to be agile and responsive. Respect – We believe in trust, empathy and empowering people. Teamwork – We believe in diversity, inclusion and the power of global collaboration. Transparency – We believe in open communication and clear decision-making. Accountability – We believe in personal responsibility as the foundation of success.
The field-based Regional Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning (MEL) Manager is primarily responsible for providing support to IRI field offices throughout Asia as they implement their MEL systems. Such support will include assistance with setup and maintenance of rigorous MEL systems and processes, support with data collection and analysis efforts to identify and report on results achieved, and assisting programs reporting, utilizing, and learning from data collected. The field-based MEL Manager will also contribute to IRI’s capacity building efforts for IRI staff and partners, particularly by designing and conducting MEL trainings on for IRI staff and partners in Asia.
This position will not be based in Washington, DC. It will be based in in the Asia region to meet the needs of IRI staff working in Asia time zones. Candidates residing in the countries where IRI currently has larger country offices in the Asia-Pacific region are encouraged to apply. These country offices are Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Mongolia, Taiwan, and Thailand.
Position Requirements
- Undergraduate/graduate degree in political/social science, international relations, or related field.
- Minimum of five years of professional experience in the international development sector, with at least three years in full-time MEL role(s).
- Experience building staff capacity on MEL, including on developing MEL systems, data collection, analysis, and report writing.
- Experience designing MEL elements of projects including but not limited to logical frameworks, performance monitoring plans and indicator matrices.
- Experience leading qualitative data collection and analysis required; familiarity with quantitative data analysis preferred.
- Experience designing and/or implementing evaluations, including with writing evaluation reports.
- Experience setting up and maintaining data quality processes.
- Demonstrated understanding of the program theory-based approach to program design, monitoring and evaluation.
- Experience working on democracy and governance projects required.
- Experience with USG-funded projects required.
- Strong organizational skills, execution of tasks, and attention to detail required.
- Ability to manage diverse activities and to meet deadlines required.
- Ability to work independently and as a member of a team, coordinate and effectively meet program goals.
- Excellent verbal and written communication skills in English, other languages a plus.
- Proficiency with Microsoft Office Suite.
Primary Responsibilities
- Participate as an active member of IRI’s DC-based Evidence and Learning Practice, including frequent communication and participation in staff and coordination meetings.
- Provide technical support for IRI’s MEL efforts, primarily to field-based program staff, especially related to project implementation and closeout. Serve as a resource for Asia field staff to troubleshoot MEL challenges and issues and provide support to solve or address the challenges, as needed.
- Lead and contribute to performance evaluations of IRI projects in Asia, including evaluation and data collection tool design, leading data collection and analysis, and report writing.
- Maintain a detailed understanding of MEL plans for IRI projects and partners in Asia, in particular, the various indicators, tools and systems required to remain compliant with them.
- Oversee and support, project-level data collection design, implementation and analysis for reporting on activities and results, including but not limited to data collection via pre- and post-tests, interviews, surveys, scorecards, observation protocols and document review protocols.
- Oversee and support the data quality and data storage efforts in IRI Asia field offices to ensure that they meet IRI and funder standards, Lead field staff through Data Quality Assessment processes, both internal and external
- Design and conduct trainings on monitoring, evaluation and learning for IRI staff and partners.
- Mentor MEL staff based in the various IRI Asia field offices, including providing training, guidance, regular consultation, and real time support for their MEL needs to develop institutional MEL capacity
- Assist field offices in implementing their learning strategies, including collaboration, learning and adaptation initiatives, after action reviews and reflection sessions, to ensure that data is both reported and used to improve Asia programs.
- Support Asia field offices in engaging with donors, including USAID and the US Department of State, on MEL issues.
- Work with other members of the Evidence and Learning Practice as a team to complete projects and achieve organizational goals.
- Perform other duties as assigned.
How to apply
Please submit a resume and cover letter to the link provided. Thank you for your interest in this opportunity!
Field Regional Monitoring, Evaluation, & Learning (MEL) Manager – IRI.org