Regional Measurement Advisor – LATAM At International Rescue Committee

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 50 countries and more than 25 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.

The humanitarian crisis in Venezuela continues to intensify. Venezuelans face hyperinflation, which puts them out of reach of basic goods and services, including health care and food. A shortage of medical supplies means that it is difficult to diagnose and treat communicable diseases and sexual and reproductive health needs, among other services. The lack of food has resulted in hunger and malnutrition. From 2015-2018, over three million Venezuelans left to seek goods and services in primarily neighboring countries.

Job Overview:

IRC has developed a Measurement strategy to support our country programs to generate and use the data to improve our program quality and delivery. The strategy focuses on four pillars:

1) Ensure programs measure and collect the right data

2) Enable IRC to manage data

3) Build the capacity, processes and resources to conduct measurement activities

4) Ensure data is used to inform decisions across IRC

Regional Measurement Advisors (RMAs) are responsible for informing the long-term direction of Measurement at the IRC and supporting the alignment and success of Country, Regional and Global measurement initiatives – keeping country programs and IRC’s clients at the center of our work. Positioned in the IRC regional teams, RMAs perform a critical role in defining and driving critical strategic opportunities and needs, alongside building and growing strong MEAL teams to support the delivery of MEAL technical excellence.

This role leads Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability and Learning for the LATAM team. Reporting to the Deputy Regional Director with a technical report (management in partnership) to the Director Regional Measurement Team, and covering countries including Peru, Ecuador, Venezuela, Colombia, Honduras, Guatemala, El Salvador and Mexico. The role line manages the Regional MEAL Technology Coordinator and works in close collaboration with Technical Unit MEAL staff.

Key Responsibilities

• Provide technical oversight and coordination of MEAL delivery and quality assurance in the region.

• Oversee activities to ensure continuous improvement in data quality.

• Support IRC’s country leadership and regional teams in their efforts to use measurement data for decision making.

• Providing support in the review of strategic proposals, with a focus on ensuring sound log frame, targets, MEAL plan and budget. Ensuring use of the consistent standard indicators within and across countries in the region, leading to meaningful aggregations and potential benchmarking opportunities.

• Lead MEAL planning on multi-country proposals and other large/complex proposals, as designated by the Deputy Regional Director.

• Providing support for routine and ad-hoc measurement activities throughout the program cycle in accordance with the relevant IRC MEAL Handbook and Project Cycle Meeting guidelines.

• Supporting countries with delivery of complex MEAL products where needed, such as assessment, baseline, midline and endline surveys, evaluations, and learning activities.

• Support in-country DDPs (Deputy Director of Programmes) and senior measurement and learning staff in the hiring, onboarding and continuous mentoring, capacity building and professional development of measurement staff; as well as advising Country Office on recommended staff structure, software and hardware for effective measurement.

• Coordinate the MEAL (Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability, and Learning) of multi-country programs in the region, ensuring consistency of approach is used that enables cross-cutting consolidation, analysis, learning and reporting to all stakeholders involved.

• Support the success of IRC Country, Regional and Global measurement initiatives; foster collaboration with country program teams, and channel the countries’ perspectives to the Measurement Unit.

• Support the establishment of Client Responsiveness (CR) systems, including client need assessment, baseline, satisfaction surveys and the collection and use of routine feedback data in Countries together with technical advisors.

• Ensure the roll-out of Program Data Toolkits and the Program Indicator Dashboards in the region and country programs

• Provide data insights and analysis for use in the regional learning agenda and regional decision making

Provide leadership at regional and global level; actively contribute to the development of a sound measurement strategy; and ensure alignment of Measurement goals and priorities at country, regional and HQ levels;

• Contribute to the development of Measurement Unit strategic plans.

• In collaboration with peer RMAs, foster MEAL excellence within and across IRC regions, supporting the Measurement Community of Practice (CoP), and supporting staff development to identify and cultivate MEAL leaders at country, regional and global levels.

• Support the success of IRC Country, Regional and Global measurement initiatives; channel the countries experience, interests, aspirations and concerns to the Measurement Unit.

• Stay abreast of new measurement developments in and outside IRC; Partner with relevant technical units to assure products are fit for purpose and according to best practice standards for methods and use of data.

• Involve country programs in the delivery and iteration of existing MEAL technology products and innovation and development of new initiatives to help the IRC develop and maintain effective and relevant data collection and analysis tools.

Position reports to: Deputy Regional Director LATAM

Technically report to: Director Regional Team, Measurement Unit

Position directly supervises: Regional MEAL Technology Coordinator, in partnership with the Data and Monitoring Systems Lead.

Technically supervises: Country MEAL focal points

Other Internal and/or external contacts: Country Directors, Deputy Directors of Programs, other Regional Measurement Advisors and Technical Advisors, Measurement Unit, Awards Management Unit, Global Partnerships and Philanthropy, Research, Evaluation and Learning team.

Job Requirements:

Essential qualifications, skills and experience

• Advanced degree in relevant field such as economics, statistics, international development, public policy, or other social sciences, or relevant work experience

• Minimum seven years of progressing experience designing, implementing, and supporting MEAL frameworks and results including supporting field-based MEAL design and reporting, as well as working with major international donors on MEAL related aspects.

• Strength in developing baseline research, logic models, data collection and analysis of data sets, mid-term evaluations, outcome evaluations, and in mentoring and teaching-by-doing other MEAL staff.

• Experience with the challenges of effective monitoring in the field, including cultural, gender, and access considerations with the aim of enhancing project learning, quality, and data-driven decision making.

• Good understanding of basic ICT principles and the logic of data collection and management systems.

• Strong computer skills, especially MS Excel, Power BI (or similar) and CommCare (or similar). Knowledge of other software used in qualitative and quantitative MEAL would be solid assets.

• Excellent communication skills, including solid writing skills and the ability to plan for and prepare strategic communications.

• Proficient in English and fluent in Spanish

Highly desirable

• Experience with direct program implementation in emergency and low-resource contexts.

• Experience rolling out organizational initiatives, particularly related to monitoring and evaluation

• Team player able to work with multi-cultural teams and under tight deadlines

Standard of Professional Conduct: The IRC and the IRC workers must adhere to the values and principles outlined in the IRC Way – our Code of Conduct. These are Integrity, Service, Accountability, and Equality.

Commitment to Gender, Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion: The IRC is committed to creating a diverse, inclusive, respectful, and safe work environment where all persons are treated fairly, with dignity and respect. The IRC expressly prohibits and will not tolerate discrimination, harassment, retaliation, or bullying of the IRC persons in any work setting. We aim to increase the representation of women, people that are from country and communities we serve, and people who identify as races and ethnicities that are under-represented in global power structures.