Senior Monitoring, Evaluation, Learning (MEL) Advisor At EnCompass

Position Description

EnCompass LLC seeks Senior Monitoring, Evaluation, Learning (MEL) Advisor candidates for International Development (USAID) West Africa Peace through Evaluation, Learning and Adaptation II Activity (PELA II) to be based in the Accra, Ghana.

PELA II will provide Collaboration, Learning and Adapting (CLA) and M&E support to USAID/West Africa’s peace and governance initiatives. PELA II aims to strengthen USAID/West Africa’s effectiveness implementing its projects; coordinating its activities; learning from its experiences; and serving as an information, communication, and thought leader regarding peace promotion and countering violent extremism in the West Africa region.

The Senior MEL Advisor will lead and provide technical support on Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning as well as CLA. They will likely provide both technical and managerial leadership in conducting evaluations, assessments, complexity-aware monitoring, Conflict sensitivity training, analytical research, learning agenda development, CLA activities, and communication product development.

Other support to implementing partners includes identifying discrepancies in implementing partners M&E systems and recommending appropriate solutions. The Senior MEL Advisor will assume the Project Director role in their absence, if necessary.

Position Duties and Responsibilities

Essential functions:

• Oversee production and ensure the quality of all assessments, analytical reports, evaluations, and other technical deliverables to USAID.
• Provide technical oversight of the program to ensure all activities and deliverables are executed with quality and timeliness
• Support Regional Peace and Governance Office implementing partners in developing and implementing appropriate monitoring and evaluating tools
• Provide guidance on the implementation of alternative MEL approaches like Complexity Awareness Monitoring, and identify appropriate evaluation questions to support evidence-based programming approaches
• Review implementing partner M&E systems and recommend appropriate solutions to discrepancies
• Other duties as assigned

Position Requirements

Academic Qualifications

A Master’s Degree (or PhD) in a social science subject, M&E, public administration, political science, international relations, conflict resolution and peacebuilding or a related field

Experience and Skills

• A minimum of six years of progressively increasing responsibility managing M&E, CLA, analytical research, and/or program support contracts of similar nature, size and complexity, preferably for USAID or other donors.
• Demonstrated experience in the application of relevant qualitative and quantitative methods
• Experience in monitoring and evaluating conflict/Countering Violent Extremism or peace related activities projects
• Demonstrated experience in developing and implementing comprehensive M&E systems
• Demonstrated ability in management, analysis, and processing of data to inform project planning and M&E.
• Experience with programming Development Assistance and with internal control functions to managing day-to-day operations of the activity.
• Experience with development assistance programming, preferably in countering violent extremism, conflict, and/or peace promotion programs
• Strong communication, supervision, and management skills required
• Ability to work effectively in a multi-country and multi-cultural setting
• Excellent communication, both verbal and written English and French skills required

Additional preferrable requirements:

• Knowledge of USAID’s Collaborating, Learning, and Adapting (CLA) Framework desired
• Prior experience as a manager of teams, deputy project director, DCOP, or senior technical advisor working on complex donor-funded activities is strongly preferred
• Familiarity with USAID West Africa regional Mission is preferred
• Ability to travel within the West Africa region, as necessary