Global Communities is an international development non-profit organization. Our mission is to create long-lasting, positive and community-led change that improves the lives and livelihoods of vulnerable people across the globe.
Global Communities is seeking a Specialist, Monitoring, Evaluation & Learning to join the Measurement & Evidence for Learning & Impact (MELI) team within the Technical Excellence, Learning, Innovation & Impact (TELII) Office. This position may be based at either U.S. Headquarters location.
The Specialist, Monitoring, Evaluation & Learning will work in close coordination and collaboration with domestic and globally based staff within the global offices, including staff working in Country based Programming, and HQ-based Technical Leadership (Sustainable Development and Humanitarian Assistance), Global/Program and Field Operations, Strategic Growth and Partnership, Information Technology Department, Marketing and Communications, other staff and Departments, as relevant. This position has a dedicated role (50% LOE) in providing primary MELI new business and program support to Global Communities’ Human Trafficking Prevention portfolio with a focus on youth empowerment programs, public awareness, the San Diego Trafficking Prevention Collective and the E3 Alliance.
The primary functions of this position are to provide MELI-related technical support to new and existing and closing programs, in support of organization-wide aims to improve program quality and impact, ensure accountability to stakeholders, and promote learning. The position is considered a subject matter specialist in the area of design and implementation of robust MEL systems and will contribute significantly or support efforts to define and advance priorities to strengthen systems, tools, approaches, and capacity in this area.
Responsibilities
Organizational Leadership – MEL Technical Area:
- Participates in and/or contributes to priority activities and initiatives in MELI Efforts to strengthen Robust MEL Systems at country and global levels to systematically advance Global Communities’ programmatic priorities and business capture capabilities. This includes:
- vision and guidance for achieving excellence in the organization’s MEL efforts and championing collaborative knowledge sharing practices throughout the organization
- design, implementation and quality assurance of MEL models, processes, and outcomes
- development and implementation of quality monitoring systems; project-specific monitoring methodologies, processes and tools; data collection and verification processes; and effective reporting – particularly during project start-up
- Identifies needed resources to implement priority activities
- Designs and implements technical assistance and capacity building strategies that result in improved skills and capacity in this area
- Supports organizational (internal) strategic coordination and learning in the area, including related knowledge sharing between teams, departments, projects and countries through peer-to-peer networks and knowledge exchange activities
- Represent MELI Team on relevant organizational committees and initiatives
- Identifies and engages in strategic partnerships with relevant/related (external) organizations and institutions
Support to Projects: Provide MELI technical support to new and existing HTP and other programs
- Support the development and/or strengthening of project-level MEL frameworks and plans, ensuring that MEL systems and tools produce relevant, timely, quality data that are responsive to the organization and project-level MELI strategies, program beneficiaries, and compliant with reporting requirements
- Conduct and/or support the analysis and utilization of programmatic data to assess and improve program quality and project performance
- Develop and support activities to assess and improve quality of routine program data
- Support the design, coordination, and implementation of selected project quality, relevant studies and assessments, including evaluations, formal and informal research, and targeted analyses, ensuring the findings are of high quality, relevant, and effectively shared with key stakeholders
- Manage efficient data sharing systems with partners and external evaluation team in the San Diego Trafficking Prevention Collective
- Strengthen MELI-related capacity of relevant GC internal and partner staff, in areas including data management, analysis, reporting and utilization of findings for data driven decision making, knowledge management, CLA and learning
- Liaison between GC and external stakeholders such as the San Diego Trafficking Prevention Collective, the San Diego County Office of Education, community, and school partners to share data that supports program development and/or M&E needs
- Participate in the drafting and/or review of technical reports, including donor reports, project or study briefs, or other dissemination products to ensure stakeholder accountability, to promote learning, and enhance visibility of GC efforts
- Lead/facilitate stocktaking exercises such as pause and reflect sessions, results utilization activities, before action reviews, after action reviews, critical reflection workshops and others to give and receive stakeholder feedback and identify lessons learned
- Coordinate with other technical and MELI members in the field and HQ that support relevant projects (including members of the Project Support team) for effective MELI-related coordination and support to projects
- Work with Field counterparts to report on organizational (e.g. Strategic Plan) results
MELI Support to Resource Mobilization/New Business Development:
- Support the development of new and/or expanded programs in the HTP program as well as other Global Communities portfolios, including proposal preparation, program design and planning
- Work with other programmatic teams to identify, pursue, and secure new growth opportunities both with existing donors, and new and non-traditional donors and investors, including the private sector
- As part of proposal preparation teams, lead and/or contribute to the writing, developing, and/or reviewing of relevant components of project proposals, including the design and drafting of monitoring, evaluation, research and learning components and MELI implementation plans
- As part of proposal preparation teams, support the identification and/or formation of strategic partnerships to support MELI Tech, research, CLA, and other relevant areas
Technical Thought Leadership / Portfolio Support:
- In collaboration with Technical and Country-level counterparts and other relevant staff, provide MERLKM-related support to the Human Trafficking Program portfolio
- Facilitate / support the development of portfolio-level research learning and research agendas
- Support the identification and optimization of use of internal program and research data and knowledge across HTP programs, with a focus on facilitating utilization of data and knowledge for technical learning, to improve programs, and enhance visibility of GC’s HTP portfolio
- Support learning and knowledge capture within HTP and across other relevant programs through applied learning workshops and development of knowledge management collection and dissemination platforms
Other/Cross-cutting:
- Contribute to efforts to effectively plan, coordinate, and communicate and coordinate OSIIL-, MELI, and HTP- related strategic Priority areas and activities with other relevant individuals
- Contribute to and advances the strengthening of systems, capacity, processes & tools for monitoring and evaluation, information systems, research, learning, and knowledge management across the organization
- Promote and advance a culture of learning through advancing personal learning and subject matter expertise in relevant MELI-related areas and actively promoting and contributing to internal learning in MELI related areas
- Participate in relevant external working groups for networking and visibility
- Contributes to Global Communities’ technical expertise and reputation in relevant areas to improve visibility of MELI work within the broader development sector through
a) Staying up to date on industry best practices
b) Presenting Global Communities’ work, methods and tools at conferences positioning the organization as thought leaders
POSITION SPECIAL RESPONSIBILITIES:
- Ability to travel, including to remote and/or resource-limited areas within GC’s country portfolio
- May require extended hours during peak periods
- Available for telephone consultation on evenings and weekends
- Participate in organizational initiatives
- Other duties as assigned
Knowledge, Skills and Abilities
- Demonstrated experience in developing and/or strengthening M&E Plans, tools, and systems to produce relevant, timely, quality data that are responsive to the project M&E strategy as well as comply with reporting requirements
- Knowledge and understanding of human trafficking and youth empowerment programs preferred
- Strong skills in effectively presenting data to a variety of audiences to facilitate evidence-
based decision making - Skills and experience in qualitative and quantitative data gathering and how data relates to program design, management and quality
- Experience and capacity in strengthening organization-wide monitoring, evaluation and learning systems
- Understanding and experience with program and/or requirements of US Government donors (i.e. USAID, USDA, PEPFAR, CDC, State Department, Department of Defense) and/or US domestic (State, County) partners strongly preferred
- Experience communicating effectively and working with a diverse set of technical and non-technical counterparts and stakeholders, including global headquarter staff, country stakeholders, host government, non-governmental organizations, health care providers and community representatives
- Strong writing skills to support proposal development, prepare and review reports and to contribute to publications and promotional materials
- Proven project coordination skills and ability to work independently and as part of a team while coordinating and collaborating with diverse field counterparts across multiple countries
- Skills to mentor staff with various levels of technical capacity and experience
- Highly motivated, organized, and able to produce results fast-paced, deadline-oriented environment
- Familiarity with and sensitivity to diversity, equity, and inclusion as well as gender issues.
- Excellent computer skills including Microsoft Office Suite
- A passion for the mission and values of Global Communities
- Second language abilities in Spanish, French, Russian, Arabic, Portuguese, etc. a plus.
- Strong data management and analysis platforms including Excel, Power BI, and common statistical software packages
Qualifications
- Undergraduate degree in a related discipline and a minimum of two years of related work experience or a minimum of six years of related work experience.
- Must have U.S. work authorization.
Global Communities is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment, without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, or status as a protected veteran.