Monitoring and Evaluation Lead, Somalia

Job Description

Save the Children is seeking a Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) Lead for an anticipated three-year USAID/Bureau of Humanitarian Affairs (BHA)-funded Graduation and Resilience activity in Somalia. The program will strengthen resilience of vulnerable internally displaced persons (IDP) and host community households in urban Baidoa to shocks and stresses. The activity will apply a resilience-building approach centered around the graduation model.

Hiring is contingent upon successful award of the project and USAID approval of the candidate.

What You’ll Be Doing (Essential Duties)

The proposed program will be an integrated, multi-sectoral humanitarian intervention – with an underlying focus on generating evidence for building resilience in urban areas. The M&E Lead will provide technical expertise and leadership to generate and analyze quality evidence and data through monitoring, evaluations, and research. The M&E Lead will supervise the program’s monitoring and evaluation team, and will coordinate with program learning and management processes to ensure effective feedback loops that contribute to the achievement of desired outcomes and adaptive management. The activity will also include a research/evaluation organization responsible for conducting an impact evaluation using an experimental evaluation design, such as a randomized control trial (RCT), or a quasi-experimental method. The M&E Lead will work closely in designing this component with the partner organization and broader project leadership team.

• Develop and manage the implementation of a sound program M&E Plan.
• Lead on the selection, definition, target-setting, and monitoring of indicators that measure the programs’ key outputs and outcomes.
• Build, manage, and continuously strengthen the program’s M&E system and performance monitoring strategies, ensuring that this system is developed in a consultative fashion and provides timely and accurate data regarding the program’s progress towards food and nutrition security and resilience outcomes.
• Supervise the development of a program M&E Information System (MIS), with an emphasis on cutting-edge digital M&E platforms.
• Lead the program’s qualitative and quantitative data analysis, survey and sample design.
• Manage routine monitoring and annual monitoring survey processes, as well as the impact evaluation, baseline, and endline data collection. Ensure that all deliverables are of high quality.
• Lead data quality assurance mechanisms throughout the life of the award.
• Contribute to the design, adjustment, and management of the program’s Theory of Change (ToC), ensuring coherence between the ToC and M&E systems and alignment with relevant country frameworks (including PfRR)
• Work with their research/evaluation partner to determine the appropriate unit of randomization given the context and the activity design. Work with project leadership to address potential ethical concerns and ensure review by an institutional review board.
• Promote evidence-based decision making among the program’s senior management team, ensuring that evidence from the program’s M&E system is used in collaborating, learning and adapting processes.
• Supervise the program’s M&E team, providing training, mentoring and coaching to team members throughout the program while ensuring high performance.
• Contribute to the program’s overall targeting strategies and community consultation approaches.
• Closely work with SC Somalia Country of REALM team and contribute to CO Learning and Evidence generation priorities.
• Play an important role in completion of the annual results report, while leading or contributing to M&E components of routine and ad hoc program reports.
• Actively liaise with SCUS colleagues and partner M&E leads to ensure unified approach and standardize reporting procedures

Required Qualifications

A Master’s degree in a quantitative field (economics, statistics, public health, applied sociology, etc.) with significant training in quantitative methods plus eight years of relevant work experience; or, a PhD in a quantitative field plus six years of relevant work experience

• Specific technical expertise in monitoring, evaluation, and learning as it pertains to emergency food and nutrition security, DRR or resilience programming.
• Demonstrated experience in leading M&E for a large award, including developing and managing the M&E plan and strategy for such an award.
• Demonstrated experience collecting and analyzing key food and nutrition security indicators, integrating gender into M&E frameworks, and strong conceptual knowledge about Theory of Change.
• Working familiarity with experimental evaluation design, such as a randomized control trial (RCT), or a quasi-experimental methods
• Demonstrated experience in planning and carrying out surveys, evaluations and/or implementation research
• Experience setting up and using mobile data collection platforms, preferably KoBo or ODK.
• Experience in using curring edge data analysis softwares e.g. STATA, SPSS, Eviews…
• Familiar with Community Feedback Mechanisms
• Experience working with USAID BHA programs preferred.
• Ability and willingness to travel frequently.
• Excellent written communication and presentation skills in English.
• Strong training and coaching skills, as well as past experience in managing staff members
• Profound work experience in Somalia or similar humanitarian situation

Why you should join the Save the Children Team…

Save the Children US offers outstanding benefits that include health, dental, vision and life insurances, pet insurance, short-term and long-term disability coverage, an Employee Assistance Program, 403(b), generous vacation, personal sick leave, family leave, parental/adoption leave, commuter benefits, dress for your day, and much more.

Click here to learn more about how Save the Children US will invest in YOU!

About Save the Children

Save the Children believes every child deserves a future. In the United States and around the world, we give children a healthy start in life, the opportunity to learn and protection from harm. We do whatever it takes for children – every day and in times of crisis – transforming their lives and the future we share.

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About the Organization

Save the Children invests in childhood – every day, in times of crisis and for our future. In the United States and around the world, we are dedicated to ensuring every child has the best chance for success. Our pioneering programs give children a healthy start, the opportunity to learn and protection from harm. Our advocacy efforts provide a voice for children who cannot speak for themselves. As the leading expert on children, we inspire and achieve lasting impact for millions of the world's most vulnerable girls and boys. By transforming children's lives now, we change the course of their future and ours.