PURPOSE OF POSITION:
The position of Monitoring and Evaluation Specialist will be expected to lead in Monitoring and Evaluation efforts and to support the anticipated Bureau of International Labor Affairs (ILAB), U.S. Department of Labor (USDOL, or the Department), cooperative agreement. The grant will fund technical assistance project in Colombia to strengthen the capacity of governments to address child labor and/or forced labor, and violations of acceptable conditions of work. Project outcomes include: (1) improved enforcement of the legal framework and/or policies pertaining to child labor and/or forced labor, and violations of acceptable conditions of work; (2) improved assistance services for victims of child labor and/or forced labor; and (3) strengthened partnerships to accelerate progress in addressing child labor and/or forced labor, and violations of acceptable conditions of work.
KEY RESPONSIBILITIES:
Planning:
Develop the overall framework for grant M&E in accordance to the design document and donor requirements.
Identify the core information needs of grant management, partners, and funding agencies; Participate in development of the annual work plan and budget, ensuring alignment with technical strategy.
Foster participatory planning and monitoring by engaging primary stakeholder groups in the M&E of activities.
Pre-Implementation:
Conduct readiness assessment: the incentives at the system level, the beneficiaries and existing capacity.
Keep abreast of developments in grant/program changes and progress in order to advise and recommend tools and strategies to increase program performances and results.
Identify the requirement for collecting baseline data, prepare terms-of-reference for and arrange the conduct of a baseline survey, as required.
Implementation/Execution:
Oversee and execute M&E activities with particular focus on results and impacts as well as in lesson learned.
Undertake regular visits to the field to support implementation of M&E and to identify where adaptations might be needed.
Clarify and/or facilitate process for monitoring and evaluations of sub-grantees.
Identify the need and draw up the ToRs for specific studies; Recruit, guide and supervise consultants or organizations that are contracted to implement special surveys and studies required for evaluating grant effects and impacts.
Perform regular field visits to ensure the quality of data collected by Programs and to verify the accuracy of reported data.
Reporting:
Guide staff and executing partners in preparing their progress reports in accordance with approved reporting formats and ensure their timely submission. This includes quarterly progress reports, annual project reports, inception reports, and ad-hoc technical reports.
Prepare consolidation progress reports for grant management including identification of problems, causes of potential bottlenecks in the project implementation, and providing specific recommendations.
Identify strengths and weaknesses in existing data collection and management systems and propose solutions to improve knowledge management activities.
Draft tools and their revisions as well as data collection procedures (eg. logical framework, project performance tracking, indicators, data flow chart, M&E manuals).
Capacity Building/Continuous Learning:
Design and implement a system to identify, analyze, document and disseminate lessons learned.
Check that monitoring data are discussed in the appropriate forum and in a timely fashion in terms of implications of future action. If necessary create such discussion forums to fill any gaps.
Monitor the follow up on evaluation recommendations.
Support project/program staff on ways to properly document, organize and capture program progress.
Facilitate, act as resource person, and join, if required any external supervision and evaluation missions.
Organize (and provide) refresher training in M&E for grants staff, implementing partners, local organizations and primary stakeholders with view of strengthening local M&E capacity.
Network with external and WV internal partners to promote learning and achieve M&E excellence.
KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS AND ABILITIES:
Required:
Minimum of five (5) years professional experience in a senior M&E position responsible for implementing M&E activities of international development projects.
Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in statistics, demographics, public policy, international development, economics, or related field. Master’s degree or Bachelor’s degree plus an advanced certificate in M&E, statistics, or economics preferred.
Proven success in designing, implementing, and operating project M&E systems from project initiation to closeout stages.
Experience in strategic planning and performance measurement, including indicator selection, target setting, reporting, and developing M&E and performance monitoring plans.
Experience developing reporting tools, including in Microsoft Excel.
Experience developing and refining data collection tools.
Experience with data quality assessments and oversight.
Experience managing and providing ongoing training to M&E field officers.
Ability to facilitate and serve as a project liaison for externally-managed evaluations.
Fluency in English and Spanish is required.
Preferred:
University degree in Monitoring and Evaluation, project management, social science.
Facilitation skills.
Good communication skills.
2-3 years experience in monitoring grants.
3 years of field-based M&E experience.
The World Vision Partnership is a global community of people passionately committed to improving the lives and futures of the world’s most vulnerable children.
We believe that every child is a precious gift to the entire world and that their well-being concerns us all. We will not rest while children suffer in situations that can be changed. We are looking for people who share our beliefs and our passion.
