Job Description
The Role
The Senior MERL Specialist will provide technical leadership and quality assurance on MERL activities across programmes led by Abt Britain; lead institutional and organisational strengthening of MERL capabilities; and contribute to business development and other growth opportunities.
The Senior MERL Specialist will act as a technical resource for Abt Britain, providing advice and guidance on programme and business development areas across a range of cross-cutting areas including public health, GESI, VfM and MERL.
The Senior MERL Specialist will be responsible for:
Technical Input and Quality Assurance on Programmes
- Act as Knowledge Management and Quality Assurance (QA) Lead on the FCO-funded Brazil Better Health Programme, of which Abt Britain is the MERL provider, providing QA and technical input on all core MERL deliverables.
- Maintain key relationships and act as the knowledge broker between in-country MERL activities and broader consortium and partners. Engage in and contribute to multi-country programme-level technical working groups and wider learning initiatives. Oversee in-country MEL Lead and Abt Britain’s M&E Officer’s inputs.
- Act as QA and technical support for the DFID-funded Monitoring, Evaluation, Operational and Research (MEOR) Programme in Nepal, including contribution to and/or review of research proposals, ToRs and concept notes; knowledge management products, data collation methodologies, interpretation and analysis plans; and oversee Abt Britain M&E Officer’s QA support to MEOR.
- Provide strategic technical input and MEL oversight on the joint DFID/FCO-funded Good Governance Fund in Ukraine, Armenia, Moldova and Georgia.
- Support the Team Leader on the DFID-funded Portfolio Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning programme in Nepal to coordinate and oversee technical inputs of the Strategic Support Team; and provide QA support as required on client deliverables.
Thought Leadership
- Act as a thought leader in MERL, promoting programme results and lessons learnt, developing in-house tools and methods; and attending external events and seminars.
- Drive a culture of continuous improvement in MREL and knowledge management capability within Abt Britain by:
- Connecting programmes, processes and technology to leverage knowledge company-wide;
- Applying principles of best practice, ensure consistency and high quality of MERL frameworks and reporting across all Abt programmes;
- Bringing together programme learning across the business to facilitate the generation of high-quality knowledge and information products; and
- Provide mentorship and support to junior colleagues to build MERL capacity.
Business Development
- Provide MERL technical leadership on business development opportunities and during both mobilisation and implementation of upcoming Abt Britain programmes.
Key Requirements
- Post-graduate degree in monitoring and evaluation, public health, social science, biostatistics, statistics, or a related field required;
- Demonstrated experience in designing and/or overseeing multiple monitoring, evaluation, research and learning efforts;
- Analytical mindset, proven ability and strong track record in concisely communicating information and conveying key messages to both technical and non-technical audiences;
- Demonstrated understanding of current development challenges and innovations to tackle them including adaptive management and theory-based evaluations
- Ability to foster and develop working partnerships with in-country government representatives, partners, donors and other key stakeholders;
- Experience of working with UK Government clients (e.g. DFID, FCO)
- Excellent communication and facilitation skills
- Experience with project management and business development
For Further Information and Application Details
Applications should be submitted online via the Careers page of Abt Associate’s website, and should include a current CV, cover letter and a response to the key requirements as outlined in the advert and in the Terms of Reference available to download from the vacancy page via Careers page.
The closing date for applications is 13 August 2020
We welcome and thank all applications however only shortlisted applicants will be contacted.
We are an equal opportunity employer and encourage applications from experienced and capable women.
Please note, candidates will need to have the right to work in United Kingdom.
About the Organization
Abt Associates is a recognised leader in the international development sector. Working with our many partners, Abt Associates implements bold innovative solutions to improve the lives of the community and deliver valued outcomes for our clients. We provide a comprehensive range of services from policy to service delivery in the public and private sectors contributing to long term benefits for clients and communities. Operating in remote and challenging environments, we offer innovative solutions, extensive experience in the region, strong technical capacity, and a proven project management track record. We are committed to gender equity in our employment strategies and encourage applications from capable women. Abt Associates is a child safe organisation and promotes the safety, wellbeing and inclusion of all children.
