Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning Specialist – USAID Youth Empower Activity
Full-time
Company Description
EDUCATION DEVELOPMENT CENTER (EDC)
Education Development Center (EDC) is a global nonprofit that advances lasting solutions to improve education, promote health, and expand economic opportunity. Since 1958, we have been a leader in designing, implementing, and evaluating powerful and innovative programs in more than 80 countries around the world.
EDC promotes equity and access to high quality education and health services and products that contribute to thriving communities where people from diverse backgrounds learn, live, and work together. We support an inclusive workplace culture that embraces many perspectives and broadens our understanding of the communities we serve, enhancing and enriching our work.
EDC is committed to equity, diversity and inclusion in the workplace.
Project Description:
The overall goal of the upcoming USAID Jamaica Youth Empower Activity is to increase the civic participation of youth in volatile, high-risk communities and improve their skills to access livelihood opportunities and contribute to the development of their communities. EMPOWER will address the risk and resilience factors that influence Jamaican youth participation in violence, by bolstering their civic awareness and community belonging and engagement. The Activity also serves to strengthen the supporting environment and networks for youth at risk for becoming a perpetrator or victim of, or witness to crime and violence; and increase their soft skills, agency, and access to livelihood opportunities. Youth will be exposed to opportunities for entrepreneurship, as well as on-the-job training, so that they are equipped with the necessary tools and support to secure gainful employment.
Job Description
The Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning (MEL) Specialist is responsible for overall leadership, coordination, and technical supervision of monitoring, evaluation and learning for the Activity, including design and management of the project's monitoring and evaluation plan and system based on agreed upon quality and standards. The MEL Specialist will liaise with project partners at all levels. This person will oversee rigorous data collection, data quality, data management, analysis, and evidence generation. The MEL Specialist is expected to inform program adaptation under USAID’s collaborating, learning and adapting (CLA) approach and may take on additional learning and knowledge sharing coordination roles.
The MEL Specialist will work closely with other technical and M&E team members to ensure that data collection and data storage meets data quality standards, liaising with the EDC Home Office M&E staff on all data quality, analysis, and reporting issues, as needed. The MEL Specialist will support coordination and collaboration among project implementing partners, youth-led and youth-serving organizations, community actors, and project stakeholders in order to promote the purposeful use of data to inform decision-making.
The MEL Specialist will report to the Technical Director.
Essential functions include (but are not limited to):
Leading on the organizing and conducting of all monitoring and evaluation activities, as well as learning activities to ensure compliance to common or core standards. Ensure that internal reflection and discussion of findings with field staff, technical specialists, partners and management happens on a regular basis, at a minimum quarterly; Working with US-based M&E team to continue to develop and implement the Activity’s Strategic M&E Framework, M&E Plan, and capacity development approach; Overseeing the development of all monitoring forms for data collection, as well as written procedures for data collection and entry, with appropriate input from other staff; Supervising the data storage process to ensure that appropriate support documentation is on file and easily located to back up project indicator data; Managing all data collection and M&E across the activity, including coordinating roles, responsibilities, and performance. Liaise with technical leadership staff to oversee and support M&E activities at community and national levels; Conceptualizing operations research and other learning activities of the project in collaboration with COP, Technical Advisors, and other project leadership; Managing technical orientation and training activities to achieve M&E objectives and plans, including in data collection, data processing, data analysis and other areas; Supporting outreach and communications by providing summary data and interpretation for inclusion in publications and reports, tailoring for consumption by different audiences; Coordinating and facilitating regular M&E discussions for or among USAID, stakeholders, partners, EDC teams and others to share findings and learning from monitoring and evaluation data and/or analyses; Overseeing the timely aggregation and compilation of M&E data (quantitative and qualitative) for monthly, quarterly and annual reports, events and presentations (per USAID/EDC data reporting); Understanding the terms of the USAID award, specifically expected project results and products, and ensure compliance with all monitoring and evaluation requirements; Participating in relevant technical or senior leadership meetings and take part in the decision-making process as needed; Demonstrating a high level of professionalism when dealing with sensitive and confidential documents and issues, and with co-workers and EDC partners; Other duties, as assigned.
In addition, to meet the requirements of the Activity’s alignment with USAID’s New Partnerships Initiative (NPI), the goal of which is to equip and empower new and underutilized development partners such as youth-led and youth-serving organizations in Jamaica, the Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning Specialist must
Provide direct mentorship and support to partners and youth-led and youth-serving organizations in developing their capacity in monitoring and evaluation processes to improve data collection, cleaning and validation procedures, increase efficiency and use of data for improved implementation, strengthen analysis and learning on the activity as part of collaboration, learning and adaptation, so that partners can demonstrate improved MEL and increase their eligibility for direct USAID and other donor funding.
Qualifications
The candidate for the position of Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning Specialist shall have at a minimum the following qualifications:
Education:
Bachelor’s degree in a relevant discipline or a comparable number of years of professional experience.
Skills and Experience:
Seven years of progressively responsible experience with M&E systems design and implementation, data collection, and report writing; Practical, capacity development experience in the education and youth sectors desired. Experience monitoring and evaluating youth workforce development sector programs desired; Experience with qualitative and quantitative data analysis methods and tools, such as SPSS, QDA Miner, etc. preferred; Expertise in data visualization preferred; Working knowledge of USAID reporting requirements; Ability to work hands-on, independently, and within team in difficult work environment; and Experience working on education and/or youth issues in Jamaica desired.
Language:
Fluency in English required.
Additional Information
EDC is committed to enhancing the diversity of its workforce and ensuring an equitable and highly inclusive work environment. EDC is a smoke-free workplace, and offers a supportive work environment, competitive salary, and excellent benefits. Women, minorities, and individuals with disabilities are encouraged to apply.
Other jobs at Education Development Center new
* Nairobi, Ke
