Global Director – Monitoring, Evaluation, & Learning

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Title: Global Director – Monitoring, Evaluation, & Learning
Department: Program Advancement
Supervisor: Vice-president for Programs
Location: Washington, DC

Pact values and supports a diverse work environment.

Position Summary:
The Director of MERL leads Pact’s efforts to design and operationalize a state-of-the art Monitoring and Evaluation system that enables each of our country programs to measure and report on program results and outcomes. The Global Director also liaises with other international organizations on M&E issues, represents the organization in relevant forums, keeps abreast of new developments in the sector and takes an active role in the management of Pact’s knowledge. The Global Director assists Pact to design and implement rigorous baseline studies and evaluations that allow us to measure the impact of some of our longer-term programs. An important responsibility of the Global Director is the development and delivery of training to ensure that key Pact staff members, in each field office and our partner offices, have the necessary skills to define and measure relevant program indicators and to prepare regular program monitoring reports. The Global Director also leads a global “community of practice” made up of professionals from within and outside Pact to help advance the state of the art of measurement at Pact. While reporting to the Vice-President for Programs, the Director works in collaboration with a Global M&E Steering Committee that adequately represents Pact’s regions and platforms. S/he also leads an international team of people and is an active member of the Program Management Team, which advises the Vice President of Advancement on a range of issues.

Core Values: (Each employee is expected to embody Pact’s core values as a representative of the institution.)

• Embrace Pact’s mission and core values, including belief that—
o all people have a right to participate in decisions affecting their lives
o gender equity is mandatory for social transformation
o resource allocation choices are transparent and guided by sensitivity to the costs of operations, and financial accountability to our clients, in recognition of Pact’s role as steward of resources intended for the poor.
• Believe diversity in background, gender and age strengthens our capacity to be wise managers of public and private funds.
• Do much of our work in teams, give anyone with a good idea the chance to run with it, and aren’t afraid of taking risks.
• Assert the primacy of gathering and sharing of information as essential roles for all employees.
• Regularly seek opportunities to market Pact’s programs, products and services and network with external organizations and individuals to build strong alliances.
• Encourage staff growth and advancement, including training and professional skills building to increase knowledge and competence and to stay abreast of new developments, especially in technology.
• Strive for a healthy balance between work and life outside of work.


Specific Duties and Responsibilities:

Forward MERL Strategy, Institutional Policy & Guidance:
• Lead the development of Pact’s Global Strategy for MERL and the implementation of the Community of Practice vision for program monitoring, evaluation and learning
• Forward implementation of Pact Policy in MERL and held develop further MERL guidance as needed
• Promote the use of Theory of Change and improved conceptual frame working within Pact
• Develop annual budget for MERL at the global level and support country offices to develop their annual MERL budgets
• Participate in Pact’s institutional strategy development with an eye to measurement issues

Provide technical leadership in MERL & support to MERL staff so that Pacts field offices are able to gather and use high quality project data for analysis, reporting and improved decision-making
• Provide technical backstopping and support to MERL staff to identify and deliver country priorities in MERL
• Ensure Chief of Parties/ Country Representatives are knowledgeable in donor and Pact requirements for MERL
• Establish a basic curriculum package for Pact staff in MERL basic principles, data quality and sector specific MERL
• Establish internal systems for capacity building that ensure that Pact MERL field staff have the capacity to develop comprehensive performance monitoring and evaluation plans and are able to design a basic results frame and or project conceptual model, identify appropriate indicators and prepare indicator protocols and baseline instruments, collect and analyze data and prepare and synthetic reports; undertake a data audit, and know how to conduct or design a basic project evaluation
• Promote sound program start-up in MERL—ensure program teams have templates, frameworks policies and tools for performance monitoring plans, and basic MERL systems
• Identify qualified M&E consultants who can be tapped by Pact for critical MERL events, such as evaluations or MERL program design

Help reduce institutional risk to Pact through sound data auditing
• Support MERL staff in ensuring Pact Field Offices are in compliance with MERL requirements of their Cooperative Agreement or Contracts
• Establish internal systems that ensure that Pact MERL field staff has the capacity to complete due diligence procedures relevant to grantee MERL systems, data and information
• Support improved data quality and establishment of MERL systems and procedures in country so that projects (and our grantees) can successfully pass data audits
• Ensure International ethical standards of practice in MERL are expressed and followed

Support institutional learning & build an information base to help Pact describe and review the impact of our work globally
• Lead a participatory process for defining global and sector-specific indicators involving the regions, the sector platforms and other groups
• Lead the development of relevant M&E database systems that enable Pact to roll up data by country, region, and sector or platform--promote the use of knowledge management systems within the institution and country offices
• Facilitate the development of an MERL Community of Practice to enhance staff capacity and promote sharing of expertise
• Develop an accessible repository of MERL tools and approaches relevant to Pact’s work
• Champion evaluation and learning efforts within Pact and promote improved dispersal and use of evaluation findings

Support MERL in New Business Development
• Contribute to proposal development, both design and budget components in terms of MERL as directed by your supervisor
• Support MERL policy implementation in NBD efforts
• Support data collection efforts/ needs and human resource searches for MERL

Collaboration, Communication and MERL Representation
• Collaboratively develop and maintain relationships on behalf of Pact Inc. MERL unit with a priority on partnerships important to Pact Global, Regions and field offices
• Remain informed of new developments in MERL through participation in global and regional professional organizations and learning communities addressing MERL
• Represent Pact in relevant Monitoring and Evaluation forums
• Stay abreast of donor M&E requirements and preferences
• Ensure good collaboration with each of Pact’s Platforms.
• Manage on-going relationship with the MERL Steering Committee and RESNETs

Manage a Team of Technical Staff Responsible for MERL
• Supervise and mentor four direct reporting staff and a wider network of international staff who are responsible for performing the tasks in the MERL department

Participate Actively in the Program Management Team
The Program Management Team, which includes all Program Advancement Directors, meets regularly to ensure there is integration across sectors and core competencies and to advise the VP of PA on higher level decisions affecting the department and Pact as a whole. This Program Management Team serves as a forum for adjusting Pact-wide program strategies, developing annual Program Department work plans and budgets, agreeing upon programmatic policies and quality standards, planning and overseeing the implementation of core competency capacity-building investments in Pact’s program team in DC as well as in promising staff elsewhere.


Qualifications:
• At least twelve years of development experience in an overseas setting
• At least five years experience developing and facilitating training of local staff and partners in M&E skills required for quality project management.
• Excellent demonstrated knowledge of managing projects and an knowledge of new tools and developments in the sector
• Strong knowledge in MERL principles and MERL resources
• Strong facilitation, teaching and coaching skills related to MERL
• Ability to work independently and to perform and prioritize multiple tasks
• Sound networking skills; ability to work collaboratively and collegially in teams and forge new strategic relationships on behalf of Pact
• Established interpersonal and professional relationships with colleagues in Washington and across the industry within donor agencies, peer organizations and local organization
• Skills in knowledge management, database organization and design; working knowledge of software packages commonly used for data analysis
• Ability to establish and sustain interpersonal and professional relationships with Pact staff, in donor organizations and in peer organizations
• Ability to travel frequently
• Fluency in English

Education and Experience Requirements:
Required
• At least a Master’s Degree in MERL, Social Science Research, International Development/ Management, or closely related field
• At least 12 years of experience working in the field
• At least 5 years of experience managing livelihoods projects in an overseas setting
• Documented success in raising project funding
• Recognized in the field for demonstrated thought leadership

Preferred:
• Proficiency in at least one other language
• Publication of relevant journal articles, book chapters, or technical reports

Disclaimer:

This job description summarizes the responsibilities assigned to the position; however it does not contain an all-inclusive list of responsibilities. Periodically, employee(s) will be required to follow any other job-related instructions and to perform any other job-related duties requested by their supervisor.

This document does not create an employment contract, implied or otherwise. Employment at Pact is a voluntary ”at will” relationship.

Apply to this job online at:

http://recruitment.pactworld.org/apply

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