Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning Advisor

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Position Title: Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning Advisor

Location: [Remote] Boston, MA; possible travel to the West Africa region

Compensation: course credit offered; international travel expenses covered if applicable

Brief description of the position:

Okoa seeks a MEL Advisor to support Okoa’s efforts to design and carry out contextual assessments and analysis for program design; collect, design and/or identify methods to analyze and evaluate program results and impact; and ensure effective learning across each practice area (heath, youth, gender inclusion, education, and STEM/technology). The position will oversee development of assessment and M&E plans and tools; data quality assurance, management and analysis; and program progress reporting. The position will also contribute to professional development and capacity building of staff and support program management. Work is remote.

ESSENTIAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

• Design, manage and lead assessment, monitoring, evaluation and learning (MEL) of projects and initiatives. This may include:

• Conduct impact evaluations and assessments of qualitative and quantitative methods
• Design surveys, data collection tools and instruments, deploy them, and manage beneficiary evaluative data;
• Analyze data to determine trends and visualize results to promote utilization of key findings
• Facilitate development of evidence-based program-level theories of change, logical and results frameworks
• Assess data quality for Okoa programs to inform adaptive management decision-making;

• Facilitate design and implementation of program-level learning agendas
• Create presentations and dashboards linking M&E data sources to visualize results
• Support content for project proposals, impact one-pagers and other forums to dissemination information

• Support project workflow by managing program MEL plans and ensuring timely, accurate, and thoughtful completion of deliverables. This may include:

• Track progress on monitoring and evaluating program indicators
• Write implementation progress reports and briefing
• Provide recommendations to improve program performance
• Propose evidence-based solutions to implementation obstacles in the field or HQ
• Develop and oversee the development of program material, including assessments and research

• Draft complex documents, including program progress reports, midterm and end-of-project evaluations
• Maintain effective relations and coordination with field teams, donors, academic and program partners, and technical experts

• Provide technical support, mentoring, or training to program staff to ensure effective management of programs to monitor and evaluate results. This may include:

• Advise staff in MEL framework design and implementation, incorporating adult learning and problem-based learning to build staff capacity in HQ and the field

• Work with program staff to design indicators and data collection tools in line with MEL plans, including needs and contextual assessments, organizational capacity building monitoring, knowledge and skills-based assessments, and participant competencies to evaluate program impacts such as attitudinal and behavioral change
• Develop M&E manuals, training materials and other resources

• Participate in efforts to capture team program data and disseminate results, best practices and lessons learned from the team’s program portfolio, including preparing and presenting communication materials on evaluation efforts
• Provide updates to the Executive Director on new reports, studies and/or trends in international development that are in line with practice area priorities (heath, youth, gender inclusion, education, and STEM/technology)

• Track emerging trends and concepts in MEL in international development, specifically as it relates to Okoa’s practice areas

EDUCATION AND/OR EXPERIENCE

• Bachelor’s degree in social science or related subject; graduate degree preferred
• Five years of progressive job experience supporting or managing monitoring and evaluation in international development, preferably with international development programs such as health, youth, gender inclusion, education, STEM/technology

• Experience designing M&E strategies as part of the proposal development process for the implementation of programs targeting health, education, youth, or gender equity and/or the inclusion of marginalized groups
• Understanding of the role of M&E in programmatic and organizational learning
• Demonstrated ability to apply program theory-based approach to program design, monitoring, evaluation and learning
• Experience in qualitative and quantitative methods design and analysis
• Familiarity with social science software packages - e.g., STATA, SPSS, R, Dedoose, Nvivo

• Experience in developing and operationalizing SMART indicators for resource limited environments
• Demonstrated experience with carrying out various types of evaluations - e.g., formative, summative, developmental, impact
• Demonstrated experience with coding, cleaning, analyzing and visualizing data, as well as relevant software
• Proficiency with Microsoft Office Suite
• Exceptional communication and collaboration skills and a proven track record of working effectively with partner and donor counterparts

• High level of interpersonal skills and cultural sensitivity to effectively interact with all levels of staff, members of donor organizations, funders and policy makers

Desired/Preferred Skills and Abilities:

• Advanced degree in International Development, Monitoring and Impact Evaluation, or other relevant field
• Progressive years of expertise within the areas of public/global health, gender, youth, STEM/ technology

• Familiarity with donors’ MEL requirements, including USAID, Department of State and non-federal donors (any other donors to highlight?)
• Experience with data analysis and visualization software (Kobo Toolbox, Google Data Studio, Survey Monkey, Power BI, Tableau, Carto etc.)
• Experience setting-up and maintaining M&E systems in the field strongly desired
• Experience living or working outside the U.S.
• Foreign language skills, (Swahili, French, Arabic preferred)

• Knowledge of broader sub Saharan Africa region

To Apply:

Please provide a cover letter and resume and send to emily@theokoaproject.com

The Okoa Project is an equal opportunity employer (EOE). As such, Okoa makes employment decisions and provides equal employment opportunity without regard to an applicant’s or employee’s race, religion, color, sex (including pregnancy, sexual orientation, or gender identity), national origin, age, disability, veteran status, or any other basis protected by federal, state and local laws. If you need a reasonable accommodation in the application or hiring process, please notify Okoa’s human resource department.