Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning Director at IREX

Your Background & Skills

• Bachelor’s Degree
• 15 + years of progressive experience with 10+ years of subject specific experience.
• Experience creating organizational policies and guidance for MEL and leading implementation strategies for successful adoption of policies and guidance.
• Demonstrated background and experience in designing and implementing diverse donor-funded programs, including MEL and collaborating, learning, and adapting (CLA) with some experience working with USAID or other USG funded projects.
• Significant experience providing international Technical Assistance around evaluation design and implementation, data quality, and translating data and learning for use.
• Demonstrated experience conducting different types of program evaluation, including participatory, formative, summative, development, and impact, including quantitative and qualitative data collection and analysis.
• Demonstrated experience analyzing and presenting data in compelling formats. and familiarity with latest trends and methods in MEL data analytics.
• Demonstrated experience coaching, advising, or managing staff responsible for MEL deliverables with diverse levels of comfort and familiarity with MEL.
• Experience researching, adapting and training others to design, develop and use practical and robust MEL tools.
• Experience translating proposals into concrete project activities and helping others set up a system of MEL activities.
• Leadership, teambuilding, management and mentoring skills.
• Excellent analytical skills coupled with proven ability to present data and learning as appropriate and compelling for different audiences.
• Proficiency with data collection, analysis, and visualization software packages – e.g., STATA, SPSS, Dedoose/ Nvivo, Alchemer/Qualtrics, Power BI/ Tableau.
• Professional interpersonal and communication skills in English (written and oral), including a demonstrated ability to promote evaluative thinking, facilitate learning, and convey MEL concepts to program staff and in-country partners.
• Exceptional collaboration skills and a proven track record of working effectively with technical and non-technical staff at all levels.
• You must have unrestricted authorization to work in the country where you are based.

Your Daily Tasks

• Manage and develop a team of select MEL staff, providing mentoring and coaching to direct reports and other staff, as appropriate.
• Foster a community of MEL staff at IREX.
• Lead and contribute technical guidance to the MEL community network.
• Monitor and assess program MEL performance against organizational policies and guidance, upholding standards for quality assurance and compliance among program teams.
• Develop strong partnerships across IREX to ensure efficient operations that support effective program implementation.
• Provide strategic direction and subject-matter expertise to MEL and CLA approaches and associated programming.
• Engage with specific project teams as needed to support robust MEL and CLA functions.
• Effectively communicate MEL results to a variety of audiences.
• Mentor and support program staff to communicate MEL results effectively.
• Collaborate with CALI Strategic Research, Evaluation and Learning (SREAL) team to ensure IREX has the MEL policy and standards and program MEL accountability system necessary for the data and evidence and conceptual frameworks for its strategic organizational learning and research priorities (SEL) and to support research within program activities.
• Identify opportunities to use IREX’s MEL data to fuel strategic communications, organizational thought leadership, and engagement with key IREX funders.
• Support efforts to seek research funding by, for example, partnering with CALI to develop logic models, gather activities either directly or through Global Programs MEL staff.
• Provide back up support to CALI for proposal MEL/CLA writing, either directly or through Global Programs MEL staff.
• Provide proposal reviews, particularly of MEL/CLA sections.
• Manage MEL team budget and staff level of effort allocations.
• Inspire and champion a culture of MEL innovation, excellence, and collaboration where data and evidence are used to strengthen our programming and drive organizational change.
• Support implementation of a positive culture and inclusive organizational environment where all feel that they belong and can thrive.
• Lead organizational vision, policy, guidance and operations plans for program MEL.
• Liaise with internal stakeholders across programs and support units, especially our Center for Applied Learning and Impact (CALI) to share information, identify areas to leverage expertise and learning, and promote innovative program development and management.
• Other duties as supported.