Senior Manager (Monitoring,Evaluation And Learning) at Center For Reproductive Rights

The Role:  Reporting to the Associate Director, New Initiatives and Business Development, the Senior Manager, Monitoring, Evaluation, & Learning is an experienced professional whose principal responsibility is to manage the day-to-day implementation and technical development of ME&L across the Center’s Global Legal Program (GLP).  The postholder contributes technical expertise to the ongoing development and strengthening of the organization’s ME&L Plan, system and related tools and processes, with responsibility for coordinating and integrating these across GLP to track progress and performance against the Strategic Plan.  This includes taking the lead and supporting GLP regions and units to develop, implement and integrate ME&L in line with institutional donor award requirements.  Working in close collaboration with GLP units and regions and the Center’s Strategy, Evaluation and Learning (SEAL) Unit, the postholder also contributes to the design and roll out of ongoing strategy, evaluation and learning initiatives at organization, department and regional level as part of broader efforts to develop an ‘impact culture’ at the Center (effectively using results and learning to inform actions and guide decision-making for continuous improvement, innovation and refinement of the Strategic Plan across programs, external relations and operations within GLP and across the Center).

The postholder’s role will be split between developing, implementing and maintaining ME&L requirements related to a 7-year grant award with the Government of Canada (40% job time allocation), and supporting GLP regions and units to implement and integrate ME&L processes and mechanisms into their day-to-day operations in alignment with the Center’s Strategic Plan (60% time allocation).

Primary Responsibilities: 

Systems, Evidence & Data

• Builds and manages the technical design and development of the ME&L system across GLP regions and units by working collaboratively with the SEAL Unit to identify and adapt appropriate tools and processes that align with the organization’s ME&L Plan and systems to track progress and performance against the Center’s Strategic Plan.
• Integrates the Center’s evaluation and learning processes into GLP initiatives and and structures.
• Leads the GLP’s ongoing implementation and review of the ME&L Plan including feedback processes to make recommendations and participation in cross-organization-level work to develop new or modified ME&L tools and approaches.
• Coordinates the GLP recommendations and contributions to annual evaluation planning and working in collaboration with GLS colleagues, ensure high quality of evaluation (and research) reports for analysis and/or internal dissemination.
• Keeps up to date and shares latest ME&L theory, best practice, trends and issues in areas of interest and relevance to the work of the Center.

Implementing ME&L to deliver strategy across GLP

• Working closely with the Associate Director, Programs Operations (Africa Region), leads the ME&L requirements to track progress and performance against a 7-year restricted funding grant in Kenya, Uganda, and Zambia.
• In close collaboration with SEAL, manages GLP initiatives which integrate ME&L systems and outputs with other strategy and impact-oriented outputs related to global legal strategies, communications and institutional giving.
• Provides technical support and inputs to GLP teams preparing and implementing M&E frameworks and plans for donors (proposal development & project implementation), ensuring alignment with the Center’s results framework and compliance with donor requirements, including increased focus on integrating value for money considerations.
• Collaborates with SEAL to identify and conduct cross-GLP case studies and other evaluation and learning material as part of the Center’s strategy to strengthen cross-organizational learning and ongoing program strategy development.
• Analyzes and extracts data from evaluation processes including best practices, lessons learned and recommendations for use with GLP regions and units, and across the Center.
• Participates in and manages dissemination of knowledge and evidence emerging from ME&L processes to ensure its use in ongoing and/or new program development and decision-making.

Enabling Culture & Transformation

• In collaboration with SEAL, contributes to building a culture of strategic thinking and learning across GLP units through adopting evidence-based, impact-oriented approaches to how we design, implement, share & adapt our work.
• In collaboration with SEAL and GLS, supports implementation of processes which identify and recommend strategic options to innovate and strengthen the Center’s program portfolio, increase efficiencies/effectiveness, and maximize CRR impact.
• Integrates a human-rights based approach into building and framing cross-organizational approaches to strategy, implementation, evaluation, and learning.
• Collaborates with SEAL to identify ongoing capacity building needs around evaluation & learning across GLP regions and units.
• Collaborates with SEAL to identify and conduct relevant training/capacity building activities on technical aspects of ME&L to build ME&L understanding and ensure effective and aligned monitoring is systematically built into projects and programs.

Qualifications:

• A first degree relevant to this position and/or the organization’s work (e.g. social science, public health, social justice, human rights, sexual and reproductive health, international development). A postgraduate degree in a relevant discipline would be an added advantage and/or professional certification in ME&L or project management.
• Minimum 10 years’ cumulative work experience in a relevant field, which has included project management and developing/implementing ME&L systems and activities (incl. data analysis and synthesis as well as a working knowledge of quantitative and qualitative M&E e.g. outcome harvesting).
• Demonstrated M&E experience working on institutional funding (bilateral, multilateral, foundation) grants in advocacy and legal organizations and/or government funding agencies.
• Demonstrated experience working in and with dispersed cross-regional teams, and flexibility working with virtual teams and management.
• Experience in monitoring and evaluating human right and related policy mechanisms and/or policy & advocacy highly desirable. Experience in monitoring and evaluating LGBTQ rights/racial justice/economic justice or social justice programs with an ability to connect and apply this experience to reproductive rights would be an advantage (but not essential).
• Demonstrated ability to communicate effectively about ME&L practices and lessons learned in a clear, non-technical, creative and compelling way.
• Facilitation and capacity building/training skills would be a distinct advantage.
• Advanced skills in Microsoft Word, Excel and PowerPoint as well as SharePoint essential; familiarity with qualitative and/or quantitative data analysis software (e.g. Nvivo) would be an advantage.
• Strong commitment to the Center’s mission, purpose, and values.
• Astute at individual leadership and team leadership.
• Excellent interpersonal and intrapersonal skills.
• Strategic Global perspective yet versatile in tactical process execution.
• Demonstrated excellent writing and verbal communications skills.
• Excellent Planning, organizing and work management/structuring skills necessary to handling a multiskilled driven and multifaceted program’s structure.
• Creativity and innovation to meet learning outcome in project.
• Analytical/reasoning skills: Solutions-oriented approach with strong analytical skills.
• Time perspective: Ability to work under tight deadlines and with teams across different time zones.

Critical Competencies:

• Strategic thinking: Applies big-picture thinking while also focusing on the details of implementation.
• Decisiveness: Consistently makes sound decisions in a timely manner supportive of the Center’s mission, core values, and strategic objectives. Blends vision and judgment.
• Collaboration: Brings a track record of working effectively with various and diverse individuals and groups, and a willingness to actively listen and invite different views and opinions across all levels of the institution to build alignment in support of a common goal.
• Receives and Provides Direct Feedback: Actively gives and requests feedback to and from peers, supervisors and direct reports (if applicable) about work products, behaviors, values, style and approaches with a view on how this impacts self, other individuals and teams.
• Transparency: Consistently applies openness and honesty in communicating decisions and plans to team members.
• Commitment to learn: Applies a growth mentality to their own and their team’s (if applicable) development. Promotes a culture of learning by modeling inquisitiveness and an openness to viewing mistakes as an opportunity to learn and improve.
• Passion for Coaching, and Mentoring Staff: Empowers and motivates employees and creates opportunities for learning, development, and leadership, with a focus on harnessing skills for the future development of team members. (if applicable)
• Accountability: Follows through on each commitment made to individual contributors, teams and partners and proactively informs others of any delays that occur along the way. Holds team members accountable.
• Integrity: Possesses impeccable integrity and personal and professional values that are consistent with the Center’s high standards and mission.
• Empathy: Serves as an empathetic, approachable leader who engenders trust and confidence. (if applicable)
• Adaptability/Flexibility: Demonstrates comfort with ambiguity and calculated risk.