Monitoring & Evaluation Specialist at Christian Aid (CA)

Christian Aid (CA) is a UK-based international NGO, partnering with others to end poverty in Africa. At the heart of this vision is the transformation of the lives of people who live in poverty, empowering them to have a brighter future. Christian Aid works in more than 30 countries and has been operating in Nigeria since 2003. The Nigeria Country programme focuses on Community Health and HIV, Accountable Governance including humanitarian response and Gender.

We are recruiting to fill the position below:

Job Title: Monitoring & Evaluation Specialist

Location: Abuja
Type of Contract: Permanent
Contracted Hours: 35
Reports to (Job Title): Evidence and Impact Manager

Role Purpose

• To embed a culture of performance in Christian Aid, with a focus on institutionally funded programmes and service contracts, in order to maximise our impact for poor and marginalised women and men
• Specifically, to ensure that programme cycle management (strategy and conceptualisation, proposal development, programme monitoring & evaluation, review and reporting) is robust, fit for purpose and fully aligned with Christian Aid's wider programme management approach and systems
• To enhance programme and partner capacity in programme cycle management
• To provide intensive programme cycle management support to teams involved in implementing service contracts.

Key Outcomes

• Programme objectives and management / M&E approaches and systems for institutionally funded programmes and service contracts are robust, appropriate to donor requirements and programme context and capacity, and fully aligned with CA's corporate strategy and programme management approach
• Improved quality and relevance of information on effectiveness and impact of institutionally funded programmes and service contracts.
• Sharper strategic thinking, focus and analysis of results and performance at all stages of the programme management cycle by programme teams working on institutionally funded programmes and service contracts
• Programme management and performance information from these programmes and contracts used to improve decision-making and learning
• Programme management approaches, systems and processes for large institutionally funded programmes and service contracts documented and shared across CA's international programmes
• Improvement of organisational wide M&E
• Engage in external networks, including learning groups, in order to share and learn on good practice in programme performance, organisational effectiveness and value for money

In order to respond to ever changing demands within the environment, Christian Aid operates within an agile framework (both in workforce and operational) that requires from all employees, a high level of responsiveness and adaptiveness to processes and structures making flexibility and a project based working approach the norm. To sustain this system, managers may/will agree further details of specific tasks and duties as part of the performance agreement. Any reasonable duty may be assigned that is consistent with the nature of the job and its level of responsibility, and employees may be required to change the focus of their role from time to time.

Role Context

• The role sits within the Programme Innovation and Funding grouping in Christian Aid. The role exists to embed a culture of performance in Christian Aid, with a focus on institutionally funded programmes and service contracts, to maximise our impact for poor and marginalised women and men
• Specifically, to ensure that programme cycle management (strategy and conceptualisation, proposal development, programme monitoring & evaluation, review and reporting) is robust, fit for purpose and fully aligned with Christian Aid's wider programme management approach and systems. To enhance programme and partner capacity in programme cycle management
• To provide intensive programme cycle management support to teams involved in implementing service contracts. This will include but not be limited to working on project design, baselines, continuous monitoring, mid-term reviews, final evaluations, review, reporting and learning
• It will include investigating and testing new methodologies and processes where appropriate and contributing to the overall enhancement of programme quality at Christian Aid. The role provides input into new proposals around MEL, as well as designing new MEL frameworks for new projects
• The post-holder also makes a broader contribution to promoting Christian Aid’s Evidencing Impact agenda and engaging Country Programme staff in improving their MEL. This may involve leading on/ contributing to initiatives to facilitate and accompany learning with staff and/or partners, for example running Community of Practice sessions and virtual or in-person workshops, as well as programme management induction sessions. There is a close working relationship with the other divisions and departments across the organisation.

Role Requirements
Relationships:

• External External networking (e.g. with donors and peer INGOs) to ensure CA’s PCM approaches are informed by/inform external debates on accountability. Liaison with donor technical and contract management teams in relation to particular contracts and programmes
• Internal Effective relationships across CA, with emphasis on negotiation and support. Advisory (distance) relationships with programme teams, to strengthen thinking and practice, without management authority. Highly collaborative peer relationships with Programme Funding colleagues to ensure alignment between CA's PCM processes and donor accountability
• Strong links to key programme staff working on service contracts and to Africa Divisional Manager - Service Contracts Close links to Head of Programme Funding, other ID senior managers and CA Large Programmes Oversight Committee to enable oversight of alignment, raise concerns etc.
• Close collaboration with International Directorate colleagues to ensure programme support fully reflects ID’s wider impact and innovation agenda.

Decision Making:

• Manages donor-facing evaluations and other externally-funded research and evaluation projects, as agreed during proposal development/negotiation. Works with programme teams, Programme Funding and other colleagues to define programme objectives, budgets and reporting commitments.
• Works with International Directorate and Programme Performance group on continued development of Christian Aid’s programme management policies. Works with ID senior managers/divisional leadership, programme performance and finance colleagues to identify and agree organisational performance indicators for institutional funding May recruit and manages consultants, interns or volunteers appointed to support programme M&E and quality processes, systems or resources
• Works with senior managers and staff to identify and respond to risks, capacity gaps and performance/implementation issues. Must consider value for money in carrying out work

Analytical Skills:

• Ability to analyse quantitative and qualitative data and share findings with a range of audiences for learning, accountability and decision-making
• The post requires the ability to use available evidence to prepare meaningful and concise reports and therefore requires in depth knowledge and experience of M&E processes and methodologies.
• Ability to take initiative, be self- motivated and develop capacity of partner staff. Has no direct reports but has responsibility for developing, coaching and motivating colleagues/project team members/partners, including those who report in through others and may include more than one team
• May monitor performance review and development planning and activities within a function/across major projects to ensure that best practice is being met.

Person Specification

• Relevant Undergraduate or Postgraduate qualification or other evidence of highly developed analytical ability.
• Strong understanding of quantitative and qualitative research methodologies
• Familiarity with current thinking / debates on effectiveness / results, Value for Money, evaluation and impact assessment in international development.
• Familiarity with one or more of the following thematic areas: governance, resilience, livelihoods, health or climate change.
• Familiarity with a wide range of M&E methods and experience of developing/ using theories of change
• Proven experience of developing MEL frameworks and tools with partners
• Experience of gender sensitive tool design.
• Excellent report writing skills
• Experience of commissioning and managing consultants
• Familiar with the use of digital data gathering techniques.
• Ability to communicate effectively in Spanish, French and/or Portuguese
• Experience of participatory approaches to monitoring and evaluation, and understanding of beneficiary accountability/feedback mechanism.

Salary

• 39,073 - 41,000 Pounds.

Application Closing Date
2nd May, 2018.

How to Apply
Interested and qualified candidates should:
Click here to apply online

Click here for more on the Position Description (PDF)

Click here to download the "Christian Aid Competency Framework" (PDF)