Save the Children is seeking a Monitoring and Evaluation Advisor for an anticipated five-year USAID-funded Supporting Learning Outcomes Activity in South Sudan. This activity which will promote approaches and strategies to improve learning outcomes among children and youth ages between 10 and 15, including development of both formal and non-formal education approaches and methodologies, to increase literacy and numeracy in South Sudan.
The Advisor develops, implements, and continuously improves Monitoring and Evaluation systems for all project activities. S/he incorporates best practices to ensure information collected is accurate, timely and disseminated appropriately in high quality reports. The Advisor will use these findings to improve the program and achieve the objectives. This person will also be actively involved in promoting learning through documentation of lessons learned and developing approaches for community analysis and using data for making decision.
This position is contingent upon donor approval and funding.
- Provide leadership, training and mentoring to develop plans, tools, survey design, methodology, and data analysis to assess program impact.
- Develop system for capturing and documenting data and relevant information on project activities, beneficiaries, outputs, outcomes, and impact. The system should use USAID’s Collaboration, Learning, and Adapting (CLA) principles to integrate real time monitoring and learning back into the project strategy and program implementation and ensure knowledge sharing with program partners.
- Design methodology and coordinate research activities for project operations and assessments.
- Develop a preliminary learning agenda that identifies a limited number of questions related to the activity theory of change.
- Effectively rollout monitoring and evaluation collection and reporting systems to all staff and partners through training, site visits, manuals, and other technical support as needed.
- Capture appropriate cost and financial information to track money indicators, including bench-marking information to analyze program effectiveness and cost effective
- Ensure programming alignment to targets and indicators contained in project proposal, and use the information from the monitoring and evaluation systems and tools to improve the program effectiveness.
- Support all project reviews and evaluation activities, including coordinating mid-term and final evaluations, and supporting donor and external reviews.
- Provide on-going support to maintain monitoring and evaluation systems; identify skill gaps and build capacity among project team.
- Prepare high quality, accurate and timely reports for Save the Children, project partners and donors as required.
- Advanced training in quantitative methodologies, including database management; experience in qualitative research techniques a plus.
- Minimum of seven years of experience and demonstrated practical skills in monitoring and evaluation of multi-sectoral and/or USG international development programs preferred.
- Experience supporting education activities preferred.
- Strong analytical skills and an understanding of monitoring, evaluation and assessment tools to promote evidence-based learning.
- Familiarity with USAID’s Collaboration, Learning & Adapting principles Ability to analyze complex data and summarize it for a range of audiences.
- Ability to gain support from staff across teams and to build the capacity of others.
- Sound strategic thinking and planning skills, including ability to think creatively and innovate and to set priorities, manageable work plans and evaluate progress.
- Excellent oral and written communication skills in English.
- Familiarity with the political, social, and cultural context of South Sudan is preferred.