MEL Lead-OTL at International Rescue Committee (IRC)

Job Overview/Summary:

This is a strategic role within the USAID supported Opportunities to Learn (OTL) Project in IRC Nigeria that works closely with the program team to improve program quality, providing MEL technical leadership, to program design, planning, monitoring, evaluation and learning commitments to the project. Core responsibilities includes ensuring the OTL project has a strong MEL system in place, implemented as intended and reported to support program technical leadership and other consortium partners to deliver desired outcomes and impacts.

The MEL lead reports directly to the chief of party and coordinates closely with the IRC Nigeria MEAL Coordinator.

Major Responsibilities:

Design and development (30%)

• Ensure establishment and maintenance of routine monitoring systems, presentation of findings and building related staff competencies
• Support team in development of detailed monitoring plans that: i) provide an indicator matrix, ii) map MEL roles and responsibilities of project and support staff, iii) consider ethical and safe collection and storage of data, iv) consider data quality audits, v) consider storing, protecting and sharing project documents, and vi) consider end of project learning review.
• Work with Result area leads and support staff to develop TORs for needs assessments and surveys.
• Conduct needs assessments and other survey in new locations and provide reports.
• Accountable for selecting/defining sampling strategy.

Monitoring and evaluation (30%)

• Work with team to determine which monitoring activities will take place and which data collection methods will be used to ensure their adequacy and appropriateness.
• Work with MELSA to ensure smooth conduct of monitoring activities and DQA
• Accountable for providing consistent, supportive supervision as necessary to meet monitoring objectives and ensure data quality.
• Work with MEL team and support staff to track progress on action points related to implementation and MEL activities
• Provides inputs from survey and assessment data for tracking of overall progress on the OTL project.

Information management and reporting (20%)

• Accountable for providing technical leadership on information management across states
• Accountable for data aggregation and reporting
• Accountable for the conduct of CLA activities including Pause and Reflect, Knowledge management, etc.
• Support dissemination of learnings and reports to stakeholders
• Support in design of appropriate materials for learning

Staff capacity building (15%)

• Support in training of staff in data collection methods, management, analysis and action techniques.
• Accountable for the implementation of client responsiveness mechanism (CRM) in OTL operation sites
• Coaching and mentoring of MEL staff on Accountability Monitoring and Evaluation, Learning (AMEL), and Collaborating Learning and Adapting (CLA) activities.  
• Training of staff in new MEL and CLA approaches

Knowledge management and learning (5%)

• Accountable for conducting data quality audits of project & programs to identify and resolve systemic problems affecting data quality, and documenting and storing findings in project files on Box.
• Provide oversight on CLA activities especially on Knowledge Management & Pause and Reflect.
• Oversight for surveys, assessments and discrete learning documentation.
• Others duties as may be allocated by supervisor.

Key Working Relationships:

• Position Reports to:  COP
  Position directly supervises:  Reporting Specialist, MEL Officer(s), CLA senior officer
• Indirect Reporting: Data assistant/intern
  Other Internal and/or external contacts:
• Internal: Program lead, Result area leads, Specialist, Managers, Senior Officers, Officers
• External:  MELSA, USAID team, Partner organizations, stakeholders

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree; over seven years of experience in designing and leading complex MEL programs.
• Five years of experience on USAID programs; experience on education projects preferred.
• Strong understanding of education metrics and processes needed to build MEL capacity of organizations, particularly youth-based CBOs and CBMCs on data collection, transparency, and use.
• Deep understanding of MEL ICT4D tools and ways to utilize data for decision-making.
• Knowledge of CLA is a MUST
• Excellent report writing and presentation skill