Humanitarian Adviser – Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning

Project Overview and Role: The Humanitarian and Stabilisation Operations Team (HSOT), contracted by Palladium International Ltd as part of the HEROS contract, provides the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) with humanitarian and stabilisation support.
This HA MEL role leads on promoting applied learning through the capture and communication of knowledge and evidence from previous responses to rapid onset and protracted crisis to improve FCDO responses. The role applies technical expertise to advise FCDO teams on humanitarian monitoring and evaluation. The HA MEL also ensures HSOT provides a dedicated focus on learning for accountability and extends to promote appropriate innovation for response.

Primary Duties and Responsibilities:

Generalist Advisory

• Provide humanitarian analysis, advice and coordination to help design and implement humanitarian response strategies for FCDO.
• Contribute to the advancement of FCDO humanitarian policy priorities and promotion of global sector standards.
• Fulfil role of Duty Officer on rotation, providing week-long out of hours surveillance of emergencies, and undertake rapid deployment standby on rotation to deploy to affected country or region for initial UK response phase.
• Participate in the delivery of cross- contract priorities, such as preparedness, roster engagement, safeguarding, sector innovation, etc.

Learning

• Support FCDO Humanitarian & Migration Department (HMD) humanitarian lessons learning through design and conduct of systematic learning reviews of all rapid onset responses in which HMD is engaged, facilitating sessions with response teams, identifying lessons, shaping recommendations, and supporting evidence uptake in future responses by HSOT, HMD and FCDO teams as appropriate.
• Rapidly collate and present relevant learning from previous FCDO responses and global best practice to inform new response action and promote real-time learning during response.
• Support FCDO teams and departments with humanitarian operational learning from responses to crisis and thematic learning across of range of topics.
• Strengthen the capture of learning from HSOT deployees across the FCDO country network and the systematic communication of that learning to relevant HSOT and FCDO counterparts.
• Lead HSOT learning function to facilitate continuous learning and adaptation across HSOT.

Monitoring and Evaluation

• Provide technical support for the design and quality assurance of MEL approaches (including third party monitoring, partner monitoring and reporting, and accountability to affected populations) to strengthen FCDO humanitarian responses and programmes through generating and using evidence for accountability and adaptive learning, drawing on FCDO learning and global best practice.
• Contribute to the design of FCDO systems for monitoring UK Aid-funded partner performance, particularly for rapid onset emergencies, and where required support response monitoring activities.
• Maintain strong working relationships within the Humanitarian and Migration Directorate (HMD) and across FCDO teams, and cross-government departments where appropriate, to promote familiarisation with HSOT’s work on humanitarian MEL, including Humanitarian Advisors, the Independent Monitoring Network, FCDO Statistics Cadre, Evaluation Unit, including trainings and guidance as requested.
• Engage with relevant thematic UK and global working groups and forums for partners and donors to ensure FCDO is kept up to date and represented in areas of interest to humanitarian MEL.
• Support other FCDO evaluation and review processes, including quality assurance and technical support for the design of primary and secondary data collection, as required.

Key Requirements:

• Knowledge and experience gained working extensively on or in developing countries and/or in fragile and conflict affected environments, including field-based experience in rapid onset disaster/complex emergency settings.
• Extensive experience managing internal lessons learning processes within organizations, facilitating learning events and promoting a learning culture.
• Experience of working in humanitarian MEL, ideally in both a head office and field environment; specifically design and management of one or more of the following: management and conduct of donor evaluations; partner monitoring systems, including third party monitoring; monitoring information systems and databases; accountability and beneficiary feedback systems; organisational learning methods.
• Demonstrable knowledge and experience of humanitarian theory, practice and architecture, humanitarian risk assessment and planning and managing humanitarian responses.
• Demonstrable success in internal advocacy and consultancy, and an understanding of organizational culture in large, public-sector organisations.
• Strong experience developing and critiquing partner log frames, monitoring and reporting systems;
• Exceptional research and analysis skills, and proven ability to produce high quality and evidence-based quantitative and qualitative reports
• Experience of managing humanitarian evaluations and assessment and managing/assessing monitoring systems in the humanitarian sector, including field-based data collection methods
• Excellent command of spoken and written English; fluency/working knowledge of another language desirable.

Please apply if you have the right to work in the UK and have been a UK resident for the last 2 years. The closing date for the advert is 26th January 2023.

Company Overview:

About Palladium – Palladium is a global leader in the design, development and delivery of Positive Impact – the intentional creation of enduring social and economic value. We work with governments, businesses, and investors to solve the world’s most pressing challenges. With a team of more than 3,000 employees operating in 90 plus countries and a global network of over 35,000 experts, we help improve economies, societies and, most importantly, people’s lives.

Equity, Diversity & Inclusion – Palladium is committed to embedding equity, diversity, and inclusion into everything we do. We welcome applications from all sections of society and actively encourage diversity to drive innovation, creativity, success and good practice. We positively welcome and seek to ensure we achieve diversity in our workforce; and that all job applicants and employees receive equal and fair treatment regardless of their background or personal characteristics. These include: (but are not limited to) socio-economic background, age, race, gender identity and expression, religion, ethnicity, sexual orientation, disability, nationality, veteran, marital or Indigenous status.

Should you require any adjustments or accommodations to be made due to a disability or you are a neurodivergent individual or for any other circumstance, please email our team at [email protected] and we will be in touch to discuss.

Safeguarding – We define Safeguarding as “the preventative action taken by Palladium to protect our people, clients and the communities we work with from harm”. We are committed to ensuring that all children and adults who come into contact with Palladium are treated with respect and are free from abuse. All successful candidates will be subject to an enhanced selection process including safeguarding-focused interviews and a rigorous due diligence process.