Humanitarian Adviser – Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning

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.

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Company Overview: 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.

The position of Humanitarian Advisor, Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning (MEL) is a member of the HSOT Humanitarian Emergency Response Team (HERT), comprised primarily of Humanitarian Advisors with a range of response specialisms and Humanitarian Affairs Officers leading on humanitarian information and analysis. The role reports into the Team Leader – Adaptation and Innovation

This role will provide quality advice on humanitarian monitoring, evaluation, and learning, promote sustained focus and facilitate evidence to deliver on learning and application of learning, and support knowledge on innovation, adaptation and evidenced improvement in humanitarian response for FCDO.

Key Responsibilities

Generalist Advisory

• Provide humanitarian analysis and advice to help design and implement humanitarian response strategies for FCDO.
• Contribute to HSOT activities in response to FCDO humanitarian policy requirement.
• Deployable as generalist humanitarian advisor in support of initial UK rapid response to global emergencies.

Specialist portfolio: Monitoring, Evaluation and 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 discussion with response teams, identifying lessons, and supporting evidence uptake in future responses by HSOT, HMD and FCDO teams as appropriate (and promotion of previous learning for current responses.)
• Support FCDO teams and departments with humanitarian operational lessons from a range of responses to emergencies and protracted crisis learning .
• 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.
• Support the briefing and debriefing processes for HSOT consultant Humanitarian Advisers to ensure deployment lessons are captured and the wider team kept updated with relevant developments from across the FCDO country network.
• Contribute to the design of FCDO systems for monitoring UK Aid-funded partner performance, including for rapid onset emergencies, and provide general advice on the design and use of monitoring and oversight systems.
• Maintain strong working relationships within 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.
• Provide technical guidance and support to HSOT during the external evaluation of the HEROS contract (2021-2024), helping HSOT to maximise engagement with the independent evaluation team in support of assessment of HSOT performance and learning from the HEROS contract.
• 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.
• Work with line manager to plan the aims, objectives and priorities for humanitarian advice to FCDO on humanitarian MEL, and set clear expectations for quality, accuracy, and timeliness through the annual performance review cycle and establish annual work plans
• Fulfil role of Duty Officer on rotation, providing week-long out of hours surveillance of emergencies.
• Contribute to HEROS contract monthly, quarterly, annual contractual reporting on specialist portfolio.

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.

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: donor evaluation management and conduct; 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 and change 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

Experience of managing internal lessons learning processes within organizations

Excellent command of spoken and written English; fluency/working knowledge of another language desirable.

Please note that this is a UK based role and applicants will need to hold the right to work in the UK.