Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning (MEL) Specialist, Greater Internet Freedom

  • Contractor
  • Remote
  • TBD USD / Year
  • Internews Network profile




  • Job applications may no longer being accepted for this opportunity.


Internews Network

ABOUT THE OPPORTUNITY

Come join a team of dynamic colleagues and partners who are passionate about promoting Internet freedom! Internews’ Global Technology Department is seeking a full-time Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning (MEL) Specialist to support the Greater Internet Freedom (GIF) project.

In this position, the MEL Specialist develops, manages and continually improves the GIF project’s monitoring and evaluation methodologies and systems that measure the results and overall impact of the GIF project. In close collaboration with program staff, management and the Internews MERL team, the MEL Specialist is responsible for capturing and communicating results (internally and with external stakeholders).

Additionally, the MEL Specialist is responsible for supervising the MEL Associate. Under the MEL Specialist’s guidance and supervision, the GIF project’s MEL team will ensure that program staff and project partners are empowered to effectively monitor programs, draft documents, and collect data, and utilize that information to improve learning within the team and within Internews as an organization. The MEL Specialist also oversees analysis and learning to continuously inform and improve the project, including facilitating regular reflection sessions and data quality assessments, as well as more outcome harvesting, internal evaluations, and impact tracking.

You’re an ideal candidate for this position if you have previous experience building and running MEL systems; are excited to work with grassroots civil society organizations to improve their MEL capacity; can make MEL accessible to a wide range of actors; have keen attention to detail, but can craft a vision for a strong MEL system; have a voracious desire to learn; and the desire to help protect human rights defenders, journalists, and marginalized people around the world. The GIF team is dynamic, flexible and highly collaborative. We value open and honest communication and a great sense of humor. You’ll fit in well if you appreciate a good gif.

ABOUT THE PROJECT

This position will support a global, Internet freedom initiative funded by USAID. Internews launched this three-year initiative in August 2020 to enhance digital security for civil society and media organizations, to engage citizens in internet governance debates, and to advance human rights online. The effort will place regional and local organizations at the forefront of the fight to preserve an open, interoperable, reliable, and secure Internet. By supporting localized Internet freedom initiatives within a global, community-based Internet freedom strategy, the GIF Consortium will construct strong local and regional bulwarks against a rising wave of digital authoritarianism.

LOGISTICS

All remote candidates will be considered. However, you must have work authorization in your location that does not require sponsorship from Internews. Additionally, there are locations in which Internews is not able to support fully remote work.

Wherever possible, we work to try to find solutions for international hiring that work for both the company and the candidate. This means that some of the particulars around the offer for a role will be dependent on several factors, and that the benefits and salary structure that apply to a position will ultimately be based upon the candidate’s location and where the role is hired.

Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis, so candidates should apply soon. This is a limited duration position, with an expected end date of September 13, 2023.

OUR COMMITMENT TO FOSTERING A CULTURE OF BELONGING

We are an organization of dynamic, mission-driven individuals who are passionate about our core values and about supporting positive change in the world. We pride ourselves on our commitment to innovation and flexibility. We believe that diverse teams are strong teams and work to support an ethic of belonging, dignity, and justice for all people. Our current team includes a mix of genders, parents and non-parents, and people of multiple races, nationalities, ages, sexual orientations, and socioeconomic backgrounds. We are an EEO employer and encourage candidates of all races, genders, ages, orientations, ethnicities, and national origins to apply, and welcome those with alternative backgrounds and experiences.

DAY-TO-DAY TASKS will include:

  • Develop, manage and continually improve the GIF project’s MEL systems
  • Ensure consistent, reproducible data is collected from all partners, stored effectively and safely, translated into clear reporting to the funder and other stakeholders
  • Support the analysis and reporting of the data collected, and incorporate learnings into the GIF project and Internews overall
  • Work closely with the Technical Advisors and Program Officers, supervise two MEL Associates
  • Support ongoing capacity building efforts for GIF’s partners, including regular MEL workshops, developing tools and templates to facilitate partner MEL activities, troubleshoot and provide guidance as needed, and generally ensure that GIF’s MEL team is accessible and supportive of project partners
  • Oversee consistent application of the GIF’s project MEP (once developed), ensuring that all all sub-awards include well-designed monitoring and evaluation plans which utilize realistic and relevant indicators and targets that fit within the overall Internews’ Theory of Change where applicable (including gender and inclusiveness)
  • Manage procurement of research companies and individual evaluators, that will design and implement target research, including developing scopes of work for midterm and final evaluations, social network analyses, political economy analyses, and gender equality and social inclusion strategy assessments (as needed)
  • Contribute to shaping and delivering a wider global strategy to innovate and expand MERL efforts within the Global Technology Program (GTP) team and at Internews, communicate GIF’s results internally within GTP and Internews, and externally with donors and stakeholders
  • Support analysis and learning to continuously inform and improve programs, including facilitating regular reflection sessions and data quality assessments, as well as more long-term projects such as conducting comprehensive portfolio analyses, outcome harvesting, internal evaluations, and impact tracking
  • Participate in the implementation of Internews standard MERL methodologies and in the design, adaption and uptake of new, innovative approaches
  • Provide guidance on/review project-level research initiatives
  • In all duties, demonstrate an understanding of and demonstrated commitment to upholding Internews’ Core Values

QUALIFICATIONS WE’RE LOOKING FOR

  • English language skills required.
  • Relevant university degree in social sciences field, preferably with a focus on monitoring and evaluation and research studies.
  • A minimum of 5 years’ experience in monitoring and evaluation of large internationally funded democracy and governance programs.
  • Demonstrated ability to communicate M&E requirements and outcomes to project colleagues and other stakeholders.
  • Proficiency in evaluation design and development of indicators. Good working knowledge of statistics and ability to obtain, analyze and interpret data and present findings in oral and written form.
  • Experience in quantitative and qualitative frameworks such as social network analysis, organizational capacity assessments, and principles of survey design and analysis; familiarity with digital safety/security assessments is an an asset.
  • Competent in qualitative and quantitative methodologies and participatory assessments.
  • Competent in MS Excel, word processing, PowerPoint; experience using statistical programs such as SPSS
  • Demonstrated understanding of USAID and other donor approaches to human rights programming
  • Experience working with grassroots civil society organizations from around the world.

HIRING PROCESS

To apply, please submit the following documents:

  • A cover letter, no longer than one page, explaining your approach to developing MEL systems.
  • A resume, no longer than three pages.

Candidates with the strongest cover letter and resume will be selected for panel interviews. We will be reviewing applications on a rolling basis and would like to hire this position before the end of August 2022; as such, it benefits you to apply as soon as possible if the position is of interest.

How to apply

To apply, please submit required materials via our Careers page.


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