Regional Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning Coordinator

The International Rescue Committee (IRC) responds to the world’s worst humanitarian crises, helping to restore health, safety, education, economic wellbeing, and power to people devastated by conflict and disaster. Founded in 1933 at the call of Albert Einstein, the IRC is one of the world’s largest international humanitarian non-governmental organizations (INGO), at work in more than 40 countries and more than 25 U.S. cities helping people to survive, reclaim control of their future and strengthen their communities. A force for humanity, IRC employees delivers lasting impact by restoring safety, dignity and hope to millions. If you’re a solutions-driven, passionate change-maker, come join us in positively impacting the lives of millions of people world-wide for a better future.

PlayMatters reimagines childhood for refugees. It will bring play-based learning to 800,000 children across Ethiopia, Uganda and a to be confirmed third country. It will redefine education and cultivate a generation of lifelong builders. PlayMatters is inspired by LEGO Foundation’s call to challenge the status quo, to offer children the quality education they dream of. Children are not gaining the skills they need, teachers are under-supported and parents are overwhelmed. The systems built to serve them are failing them. PlayMatters proudly offers something different. It will be delivered by a coalition with a track record of thinking and delivering differently. We bring three distinct characteristics:

1. OUTCOMES. Everything we do is fueled by the social, emotional, cognitive, physical, creative and resilience outcomes we seek. We know learning happens when children are at the center and teachers, parents and the system surrounding them embrace children’s agency and have not only skills and resources, but the motivation to drive change.

2. RESEARCH AND LEARNING. Effective delivery requires both rigor and a big heart. With LEGO Foundation, PlayMatters will generate scientific evidence that can transform our understanding of play and learning for refugees in East Africa and around the world.

3. THOUGHT LEADERSHIP. The LEGO Foundation Humanitarian Initiative offers an opportunity to deliver and comes with the responsibility to lead. Our consortium’s members have a record mobilizing others.

The Regional MEL Coordinator will be a critical member of the PlayMatters regional project team, based in Kampala, Uganda or Addis Ababa, Ethiopa. The position will coordinate monitoring and evaluation activities in diverse settings across Uganda and Ethiopia, and Tanzania with refugee and host communities.

Job Overview/Summary:

Reporting to the Research, Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning Advisor (RMEL Advisor), the Sr. M&E Manager will work closely with IRC implementation staff and consortium partners to support the collection and aggregation of key monitoring indicators, build capacity of project staff and ensure data quality.

The Regional MEL Coordinator will have primary responsibility for coordinating the fulfillment of these goals across PlayMatters consortium partner agencies.

The Regional Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning Coordinator is responsible for four key objectives:

• Build capacity and coordinate successful field implementation of monitoring and evaluation activities in line with approved workplans and budgets, and in line with high-quality technical standards;

• Support the process of designing and implementing a uniform M&E system and standard operating procedures across consortium partners and with field teams, in service of the project goals;

• Ensure data are routinely communicated in a relevant and timely manner so that data can be used for subsequent program design and scale up, including with partners and other humanitarian agencies;

• Conduct routine data quality checks with field implementation teams to ensure accuracy, reliability, timeliness and relevance of key monitoring data

Responsibilities Include:

(1) Management for high quality monitoring and evaluation

• Provide technical and management support to enable field staff to implement protocols and plans safely, ethically, and rigorously.

• Support development and implementation of monitoring and evaluation annual workplans, budgets, and deliverables.

• Provide oversight and management of the monitoring and evaluation activities.

• Coordinate monitoring and evaluation staff and operations across the consortium.

• Build capacity of country and partner teams in indicators, routine monitoring and M&E SOPs

• Support project staff by creating and maintaining a work environment that promotes teamwork, trust, mutual respect and empowers staff to take responsibility

• Ensure protocols are submitted and followed in conjunction with the RMEL Advisor, Sr. Technical Advisor, Senior Researcher, and research partners.

• Collaborate closely with Sr. Research Manager.

• Ensure high-quality data collection and management. Provide training and support to research teams for data quality control, cleaning, and management.

(2) Disseminating quality data

• Assure that monitoring and evaluation activities provide timely, relevant information for reporting and programming decisions.

• Support development of user-friendly dashboards and data visualizations for program teams and other key audiences

• Support regional team activities to assure that data from research and monitoring activities are used to adjust and adapt programming over time.

• Leverage existing IRC staff and partner expertise or build capacity as needed to assure front-line staff participation in the interpretation and application of results, as well as design of data use plans and learning agendas.

(3) Collaboration and accountability with internal stakeholders

• Report to RMEL Advisor about progress against approved workplans and budgets through formal and informal debriefings, annual and semi-annual reports.

• Maintain open communication with partner counterparts and country level staff to assure coherence and reasonable sequencing of work.

(4) Collaboration and accountability with external stakeholders

• Establish and maintain solid cooperation with partner organizations as we design and refine the monitoring and evaluation framework

• Collaborate with the regional project team Sr Research Manager, partners, governments, and other humanitarian actors in developing methods to understand if and how early childhood and primary education inclusive of learning through play activities that are feasible and useful in humanitarian settings;

Key Working Relationships:

• Position Reports to: RMEL Advisor, PlayMatters

• Position supervises: TBD

• Indirect Reporting: N/A

Other Internal and/or external contacts:

• Internal: IRC country program staff; Regional staff such as Research, Communications and Advocacy; other technical units within IRC (Education, Health, Violence Prevention and Response, Economic Recovery and Development, Governance, Gender Equality)

• External: IRC Research & Innovations leadership, War Child Holland; Innovations for Poverty Action; Behavioral Insights Team; host government officials; other consortium partner organizations; community representatives.

Requirements:

• Master’s Degree in Monitoring and Evaluation, Social Sciences, or related field.

• At least 5-10 years of progressive, relevant work experience. Important that work experience demonstrates technical skills, management skills, operations experience, as well as an understanding of humanitarian contexts.

• Strong technical understanding of monitoring and evaluation across multiple partners and countries and in a humanitarian context and/or early childhood development.

• Understanding of digital data collection platforms and techniques such as Kobo or CommCare

• Strong understanding of data use plans and adaptive management.

• Excellent communication skills, including the ability to communicate effectively in a multi-cultural environment with international and local academic researchers, government officials, NGO partners, study participants, etc.

• Solid organizational skills: the ability to be flexible and work well under pressure, dealing with competing priorities, in a fast-paced team environment.

• Interest in and ability to think and plan at the ‘big picture’ level.

• Demonstrated management and interpersonal skills.

• Solid understanding of refugee education preferred;

• Strong communication and analytical skills, both oral and written.

• Fluency in English is required; knowledge of regional languages is a plus.

Working Environment:

• Standard office work environment

• Travel required 25-40%

• Position is based in the IRC Regional PlayMatters office in Kampala, Uganda or in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia