Regional Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning (MEL) Manager Latin America – Bogotá Colombia

All NRC employees are expected to work in accordance with the organization’s core values: dedication, innovation, inclusivity, and accountability. These attitudes and beliefs shall guide our actions and relationships.

What we are looking for

The Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) is looking for an experienced, dynamic, and highly strategical individual to take up the role of Regional Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning Manager for Latin America who will assume the overall responsibility for the implementation of the Global M&E Framework, policy, guidelines, and technical developments in the region. The MEL manager should lead the strategic direction and quality assurance of M&E in the region. This includes providing technical support and capacity building for M&E systems across the RO as well as ensuring use of M&E data for regional strategic and programmatic decisions.

What you will do

1. Develop monitoring and evaluation strategy across the region aligned with global M&E framework, policy, strategy, procedures, and priorities (RO M&E strategy and SOP, including M&E in the strategy, resources, staffing, capacity building and data use).
2. Responsible for leading and facilitating the roll out and use of global M&E developments across the region and at the CO level (communication, co-ordination, training, technical support and follow up).
3. Manage performance and staff development of regional M&E staff (insert when relevant). Technical role in recruitment of most senior M&E staff in COs (managers or coordinators) and M&E deployments in the region.
4. Responsible for planning and coordinating processes relating to M&E within the regional office, including evaluation, research and learning planning processes and GORS reporting.
5. Ensuring processes and systems for the use of M&E data through routine learning moments are institutionalised across the RO, with systems in place for interpreting and using M&E data. Directly provide analysis on regional level data for the regional programme management team for use in strategic learning moments and regional programme strategy.
6. Provide technical support to programme staff in order to strengthen M&E processes and quality at the CO level, including M&E SOPs, evaluation planning and management, results measurement and data collection methodology and data use to ensure M&E systems meet or exceed NRC minimum standards.

Please download the detailed job description to learn more about the position.

What you will bring

• Minimum 5 years of work experience at a senior level in monitoring and evaluation.
• Graduate degree in directly related field, such as operations research, quantitative analysis, etc; significant work experience in directly related field will be considered in lieu of specific M+E related education.
• Experience of evaluation or research methods – qualitative and quantitative data analysis and tools
• Advanced analytical skills (complex research, systems development, and evaluations)
• Experience of working in complex and volatile contexts.
• Documented results related to the position’s responsibilities.
• Fluency in English and Spanish, both written and verbal.
• Experience with working with data collection, management, and analysis
• Experience from working with overall strategy and planning.
• Professional credibility to act as the matrix professional lead for M&E personnel across the Region.
• Ability to leverage learning on technical issues regionally.
• Ability to stimulate open discussions and close cooperation with all relevant NRC units.
• Ability to stimulate a culture of innovation.
• International experience in and knowledge about the regional context is highly desirable.

What we offer

• Duty station: Bogotá, Colombia
• Contract: national or international, 12 months, extendable
• Travel: up to 40%
• Salary/benefits: grade 9 on NRC’s regional salary scale, with accompanying terms and conditions for international contracts
• NRC is an equal opportunities employer. We are committed to diversity without distinction to age, gender, religion, ethnicity, nationality, and physical ability.
• We think outside the box, encourage ideas, and give responsibility to all employees at all levels. You will have many opportunities to be heard and take the initiative.

Find out more about the benefits of working for NRC

Important information about the application process

• Internal candidates only: please click on the suitcase icon labelled “I am an employee” to be redirected to NRC’s internal careers site.
• When creating your profile, include your full name as given on your passport. Complete all the system-required fields for experience, employment history and education.
• Submit your application and CV in English, taking care to attach your latest CV.
• Applications that do not meet the minimum standards in terms of experience or qualifications will generally not be considered. Unsolicited applications not related to this specific job advertisement will not be considered.
• Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted. We receive many applicants for each vacant position.
• If you have any questions about this role, please email [email protected] with the job title as the subject line.

Why NRC?

The Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) is an independent humanitarian organization helping people forced to flee. Our 15,000 staff work in crises across 40 countries, providing life-saving and long-term assistance to millions of people every year.

Watch this short video to see NRC in action.

The Latin American (LA) region faces multiple complex emergencies, including the internal and regional impact of the crisis in Venezuela, the humanitarian consequences of the armed conflict in Colombia, and the pervasive high levels of generalised violence in the North of Central America and in Mexico. These conditions produce some of the highest forced displacement numbers in the world. According to UNHCR, there are over 15 million displacement-affected people, including some 7,4 million Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) across NRC country programme coverage in Latin America. The LA region also witnesses record numbers of transcontinental population movements generating significant protection risks as people are obliged to cross borders often through routes where conditions are dramatic. Restrictive asylum and migration policies also create flows of deportees and returnees, who struggle to re-integrate in their communities and often face violence, retaliation, discrimination and exclusion. Those phenomena are accelerating across the region.

NRC has been operating in Latin America in a total of 8 countries: Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Panama, Honduras, El Salvador, Guatemala and Mexico with an overall regional budget of approximately 60 million USD and 1,100 dedicated colleagues across the continent. Given the increasing number of displaced people in need of humanitarian assistance in the region, NRC decided to establish a Regional Office in Latin America from early 2024 to oversee the country programmes in the region, and provides strategic guidance and oversight across core programme, advocacy and support functions.

Regional M&E function/team is responsible for the implementation of the Global M&E Framework and strategy, policy, guidelines and technical developments in the region, as well as development and implementation of the regional strategic direction and priorities. This includes providing technical support to COs in improving M&E minimum standards, including data quality, reporting quality, evaluations, learning processes, as well as compliance oversight.

Improving use of M&E data and evidence are one of the core objectives of regional Latin America strategy, and this entails several initiatives and strategic priorities cantered around a) ensuring foundations of our systems and minimum standards, b) creation and availability of quality evidence, c) and use of data and evidence at CO and RO level.

We are looking for people who are passionate about helping refugees and people forced to flee. Are you one of those people? If you are, NRC offers you the opportunity to:

• do demanding and professional work, often in challenging contexts.
• join a work culture that empowers every employee to share ideas and take responsibility.
• be part of a welcoming and supportive community committed to human dignity.

Learn more about NRC