Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning (MEL) Lead

Dec 13, 2021 | Natural Resource Governance Institute
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The Natural Resource Governance Institute is an independent nonprofit organisation dedicated to improving countries' governance over their natural resources to promote sustainable and inclusive development.

About the role

• Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning (MEL) Lead
• Location: The postholder can be based out of any of our registered offices – please note that you must already have the relevant work permit in those locations as we are not in a position to offer sponsorship.

We have registered offices in Ghana, Peru, Senegal, Tanzania, Tunisia, the United Kingdom, and the United States (New York or Washington DC)

• Contract type: Permanent
• Hours per week: 40 hours
• Remuneration: Dependent on the successful candidate’s location, and in line with the corresponding salary band and our remuneration principles.
• Application closing date: 14 January 2022 - Please note that we will be reviewing applications on a rolling-basis, and may close the role earlier if we have received sufficient applications. We therefore strongly encourage early applications.
• How to apply: To apply, please submit a CV/resume and a covering letter. Please note that applications submitted without a covering letter will not be considered.

About this opportunity

The Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning (MEL) Lead is a critical position at NRGI that will play a central role in providing strategic thinking, best practice advice, and oversight of NRGI’s monitoring, evaluation and learning activities. They will head our small MEL unit and engage all key stakeholders across the organization, including staff in more than 15 countries, in order to optimize the impact of our work.

This is a great opportunity for a senior MEL professional, with experience working on MEL linked to governance reform, transparency initiatives or policy change. The successful candidate will have scope to shape the MEL function by advising on, designing and implementing an organizational strategy. They will be pivotal in ensuring the effectiveness of these important processes, and assure the quality of the data collected and the validity of the conclusions drawn.

Key responsibilities

Liaising with the relevant stakeholders, both internal and external, you will be responsible for developing an organizational MEL strategy, applying knowledge and experience to ensure effective implementation.

You will serve as an internal source of expertise on Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning best practice for teams across the organization, and facilitate internal learning at key junctures in organizational cycles and tied to significant projects.

Using a research approach to determine the extent of impact, you will be feeding lessons learnt into both the strategy and planning phases of future program design; and disseminating findings externally to provide MEL thought leadership in the natural resource governance space.

Working collaboratively with colleagues, you will build positive relationships with key external stakeholders, especially donors, and build NRGI’s brand. This will include developing strong relationships of mutual trust with donors; understanding reporting and accountability requirements, as well as designing MEL tools and approaches to deliver these reports.

You will lead on monitoring and evaluation of communications, research, advocacy and capacity development efforts to identify the approaches that deliver impact for NRGI and support colleagues in continually improving the design of interventions.

Working with a MEL Associate, you will oversee significant data collection, storage, analysis and presentation for internal reflection and learning purposes, and to contribute to donor reporting. You will also collaborate with the Finance and Fundraising teams to understand and monitor compliance with grants.

This role might be for you if…

• You are familiar with the not-for-profit sector and have ideally worked with small organizations working on governance, transparency, accountability or policy change.
• You have excellent qualitative and quantitative analytical and data visualization skills. You must have the ability to build collaborative relationships across a globally dispersed team in order to help program teams integrate MEL principles systematically.
• As MEL deliverables are often external facing, you have excellent writing and story-telling skills.
• You are rigorous, methodical and can motivate and inspire all of NRGI’s staff to value the same rigour and diligence in MEL programming.
• You keep up to date with the latest developments in your area of expertise, you are passionate and able to identify new trends and shifts to advance the function.

Job requirements

Experience & Technical Skills Required

• Eight to ten years directly relevant experience working in Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning, quantitative and qualitative analysis, program and/or process monitoring, and learning and continuous improvement in program design.
• Strong experience in writing and producing donor and/or stakeholder-centered reports, presentations, and content that summarizes quantitative analysis and incorporates data in qualitative narratives and stories.
• Experience in learning to bring about continuous improvement; process-oriented with an ability to link results and outcomes to activities and methods.
• Project management experience in an international development setting. Experience in fundraising development helpful.
• Effective in multi-cultural communication, facilitation, training and development.
• Experience translating strategy into project and research design; ability to think conceptually and strategically with a 3-5 year horizon.
• Able to understand the natural resource governance sector and the complex ecosystem that results in resource-rich countries failing to achieve sustainable development.
• Experience working in a complex or pioneering environment, including supporting and developing opportunities for systemic change.          
• Able to initiate and develop strong, credible relationships and influence stakeholders at a project level.
• Excellent English language skills, both written and spoken; proficiency in French and/or Spanish helpful.

Education & Qualifications

• Master’s or other postgraduate degree in a relevant field (development, political science, economics, international affairs, etc.). 
• Bachelor’s degree in relevant field (development, political science, economics, international affairs, etc.).