Design Monitoring Evaluation & Learning Specialist

Common Ground USA (CG-USA) is Search for Common Ground’s most significant investment in supporting a self-sustaining peaceful and inclusive democracy in the United States. Informed by lessons learned as the world’s largest and oldest peacebuilding-dedicated organization, CG-USA aims to strengthen collective resilience against political, hate-based, and extremist violence in America, while fostering the conditions for a more inclusive, equitable, and peaceful society.

Our dynamic and passionate team is currently seeking an experienced Design, Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning (DMEL) Specialist to provide leadership, technical support, and capacity building on design, monitoring, evaluation, and learning for CG-USA’s programs. They will coach, capacitate, and support the CG-USA team to understand DM&E for peacebuilding, integrate Search’s DM&E protocols to ensure the United States contributes to global targets, and will be accountable to develop knowledge management systems and tools to capture accurate and useful data, set up effective feedback loops, and capture and communicate results to inform effective programming. Furthermore, the DMEL Specialist will contribute to business development processes ensuring quality of program design which integrates lessons learned and evidence collected and alignment with global and conflict geography strategies. The DMEL Specialist will work closely with Search’s in-house Institutional Learning team, to ensure alignment of country programs with global standards, including the Evidence and Learning Protocols and the PeaceImpact Framework (PIF).

Responsibilities

• Individual contributor with senior-level expertise in learning processes and M&E technical capacities;
• Coordinates with CG-USA and IL teams to pursue MEL goals, standards and best practices
• Ensure high quality M&E reporting, research products, procurement and recruitment processes for consultants, and oversee the day-to-day implementation of M&E for large-scale programming;
• Provide technical input on reflective practice and evidence based programming and sharing innovative M&E methods and approaches; and
• Ensure skills development is incorporated into personal objectives and those of other staff by proactively identifying paths for growth and opportunities to build technical skills.

Program Execution & Learning

• Provide technical leadership in development of political violence prevention curriculum, as well as project implementation and review with CG-USA team and project partners, seeking alignment with the organizational and country strategy.

Planning

• Set technical objectives within the CG-USA State Resilience project that support global standards, and develop state resilience project baseline, indicators, and monitoring plans to ensure program objectives are relevant and achievable for organizational needs.
• Oversee and set up a monitoring and evaluation plan for a large-scale, electoral violence prevention project, including overseeing the project baseline evaluation, supporting performance monitoring, and leading other relevant research, M&E and learning associated with the project (i.e., quarterly monitoring, mid-term evaluation, reflection and learning, final evaluation, etc.

Organizational Performance

• Provide technical leadership in reflection on strategy, and implement action plans to address bottlenecks to performance.

Evidence & Impact

• Produce learning products (includes research, M&E and programmatic best-practices), in collaboration with the CG-USA team and support from ILT, that uphold Search standards for assessing program impact and building evidence, and provide review and approval for necessary documents;
• Lead programmatic reflection in collaboration with the implementation team and partners to collaboratively identify learning, outcomes, and adaptation needs to make strategic programming decisions;
• Support the implementation of the M&E strategy for the conflict geography;
• Draft and review MEL products, with a focus on feeding evidence and lessons learned back into programmatic design.

Technical Positioning

• Develop initiatives that support capacity building for CG-USA and program staff to improve our impact and program quality, in line with organizational standards and the Peace Impact Framework;
• Collaborate with the ILT department on initiatives that support staff to enter and build skills within networks of technical expertise in the organization;
• Supervise data entry and data management, ensuring the use of the Grant Management System;
• Ensure regular/periodic uploading of data/results into the GMS.
• Serve as a leader within technical networks to channel Search learning back into programming, serve as a focal point of technical expertise with external groups, and position Search as field leaders affecting policy and practice at the country level;
• Ensure staff build professional skills within the organization’s learning platform and lead development of relevant training and resources for technical growth.

New Frontiers

• Engage in the business development process, leading and reviewing drafts, with a focus on feeding evidence and lessons learned back into programmatic design, in collaboration with ILT business development focal point;
• Participate in and serve as M&E representative at relevant events and initiatives developed with country partners.

Competency Behavior Indicators (Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities)

• Manages to meet overall strategy and vision. Provides functional and program/project management. Anticipates and plans for needs and takes action accordingly. Provides guidance to direct reports or matrixed team members.
• Develops and maintains collaborative relationships with vendors, organizations, professional associations, partners, funders, and Search’s network of experts critical to the area of purview.
• Modifies a planned course of action in response to new information or new circumstances.
• Responds to changing circumstances and expectations readily.
• Articulates Search/function program/project goals and objectives within and external to Search. Develops program objectives that reflect broader Search strategies and approaches.
• Provides input for standards across functions globally within Shared Services teams and with a view from a multicultural perspective that reflects consideration of other cultures, other viewpoints, and other ways of doing things.
• Overcomes obstacles using ethical practices; formulates and evaluates morally and ethically justified solutions.
• Assesses risks and opportunities to lead decision makers to a favorable outcome.
• Checks the accuracy of one’s own and others’ work and sets up systematic checks and balances to support content and data integrity.
• Has knowledge of project management tools including technology as resources for efficiency and reduction of stress.

Type and Nature of Contacts

• Routinely coordinates with colleagues and consultants on-site and in the field and resolves problem situations with tact.
• Represents, as assigned, selected programs or projects and other organizations, including external meetings, conferences, donors, vendors, and international and local partners.
• Interacts with the country office and regional staff.

Education and Experience

Typically BS/BA in a relevant field with minimum 9 years’ experience, including at least 6 years of experience in Monitoring and Evaluation specifically.

Working Conditions and Physical Requirements

Usual office environment conditions; ability to travel at least 30%.

Supervisory and Budget Responsibility

Individual contributors and typically does not supervise staff members.