Director Monitoring, Evaluation, Research and Learning (MERL)

Job Description

The International Rescue Committee (IRC) responds to the world’s worst humanitarian crises and helps people to survive and rebuild their lives. The IRC has been working in Bangladesh for over 5 years implementing direct programming in the areas of WASH, education, livelihoods, reproductive health, gender-based violence, and child and youth protection and development. With an annual operating budget of over $ 1 billion (2021), IRC successfully runs a global portfolio of both humanitarian as well as development interventions and has significant experience implementing large-scale programs requiring substantial and sustained collaboration with multiple actors.

Position Summary

The IRC is seeking a Director, Monitoring, Evaluation, Research and Learning (MERL) for the five-year, $25 million USAID-funded AHA. This project will encompass a set of innovative interventions, with an overall goal of addressing the social, systemic, and environmental challenges in the country around women and girls’ health and wellbeing. The Adolescent Health Activity (AHA) will support efforts to curb adolescent childbearing and early marriage outcomes in Bangladesh by addressing gaps and investing in sexual and reproductive health (SRH) of adolescents ages 10-14 in Bangladesh. The overall development assistance is expected to be delivered in the following sectors: health, nutrition, women empowerment, and economic inclusion.

The MEL Lead provides guidance, vision, and management for a strategic and comprehensive monitoring and evaluation system for the program. The Manager oversees all MEL activities aligned with the strategic learning objectives of the project. S/he ensures that learning guides performance management planning on a continuous basis by setting learning and information priorities. S/he will also aligns the project’s MEL system with IRC’s quality standards for MEL in close coordination with the country office’s MEL team.

This position will report to the Chief of Party and is contingent on the IRC being awarded funding. It is anticipated to begin in September 2023.

Key Responsibilities:

• Oversee the design and implementation of the project’s MEL system in coordination with IRC’s MEAL team to develop a robust continuously learning system that generates evidence and best practices to inform adolescent SRH activity design and implementation and inform national SRH strategies

• Establish key performance indicators, targets, tools, and appropriate MEL responsibilities across the project to ensure strategic collaboration, systematic and continuous learning, and adaptive management (Collaboration, Learning and Adaptability, CLA)

• Develop a culture of knowledge sharing, performance monitoring, and adaptation: a key feature of learning-by-doing should be fostered.

• Coordinate and facilitate knowledge-sharing among USAID implementing partners and national stakeholders at the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare , Ministry of Education, Ministry of Women and Child Affairs, Civil Society Organizations

• Oversee data collection, collation, storage, analysis, and reporting, ensuring that data is of high quality and audit worthy.

• Coordinate any external evaluation processes, including drafting evaluation ToR and selection of firm, in alignment with award.

• Strengthen staff and partners’ capacity in qualitative and quantitative monitoring and evaluation techniques through comprehensive staff training, mentoring, and/or coaching.

• Work closely with partners to establish their internal MEL systems and design and conduct trainings to support capacity for MEL among partners.

• Oversee the development and maintenance of a comprehensive project database, ensure accurate and timely storage of electronic files.

• Responsible for the data analysis, writing, and review of the results and learning sections of program reports in collaboration with program staff, before submission to donor and ensure consortium partners’ compliance with internal data quality requirements and timely submissions for reporting.

• Produce learning products and thought leadership pieces relevant to the project intervention, present in conferences/webinars regarding project’s MEL successes.

• Other tasks as assigned.

Basic Requirements:

• Master’s degree in any of the following or related fields: social science, international development, public health, evaluation, statistics, or economics.

• At least 12-15 years of progressively responsible experience in designing, managing, and implementing results-based MEL activities.

• 8-10 years of supervisory experience.

• Demonstrated relevant technical skills in analyzing and interpreting quantitative and qualitative data and packaging the findings.

• Excellent organizational as well as English oral and written communication skills. Fluency in Bengali is strongly preferred.

• Progressively responsible experience in monitoring and evaluation of building capacity for civil society organizations and networks/coalition strengthening, program beneficiaries, and program staff.

• Experience in utilizing gender and social inclusion sensitive indicators and measures.

• Extensive knowledge of reporting procedures, including USAID, best practices, guidelines, and tools for monitoring, evaluation and learning, including impact evaluation.

• Ability to work well on team and with various partner organizations.

• Proficiency in Microsoft Office programs, i.e., Excel, Word, PowerPoint, etc., and the ability to use various commercially available statistical software programs.

**Local applicants and women strongly encouraged to apply**

The IRC and IRC workers must adhere to the values and principles outlined in IRC Way - Standards for Professional Conduct. These are Integrity, Service, Equality and Accountability. In accordance with these values, the IRC operates and enforces policies on Beneficiary Protection from Exploitation and Abuse, Child Safeguarding, Anti Workplace Harassment, Fiscal Integrity, and Anti-Retaliation.

Qualifications