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Monitoring, Evaluation, & Learning Technical Specialist II - United States

Democracy International

Bethesda, MD | Full Time

$67k-86k (estimate)

4 Months Ago

Monitoring, Evaluation & Learning (MEL) Director, Global Health Risk and Capacity (GHRC) - United States

Democracy International

Bethesda, MD | Full Time

$94k-128k (estimate)

4 Months Ago

Monitoring, Evaluation, & Learning Technical Specialist II - United States

$67k-86k (estimate)

Full Time 4 Months Ago

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Democracy International is Hiring a Monitoring, Evaluation, & Learning Technical Specialist II - United States Near Bethesda, MD

Monitoring, Evaluation, & Learning Technical Specialist II

Democracy International (DI) is seeking to hire a full-time Monitoring, Evaluation, & Learning (MEL) Technical Specialist II. The MEL Technical Specialist II will join the Social and Behavioral Science & Learning (SBS & Learning) Team, an innovative technical team based at DI’s headquarters that integrates social and behavioral sciences and MEL to support evidence-based and sustainable democracy, human rights, governance (DRG), and peacebuilding programs internationally. The MEL Technical Specialist II will work closely with other SBS & Learning team members to lead and contribute to MEL throughout all phases of the program cycle, with a particular focus on supporting DI’s field offices to establish, manage, and maintain high-quality performance and complexity-aware monitoring systems. The preferred candidate may be expected to travel 15-20% of the time, depending on business needs. This position is based at DI’s headquarters in Bethesda, Maryland, and we will only consider applicants who are based in the Washington, DC area and willing to work a hybrid in-office/remote schedule.

Essential Job Duties:

The MEL Technical Specialist II will be primarily responsible for: 1) providing MEL technical support for program teams, with a focus on establishing, managing and maintaining MEL systems; 2) advancing MEL technical leadership and capacity building; and 3) contributing to business development. The specific responsibilities of the position include, but are not necessarily limited to, the following:

MEL Support for Program Teams:

Work with program staff at the home office and in the field to develop and operationalize systems for performance and complexity-aware monitoring, including designing overall processes and protocols for collecting and analyzing data on program performance and contextual dynamics.
Provide ongoing technical assistance for field MEL specialists and program staff to conduct high-quality performance and complexity-aware monitoring, including establishing, managing, and maintaining databases in line with ethical data management standards; conducting data quality assessments; supporting the revision of MEL Plans; advising on solutions to data collection and analysis challenges; and other support as needed.
Lead and contribute to other MEL activities, such as formative assessments to inform project design and implementation (e.g., political economy analyses, behavioral assessments, gender and social inclusion analyses), internal and external evaluations, and learning activities to document program challenges, lessons learned, and need for program adaptation (e.g., pause and reflect sessions, after action reviews, and participatory behavioral analyses).

MEL Technical Leadership and Capacity Building:

In cooperation with SBS technical specialists, lead the development of innovative, inclusive, and SBS-based performance and complexity-aware monitoring approaches for democracy, human rights, governance, and peacebuilding programs.
Collaborate with SBS Technical Specialists and home and field office program staff to develop and operationalize a standardized list of performance metrics to document behavioral program outcomes.
Identify and develop new tools, templates, and systems for MEL in DRG programs, including for performance and complexity-aware monitoring.
Work to position DI as an industry leader in MEL practice areas to internal and external audiences (e.g., contribute to technical frameworks/proposal templates/data collection templates, build technical professional networks, participate in existing communities of practice, stay current on cutting edge MEL approaches in the field, etc.).

Support for Business Development and Outreach:

Provide technical support to bids, including serving as a lead technical writer and designer of appropriate methodologies and approaches for MEL and other types of analytical work (i.e., assessments and evaluations), drafting specific sections or annexes as requested by bid managers, contributing to reviews, and other tasks as identified with the Strategy and Design Team;
Facilitate the development of theories of change, logical frameworks, and MEL plans at the proposal stage.
Establish and maintain relationships with client technical experts in MEL in collaboration with the Strategy & Design team.
Engage in targeted marketing and outreach efforts, including authoring blog posts on MEL topics, contributing to social media, engaging with current and potential clients, etc.

Qualifications:

Master’s degree or Ph.D. in international development, economics, statistics, research methods, political science, public policy, social and behavioral sciences, or a related field.
Minimum of 5 years of progressive responsibility working in the MEL practice area for international development programs, ideally with a focus on DRG and/or Peacebuilding. Experience working in the field, including at least 1 year of experience in a field-based MEL position or a comparable amount of time spent on short term technical assistance in the field, strongly preferred.
Experience in the development and maintenance of MEL systems for international development projects, including performance and context indicator design, selection and use of MEL databases, indicator data collection and analysis, data validation and audits, and performance reports.
Experience leading and/or contributing to formative program assessments and internal and external program evaluations strongly preferred.
Demonstrated ability to effectively lead capacity building on MEL for diverse audiences with different levels MEL knowledge, skills, and interest levels.
Involvement in successful business development efforts in MEL services for USAID and experience in proposal writing strongly preferred.
Experience supporting USAID-funded programs required.
Experience writing bids, work plans, program reports, and/or MEL technical products.
Highly organized and able to prioritize multiple tasks and meet dynamic client deadlines.
Strong interpersonal skills and cultural sensitivity to effectively interact with all staff, U.S. and foreign government personnel and members of donor organizations.
Fluency in English and excellent writing and communications skills required. Fluency in another language preferred.
Ability to travel is required, at times on short notice.

Reporting:

This position reports to the Director of Social and Behavioral Science & Learning.

Environmental Conditions:
The work environment characteristics described here are representative of those an employee encounters while performing the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

Moderate noise (i.e. business office with computers, phone, printers, and moderate traffic).
Ability to work in a confined office space/area.
Ability to sit and/or stand at a computer desk for an extended period of time.
Ability to travel on long plane flights across several time zones and at irregular hours.

Physical Requirements Required to Perform Essential Responsibilities:
While performing the duties of this job the employee is regularly required to;

Stand, sit; talk, hear, use of hands and fingers, and perform repetitive motions to operate a computer and telephone keyboard.
Reach, stoop, or kneel, to adjust computer and/or telephone equipment.
Specific vision abilities required by this job include close vision requirements due to computer work.
Hearing abilities required due to telephone.
Light to moderate lifting is possible.
Travel will require moderate lifting, sitting for extended periods of time, overnight flights across multiple time zones;
Regular, predictable attendance is required; as business demands dictate.

Democracy International is committed to providing access, equal opportunity and reasonable accommodation in its employment process for individuals with disabilities to meet any and all physical requirements of our jobs.

Application Process:

Interested applicants must submit a cover letter and CV. Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis. Incomplete applications will not be reviewed. DI is committed to attracting, hiring, and retaining the best talent, and the position will be filled as soon as a qualified candidate is identified. Applications without a cover letter will not be reviewed. The starting salary range for this position is $100,000 to $118,000, commensurate with experience. DI will only contact candidates of interest

All interested applicants must be authorized to work in the U.S. at the time of application. DI will not sponsor applicants for work Visa.

About the Organization:

DI provides technical assistance, analytical services and project implementation for democracy, human rights, governance and conflict mitigation programs worldwide for the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), the U.S. State Department and other development partners. Since its founding in 2003, Democracy International has worked with civil society organizations, political parties, election-management bodies, government agencies, legislatures, justice-sector institutions, and others in 80 countries.

DI welcomes and supports a diverse and inclusive work environment. We are committed to equal employment opportunities (EEO) for all applicants seeking employment and for DI employees. DI makes employment decisions based on organizational needs, job requirements and individual qualifications without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability, marital status, sexual orientation, personal appearance, military status, gender identity or expression, genetic information, political affiliation, educational status, unemployment status, place of residence or business, source of income, or reproductive health decision making. Additionally, harassment or discrimination based on these characteristics will not be tolerated at DI. To perform the essential functions of this position, reasonable accommodations are available to qualified individuals with disabilities.