Job Title: M&E Manager for What Works Program

The IRC’s vision is to lead the humanitarian field by implementing high-impact, cost-effective programs for people affected by crisis and by using our learning and experience to shape policy and practice. To achieve that vision, the IRC’s Technical Excellence Unit (TE) provides technical assistance to IRC’s country program staff and shares what we learn to influence policy and practice. TE is comprised of five Technical Units, all of which have deep expertise in their respective sectors: Education, Economic Wellbeing, Governance, Health, and Violence Prevention and Response.

The Violence Prevention and Response Unit (VPRU) works to reduce people’s vulnerability to and support their recovery from violence, and promote transformative work for a future free from violence. The unit houses expertise in the fields of Child Protection, Protection and Rule of Law, and Women’s Protection and Empowerment (WPE). WPE supports programs to adhere to minimum standards and principles of good practice in the prevention of and response to gender-based violence and to meet the safety, health, psycho-social, and justice needs of women, girls, and survivors of gender-based violence.

Program Scope:

IRC is seeking a Monitoring & Evaluation (M&E) Manager to support a seven-year program funded by the UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) to improve prevention and response to violence against women and girls. The ‘What Works to Prevent Violence – Impact at Scale’ Program will build on the success of its predecessor (‘What Works I’) to prevent and contribute to eliminating violence against women and girls (VAWG) by:

• Systematically designing, implementing and rigorously evaluating a range of approaches to scaling up violence prevention efforts, translating proof-of-concept evidence into robust, large-scale programs and strategies;
• Designing, piloting and testing new theory-driven violence prevention approaches (innovation);
• Strengthening long-term capability and capacity to deliver cutting-edge, evidence-based violence prevention programs across the program’s grantees, the UK Government (principally FCDO), and developing country governments; and
• Using evidence to influence a more effective, scaled-up global response to end VAWG.

‘What Works to Prevent Violence – Impact at Scale’ is an FCDO-funded commercial contract and is part of a wider program of research on VAWG involving two other components led by a research consortium.

The M&E Manager will be responsible for developing and driving delivery of an M&E approach and system for the What Works Program—in-line with FCDO requirements, IRC policies, and international best practice—to bring together, store, analyze and report on contractual progress in a consistent and coherent way. The M&E Manager will also provide guidance on M&E standards and best practice to What Works Program staff providing direct support to project partners for contractual obligations and reporting. The M&E Manager will serve as a member of the Program Director’s core team and report directly to the What Works Program Coordinator.

Specific Responsibilities:

Monitoring and Evaluation

• Establish and coordinate implementation of a program-wide M&E approach and system for the What Works Program to track progress against milestones established with the FCDO.
• Ensure the data and information collected through the M&E system is analyzed, disseminated and used to advance accountability, demonstrate the impact of our work, and promote learning for improved programming and influencing
• Leading the planning and implementation of periodic monitoring exercises and data quality assessments including dissemination of findings and follow up of action points
• Ensure the Program Director and Leadership team are regularly updated on progress made against the Program’s milestones and targets and alerted to all risks
• Identify and share, in real time, risks and relevant lessons with the Program Director, Program Coordinator and other staff to ensure these inform ongoing delivery
• Maintain a proper filing/archiving/storage system for all M&E resources including data collection tools, datasets, reports, SOPs, and strategies, among others that adhere to data security protocols
• Establish a process so that data and information are used to enable real-time improvements to program design and not solely to meet reporting requirements
• As required, work with other Program staff to provide relevant, timely and quality guidance on M&E best practice, tools and standards to project partners, helping them to monitor and assess project progress
• As required, work with other Program staff to develop learning materials and other knowledge products to facilitate the effective uptake of knowledge across a broad range of consortium actors

Collaboration and Representation

• Contribute to and help to cultivate a working environment and culture where all staff are respected, listened to and invested in.
• Adopt a “listen first” approach to discussions, negotiations and decision-making processes.
• Remain women and girls-centered in all areas of your work and assess and mitigate risks throughout all M&E activities, documenting this work carefully.
• Promote transparency and foster a spirit of collaboration and accountability in your engagement with FCDO, Program staff and project partners.
• As necessary, represent the What Works Program to FCDO and other external stakeholders

Key Working Relationships:

Position Reports to: What Works Program Coordinator in VPRU

Job Requirements

Education:

University degree or higher qualification in Social Sciences, Information Management, Statistics or other relevant field with strong analytical components. Any further qualifications or equivalent experience in monitoring, evaluation or learning approaches desired.

Work Experience:

Minimum of 5 years’ experience developing and managing monitoring and learning systems of which 3 is related to monitoring and learning for complex development activities in humanitarian crises or low resources settings. Demonstrable experience working with a range of M&E methodologies, both quantitative and qualitative, including logical models, conceptual frameworks, and assessment/evaluation. Experience working closely and supporting civil society organizations in the Global South and/or supporting programs that focus on the wellbeing of women and girls desired. Experience working with donor programs and familiarity with FCDO approach to monitoring, evaluation and learning desired.

Demonstrated Skills and Competencies:

Proven ability to operate in a complex organization, across functions and work on own initiative as well as collaboratively as part of diverse teams. An ability to manage a complex and varied workload and work under pressure. Excellent written and oral English communication and interpersonal skills. High proficiency in Excel, SPSS or any other data analysis software

Language Skills: Fluency in English required; proficiency in second language desired.

Working Environment: Based from the regional office

All What Works staff commit to and uphold the Program’s Feminist Principles throughout all aspects of their work.

Professional Standards:

The IRC and IRC workers must adhere to the values and principles outlined in the IRC Way – Standards for Professional Conduct. These are Integrity, Equality, Service, 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.