Senior Monitoring, Evaluation & Learning Advisor - FHI 360

FHI 360 is seeking a Senior Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning (MEL) Advisor for the Ghana Partnership for Education Learning Activity – Transition to English Program, to be based in Accra, Ghana. The Senior MEL Advisor will provide technical leadership to capture program intervention activities and results, ensure high-quality, timely, valid and verifiable data collection and analysis, and lead dissemination and use of analysis findings to inform project leadership as well as external stakeholders, for continuous project improvement and adaptive management. The Senior MEL Advisor shall be responsible for the knowledge management aspect of the project. The Senior MEL Advisor will provide technical guidance by implementing the Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning Plan, including monitoring of fidelity of implementation of project activities, and promoting the use of interactive dashboards for data dissemination. This includes developing and implementing M&E tools and systems, and reporting on all output and outcome indicators for the program. He or she will ensure that all staff and local partners are trained on M&E components, as needed. He or she will contribute to a collaborative and adaptive approach, ensuring that findings from M&E activities are fed back into the project and disseminated to stakeholders for continuous adjustment.

Ghana Partnership for Education Learning – Transition to English Program

The Transition to English Program is an extension of the current Ghana Partnership for Education Learning Activity. The current Learning activity involved creating materials in 11 Ghanaian languages of instruction, and training KG2, P1 and P2 teachers, as well as Headteachers and Curriculum Leads in over 7,200 schools across 100 districts in all 10 regions of Ghana. Learning implemented a comprehensive Fidelity of Implementation (FOI) monitoring system, with over 840 Circuit Supervisors (CS) conducted twice-per-term school visits to collect data through classroom observations, teacher and headteacher interviews, and pupil learning assessments. Data collected by CS was visualized through an interactive online dashboard in real-time, and Learning trained all District Education offices on how to access and interpret the dashboard. The Transition to English Extension Program will build on the successes of Learning. It is a Phonics-based Bilingual Transition to English as Language of Instruction program that will provide USAID with a proof of concept in transferring reading skills from local languages to reading in English. The extension program will focus on a smaller set of schools and work to improve pupils’ oral English language skills in P1 and P2 to enable English reading skills in P3. As part of the evaluation of the Transition to English program, ongoing monitoring data will be collected by CS, and Early Grade Reading Assessment data will be collected at baseline and endline. The extension will last 12 months, starting in October 2019 (the position may start before).

*** This position is for a US Expatriate hire ***

Job Summary / Responsibilities:

• Lead implementation of project MEL Plan, including planning of all necessary data collection and analysis.
• Oversee and directly contribute to the development and implementation of M&E tools and systems to improve ability to collect, interpret and aggregate data that track tangible, measurable progress toward project results.
• Develop and support the design and implementation of evaluations, surveys and other components of the program M&E system.
• Develop high quality quantitative and qualitative methods and participatory methodologies to monitor program quality for performance and results; design appropriate feedback mechanisms to assess whether approaches implemented by the project are effective.
• Lead team of M&E officers and provide training to staff and other key primary stakeholders on M&E components in project design; such as monitoring plan, assessments, reviews, surveys and evaluations.
• Contribute to collaborative, learning and adaptive approach throughout the entire project; design program learning plan, ensure that findings from all monitoring, assessment and survey activities are fed back into the project and disseminated to stakeholders and consortium partners for continuous program adjustments.
• Provide high quality and timely submission of all required project reports, including documentation of success stories, analysis of data for indicator calculation, summary of qualitative findings, etc.
• Collaborate closely with counterparts from FHI 360’s HQ offices in all aspects listed above.

Qualifications:

• Master’s degree or higher in international development, social sciences or related field with strong grounding in quantitative and qualitative research methods required
• Knowledge of statistical methods required; knowledge of Stata
• At least 8 years working experience, including 5 years of prior experience leading monitoring and evaluation teams in large international programs; and 5 years of prior experience conducting quantitative and qualitative research in field-based positions
• Demonstrated ability to put in a place a robust monitoring system to assess the extent to which activities are implemented with fidelity
• Demonstrated ability to use monitoring and evaluation findings to inform adjustments to program in order to maximize project effectiveness
• Demonstrated ability to lead a team of M&E officers
• Experience with education projects, preferably early grade reading projects and with learning assessments such as the Early Grade Reading Assessment (EGRA) a plus
• Have all necessary computer, database, statistical software, and analytical skills, particularly in issues related to monitoring and evaluation
• Demonstrated knowledge of United States Government rules, regulations, policies, and procedures as they relate to project and program compliance and reporting
• Strong attention to detail and a self-starter attitude. Able to work with a variety of stakeholders
• Strong presentation and training facilitation skills
• Fluency in English required

Typical Physical Demands:

• Typical office environment.
• Ability to sit and stand for extended periods of time.
• Ability to lift 5-50 lbs.

Technology to be Used:

• Personal Computer, Microsoft Office (i.e. Word, Excel, PowerPoint, etc.), e-mail, telephone, printer, calculator, copier, cell phones, PDAs and other hand held devices.

Travel Requirements:

• 10% - 25%

This job description summarizes the main duties of the job. It neither prescribes nor restricts the exact tasks that may be assigned to carry out these duties. This document should not be construed in any way to represent a contract of employment. Management reserves the right to review and revise this document at any time.

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FHI 360 is an equal opportunity and affirmative action employer. FHI 360 is an equal employment and affirmative action employer whereby we do not engage in practices that discriminate against any person employed or seeking employment based on race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national or ethnic origin, age, marital status, disability, veteran status, genetic information or any other status or characteristic protected under applicable law.