VACANCY ANNOUNCEMENT: MONITORING AND EVALUATION ADVISOR

Organization: 
CARE
Deadline: 
28 March 2014

CARE is a leading humanitarian organization dedicated to fighting poverty and social injustice with a special emphasis on women and girls.  CARE Tanzania is part of CARE. With the vision to seek a world of hope, tolerance, and social justice, where poverty has been overcome and people live in dignity and security.  CARE International is a global force and a partner of choice within a worldwide movement dedicated to ending poverty.  We are known everywhere for our unshakable commitment to the dignity of people.  CARE Tanzania and partners contribute to the empowerment of the most marginalized and vulnerable rural women and girls to exercise their rights.

Job Summary

The Program Monitoring and Evaluation Advisor will serve two programs namely Ardhi Yetu (our land Program), which is funded by DANIDA through CARE Denmark and Pastoralist Program funded by Irish Aid. The overall objective of Ardhi Yetu programme initiative is to strengthen the capacity of civil society at local and national levels to hold lands sector duty bearers (including government and private sector) accountable while advocating for the rights of small scale farmers and pastoralists. The Pastoralists’ program goal is to reduce poverty and vulnerability for pastoralist men, women and children in Tanzania.

For the right person, this is an opportunity to play a critical role in exciting programs which will have large impact to the civil society organizations as well as small scale farmers and pastoralists in Tanzania.

The primary function of the position of the Monitoring and Evaluation Advisor is to ensure quality of the program initiatives and coordinate efforts that aim at monitoring the project’s work to determine the impacts it is making to the impact group, guided by the program initiative’s documents (i.e. proposal, project implementation plan and monitoring and evaluation plan), respective strategy, CARE Tanzania’s LRSP, CARE Denmark theory of change and reporting format, DANIDA strategy and CARE International designing, monitoring, evaluation, and impact measurement frameworks and tools. The PQL Advisor will also be responsible for leading the two program initiative’s efforts to build staff and partner’s capacities in designing, monitoring, evaluation, impact measurement, reporting and learning. The PQL Advisor position therefore requires an extremely high level of technical capacity and intellectual flexibility as well as sufficient interpersonal skills to effectively manage the overlapping demands of this dual role.

Based in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, the M&E Advisor will administratively report to the PQL Director and technically work with the Ardhi Yetu Program Coordinator and Pastoralist Program Coordinator.

Key Responsibilities and Tasks

Job Responsibility #1: Supporting the program initiative’s monitoring, evaluation, impact measurement, and reporting system - 40% of time

  • Participating and coordinating testing and adapting, in collaboration with other program team of staff and partners, the program’s theory of change; 
  • Developing or reviewing, in collaboration with program initiative’s team of staff and partners, the program initiative’s monitoring and evaluation plan;
  • Taking lead in the program initiative’s monitoring and evaluation events such as baselines, mid-term reviews, final evaluation and specific studies involving the project;
  • Acquiring and understanding monitoring, evaluation and impact measurement policies, standards and tools of donors, CARE Tanzania, and CARE International so as to use them in his/her work;
  • Preparing monitoring reports as well as assisting his/her supervisor in preparing project’s quarterly, semi-annual, and annual reports and keeping them for reflective purposes;
  • Being conversant with CARE’s Program Quality Assessment Tool (PQAT), CARE Denmark reporting format, Resource Allocation Model (RAM) and participating in the program quality assessment events involving the program initiative;
  • Preparing and/or facilitating the preparation of the program initiative review and evaluation reports;
  • Facilitating the engagement of program initiative reviewers and evaluators, including writing their Terms of Reference (TORs) and providing them with the logistical support they need as carry out their contracted duties.
  • Supporting partners in developing monitoring and evaluation systems
  • With the grant manager, support the monitoring of partners (CSOs) utilization of core and project funding
  • Examine quarterly reports from the partners their progress towards agreed benchmarks or deliverables
  • Visit CSOs periodically to assess progress and support M&E efforts of CSOs to ensure inter alia they  present high quality, evidence-based reports
  • Support partners’ Project Managers in project review, monitoring etc.

Job Responsibility #2: Supporting program initiative information and knowledge system - 25% of time

  • Developing or reviewing, in collaboration with the program initiative team of staff and partners, the  program initiative’s learning plan;
  • Developing and maintaining the program initiative’s database and updating it accordingly;
  • Leading the program initiative’s efforts to analyze and reflect on the data and information to determine the impacts it is making to the strategic partners (CSOs) and for improved program initiative performance;
  • Leading the program initiative’s efforts to document challenges/obstacles and the lessons it is learning, including their application for improved program initiative and organizational performance;
  • Packaging and disseminating quality program initiative information to different audiences and for different purposes.
  • Extract key lessons from CSO M&E systems that may be of use in CARE’s partnering with other CSOs and in CARE’s own M&E. 

Job Responsibility #3: Supporting effective engagement of the program initiative team of staff and partner in the monitoring and evaluation activities - 25% of time

  • Designing and facilitating accountability mechanisms to monitor our program quality and impact with those we work with.
  • Conducting or facilitating program initiative’s training needs assessment as well as designing, in collaboration with other stakeholders, capacity building plans;
  • Conducting or facilitating capacity building events for the program initiative team of staff and partners in accordance with the capacity building plans;
  • Assisting the program initiative team of staff and partners to track progress towards the program initiative indicators and in developing and/or adapting monitoring tools such as questionnaires, recording forms, Most Significant Changes (MSC), checklists and interview guides based on the monitoring and evaluation plan;
  • Assisting and advising program initiative team of staff and partners in producing quality activity implementation reports.

Job Responsibility #4: Development and promotion of effective behaviour change - 25% of time

  • Conduct team formative analysis understanding the dynamics of small scale farmers and pastoralists to identify possible behaviors that could be  encouraged ;
  • Defining communication and behavior change objective, developing framework to link how CSOs initiatives will contribute to the programs objectives.
  • Develop tools to monitor effectiveness of strategy and revise it periodically.
  • Facilitating community reviews of behaviors and planning for change using RBA.

Job Responsibility #5: Foster and maintain system of reflection and learning on Civil society strengthening and land rights across the program - 10% of time

  • Providing inputs into program strategic planning, always ensuring that the program initiative advances the CARE Tanzania’s LRSP and contributes to the CARE Denmark theory of change as well as country and international development goals;
  • Contributing to the development of generation of new program initiative ideas and preparation of concept notes as a way of ensuring that the positive change achieved through the program initiative will continue after its end;
  • Representing the program initiative in monitoring, evaluation and learning activities conducted within the Country Office.

Job Responsibility #6: Development and promotion of effective behaviour change - 25% of time

Job Responsibility #7:  Promote Gender Equality (including) - All the time

  • Practice a behaviour that is consistent with CARE’s core values and promotion of gender and diversity goals.
  • Plays a leadership role in identifying and implementing initiatives that enhance CARE’s commitment to gender and diversity.

Job Responsibility #8:  Perform Other Duties as Assigned (including) - 5% of time

  • Implement and ensure staff safety and security procedures are followed and provide guidance to staff as required.
  • When applicable, participate in emergency response and recovery efforts in the event of an emergency in his/her program area

Competencies

  • Excellence: Sets high standards of performance for self and/or others; successfully completes assignments; sets standards of excellence rather than having standards imposed; ensures interactions and transactions are ethical and convey integrity.
  • Respect: Behaves in a manner that reflects a true belief in and appreciation for the dignity and potential of all human beings. Gaining other people’s confidence and setting an environment of trust and openness.
  • Diversity: Promotes, values and respects each individual’s unique qualities, background, race, culture, age, gender, disability, values, lifestyle, perspectives or interests; creates and maintains a work environment that promotes diversity.
  • Communicating with Impact: Diplomatically, logically and clearly conveying information and ideas through a variety of media to individuals or groups in a manner that engages the recipient / audience and helps them understand and retain their message.
  • Managing Performance: Establishes a culture which encourages CARE Tanzania employees and their units to take responsibility for achievement of high-level organizational performance by constant improvement in business processes, skills, behaviors and contributions; working with managers to set ‘smart’ objectives consisting of clear milestones; Identify development needs; Providing constructive and continuous feedback by managers.
  • Facilitating Change: Supports and manages the change process at CARE-Tanzania by developing a culture affirmative of change; encouraging others to seek and act upon opportunities for different and innovative approaches to addressing problems and opportunities; critically analyzing evolving and fluid situations; facilitating the implementation and acceptance of change within the workplace; actively engaging with resistance to change.
  • Strengthening Partnership: Identifying and utilizing opportunities within and outside of CARE Tanzania to develop effective strategic relationships between one’s area and other areas/departments/units or external organizations to achieve CARE’s objectives.
  • Adaptability: Effectively manages changing environments in the organization; maintains effectiveness when dealing with multiple and conflicting priorities across different cultural settings or during emergency and crisis situations.
  • Information Collection and Monitoring: Sets up ongoing procedures to collect, review, and synthesize information needed to manage a function, or the work within a function.
  • Planning and Organizing: Establishes courses of action for self and others to ensure that work is completed efficiently and effectively in accordance with CARE’s core values.
  • Building Commitment: Uses appropriate interpersonal styles and techniques to gain acceptance of ideas or plans; modifies one’s own behavior to accommodate tasks, situations, and individuals involved.
  • Contribute to Team Success: Actively participates as a member of a team or work unit to move the team/unit toward the completion of shared goals
  • Initiating Action: Takes prompt action to accomplish objectives; takes decisive action to achieve goals in times of uncertainty or in fluid contexts; is proactive

Qualifications (Know-How)

Education/Training

Required

  • Bachelor’s degree in Social Sciences, Development studies, statistics and other field relevant to Ardhi Yetu Program and pastoralist areas of focus
  • Extensive capacity building knowledge especially with adult learning methodology

Desired:

  • An Advanced degree in Community Development/ Sociology or related field;

Experience

Required

  • A minimum of 5 years of field experience with community participatory surveys;
  • Skills and knowledge and strategies in livelihoods programming;
  • Understanding of land rights in Tanzania, policy analysis and advocacy
  • Understanding of pastoralism dynamics and pastoralist livelihood

Desired

  • Knowledge on relevant national and international policies
  • Experience working in international NGO is desired;
  • Knowledge on community development, project planning and management, administration.
  • Experience working with local communities and authorities

Technical Skills

Required:

  • Solid experience and understanding of monitoring and evaluation principles;
  • Strong capacity building, training and facilitation skills;
  • An approach to mirror our core values: commitment, accountability, respect, effectiveness and diversity;
  • Ability to work and communicate with a range of stakeholders including policymakers and government officials, NGOs, the media, community representatives;
  • Strong ability to engage with communities and capability in being proactive to organize community outreach activities
  • Proficient in Word, Excel, PowerPoint, email, Internet usage;
  • Ensuring that gender and power dynamics related to monitoring and evaluation activities are taken into consideration;
  • Ability to thrive in team environments, with a strong understanding of diversity and other cultures
  • Excellent written and oral communication skills, with a fluent writing style and good knowledge and practical use of both English and Kiswahili

Our diversity is our strength; we encourage people from all backgrounds and experiences, particularly women, to apply

How to Apply: 

Apply through hrm@co.care.org to Country Director by 28 March 2014 with a motivation letter, detailed CV with 3 Referees