Design, Monitoring, Evaluation & Learning Officer

Job Purpose   The purpose of this job is to oversee and coordinate the monitoring and evaluation of Alert’s projects in Lebanon, and to ensure learning is shared internally and externally. The post holder will work closely with programme staff and provide advice and guidance on MEL tools, processes and best practice. The post holder will also take part in internal evaluations and manage external evaluations, ensuring that learning is fed back into the design and adjustment of projects. The post also includes the opportunity to develop MEL as a stand-alone programme area, for example in offering peacebuilding MEL advice to other organisations. The role will involve dedicated M&E support for a health and social cohesion project with a national partner organisation.   In addition, the post holder will support on advising on and developing new projects and programmes and writing funding raising proposals.   The post holder will work closely with the Senior Programme Design and Assessment Officer (SPDAO) for MENA, based in London, who will provide content-based support and supervision.   Duties and Responsibilities   1.     Support and strengthen M&E planning systems and best practices:  Support project staff to develop and maintain M&E frameworks for projects;  Lead the development of an MEL plan for the Lebanon programme and monitor and report back on progress against this plan; Work with project staff to ensure that MEL activities are integrated into project designs and sufficiently budgeted for;  Advise partners on MEL, ensuring that partner staff are implementing best practice on joint projects with Alert; Through training and accompaniment, build knowledge and skills of Alert staff and partners in monitoring and evaluation methods and tools including logical frameworks, data collection, data analysis and result-oriented programming Ensure that teams are up to date with the latest tools and approaches for peacebuilding MEL and support their implementation together with the SPDAO; Coordinate and deliver DME training and learning programmes including inductions, refreshers and learning workshops.     2. Coordinate the collection and reporting of monitoring data, and support evaluation management:    Support project staff to collect and analyse monitoring data; Undertake internal, formative, evaluations to verify that projects are on-course and demonstrating impact, and to provide recommendations for adjustments or new project designs;  Support the monitoring and evaluation of the work of other organisations that Alert is requested to do; Support project managers in their evaluation preparation and follow-up; Subcontract and manage third-party monitors to oversee and evaluate Alert-supported projects   3. Increase utilisation of learning from monitoring and evaluation    Ensure innovative dissemination of lessons internally for redesign and learning purposes; Coordinate with Communications staff to ensure the ‘Impact’ section of the Lebanon webpages is engaging and relevant; Coordinate with the Communications staff on visual and practical dissemination strategies for evaluation findings; Work with colleagues to integrate learning into the design of new projects and programmes, both in Lebanon and elsewhere.   4. Provide dedicated support to “Access to Health: a tool to prevent tensions” project.      Development of a Monitoring and Evaluation framework with support from the Senior Programme Design and Assessment Officer Design and production of a project baseline assessment  Inclusion of conflict sensitivity in the nursing curriculum One refresher training for the trainers in relation with conflict sensitivity (including report of the training); incl. M&E training for national partner staff (with support from the Senior Programme Design and Assessment Officer) Monitoring of the social workers in relation with the delivery of the conflict sensitivity discussions and awareness sessions (including reports of the coaching); Participation in the meetings with the municipalities and health actors (including reports of the conflict sensitive aspect of the meetings); Support the development of a Final lessons learned report  Support the facilitation of a Joint lesson sharing workshop  Internal evaluation of the project’s impact on easing tensions and fostering tolerance  Impact stories for the website and newsletter     5. Contribute to Alert Lebanon project and programme design and development   Support Alert Lebanon colleagues in design new projects and project proposals. Particularly in developing M&E frameworks, plans and log frames for new projects.  Contribute to writing new project proposals and providing M&E learning and evidence for new project design. Help ensure that new projects incorporate learning from previous programming in Lebanon.  Support the facilitate on project design and inception workshops for new project start-up   6. Contribute to Alert more generally    Contribute to team-wide communications and knowledge management, and participate in organisation-wide events and discussions on related topics/projects;  Represent Alert’s values and ideas and be a spokesperson for the organisation at relevant conferences, seminars and other meetings, including at a high level;  Contribute to organisation-wide learning and exchange on MEL;  Any other tasks as may be reasonably required.   Travel requirements This post is based in Lebanon, with 2-3 trips per year to Jordan and Turkey to support MEL activities in those countries and occasional travel to Alert’s headquarters in London.       PERSON SPECIFICATION   Talents   At Alert, we have introduced Talent Management to our business model as we believe talented people are crucial to the success of our work.  We believe all individuals are talented and success comes in matching the right talents to the right roles.  For this role, the skills, qualifications and experience listed below are important, but we believe that to be great in this job you are likely to have a talent for building and sustaining strong working relationships.  This will enable you to build friendly relationship with highly committed colleagues and manage expectations. At the same time you will need to combine being well organised in your thinking and work, with being flexible enough to meet the different kinds of demands and challenges you will face. We expect you to be enthusiastic about the organisation’s mission and work but also allied to the calm ability to juggle several balls at the same time, have an appreciation of working in a multi-cultural environment, and be equally comfort with the big challenging tasks and the small, mundane ones. . These are the talents we will be looking for above all else.         ESSENTIAL REQUIREMENTS     A degree, preferably to master’s level, in a subject of relevance to international peacebuilding   At least 3 years successful experience of implementing or coordinating DME processes at project level   A good theoretical knowledge and practical experience of the concepts and practices of M&E   Fluent in Arabic and English, and communicates clearly and effectively Able to influence and motivate others by making their case Demonstrates the ability to take the initiative Understands, or has the ability to understand quickly, Alert’s approach to peacebuilding Gets on well with others of diverse backgrounds and in diverse roles Is computer literate and numerate Solution-oriented Very well organised Proven knowledge and understanding of programme cycle management, information management and reporting Strong analytical skills A clear commitment to the mission and vision of International Alert         DESIRABLE REQUIREMENTS   Experience of project design and fundraising Knowledge and experience of M&E in the peacebuilding sector     SUMMARY TERMS AND CONDITIONS   Annual Salary Competitive annual salary based on our salary scale for Lebanese nationals Benefits Private Medical insurance and NSSF Leave entitlement 25 working days per year plus Lebanon statutory holidays. Notice period There will be an initial three months probationary period during which notice will be 15 days on either side. On successful completion of the probationary period notice will be one month. Working hours Full time staff are expected to work a standard 40 hours per week,  a maximum of 48 hours per week, with some flexibility around start and finish times to be agreed with the line manager. All staff are required to work core hours10am–4pm.