Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) Research and Evidence Building Manager - Beirut - FOR NATIONAL CANDIDATES ONLY

Background/IRC Summary:  

The International Rescue Committee (IRC) responds to the world's worst humanitarian crises and helps people to survive and rebuild their lives. Founded in 1933 at the request of Albert Einstein, the IRC offers lifesaving care and life-changing assistance to refugees forced to flee from war or disaster. At work today in over 40 countries and 22 U.S. cities, we restore safety, dignity and hope to millions who are uprooted and struggling to endure. The IRC leads the way from harm to home.

In mid-2012, IRC opened a country office and launched humanitarian assistance programming. IRC operates throughout Lebanon, with the main office in Beirut and field offices in Qobayat, Zahle, Tripoli, Tyre and Mount Lebanon. The IRC’s educational interventions strive to help children and youth gain valuable skills and knowledge that will increase their opportunities and life chances, and contribute to their well-being and livelihood. The IRC supports formal and non-formal learning activities that lead to tangible learning outcomes in literacy, numeracy, socio-emotional learning, and marketable skills and promotes the protection and psychosocial well-being of conflict-affected children and youth.

Job Overview/Summary:

USAID’s “Quality Instruction towards Access and Basic Education Improvement” (QITABI 2) is a five-year program seeking to improve learning outcomes for all students in public primary schools in Lebanon awarded to Word Learning.  The International Rescue Committee (IRC) will lead the social and emotional learning (SEL) component of the program. The Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) research and evidence building (M&E) Manager will be responsible for leading the design and implementation of SEL research and evaluations. He /She will be in charge of  developing a research based on desk review and previous evidence of IRC SEL programs around Integration of SEL into national curriculum. He/she will be advising on what is the best approach to build evidence on the QITABI 2, including development of Monitoring tools, liaising with Other QITABI 2 partners such as MSI to coordinate the integration of those tools into the baseline.  The SEL research and evidence building M&E Manager will be developing monitoring tools to support the SEL component of the QITABI 2 program, working in close collaboration with the consortium lead, M&E partner, government stakeholders, and other partners. He/she will provide overall technical support to the M&E plan for implementation and outcomes related to SEL within QITABI 2, including the development of monitoring and measurement tools, planning for their implementation, and data analysis, while ensuring alignment with overall consortium objectives.

Specific Responsibilities:

Specific responsibilities include, but are not limited to, the following:

Research

• Focal point for the implementation of the SEL research assignments, methods and tools.
• Organize, coordinate and develop desk review of the SEL in coordination with the SEL senior manager, MEAL Coordinator, as well as relevant research partners.
• Develop methodologies necessary to meet the deliverables required for evaluation tasks.
• Serve as lead analyst for interpreting the results of surveys and other field data and will be responsible for preparing an evaluation and research reports.

• Coordinate with MSI and IRC TU in order to develop evaluation designs, sampling and data collections strategies and methodology as well as other design elements as required.
• Develop a detailed work plan for SEL research activities.
• Generate quarterly update results and accomplishments per the SEL monitoring and evaluation plan.
• Review research design and tools to ensure contextual & programmatic feasibility and appropriateness.
• Ensure communication and harmonization between research activities and program implementation, including ensuring fidelity of research design implementation.
• Select and train enumerators for data collections when needed.
• Ensure the optimal use of resources for SEL research.
• Provide appropriate and timely technical guidance to the SEL team when needed.
• Collaborate with primary stakeholders to develop feasible and effective SEL research discussion events where data is analyzed, and programming action is agreed upon.
• Participate in and represent IRC in all relevant meetings, as necessary.

Monitoring Tool Development

• Review existing SEL M&E tools, systems and approaches used in Lebanon and globally
• Collaborate with IRC Technical Advisors and QITABI 2 partners to design SEL related data collection tools
• Organize and lead workshops to support development of M&E tools

Data Analysis, Management and Application

• Organize and participate in program review and reflection meetings
• Document, disseminate and apply good practices and lessons learned to program development and implementation
• Work with consortium colleagues to use data to inform periodic review and course correction

Capacity-Building and Coordination

• Proactively collaborate with QITABI 2 lead World Learning, M&E partner MSI, government stakeholders, and other partners to ensure SEL monitoring and evaluation occurs and maintains high quality
• Develop materials to build capacity related to monitoring and evaluation of SEL within the consortium and government. 
• Support the training of partners and government stakeholders on SEL M&E tools
• Support teams with implementation of SEL M&E tools

Key Working Relationships:

Position Reports to: IRC SEL Senior Manager, with a dotted line to IRC MEAL Coordinator

Position directly supervises: Enumerators and consultants as required

Other Internal and/or external contacts:

Internal:  Regular communication with QITABI 2 team, other consortium members, IRC Lebanon team, IRC team, and IRC global technical advisors

External:  Support SEL lead in consortium-related meetings on M&E, collaborate with and train government stakeholders and partners as needed.

Job Qualifications:

Education: Master’ degree in education, developmental psychology, public health, public administration, international relief and development, statistics, applied statistics, social sciences, information management or relevant field or equivalent combination of education and experience is required.

Work Experience:

• A minimum of 6 to 8 years in research, evidence building, monitoring and evaluating education programs is required, with a focus on social and emotional learning or psychosocial support, in Lebanon.
• Designing and implementing M&E and research systems is required
• Monitoring tool development and capacity-building is required.
• Demonstrated experience working on donor funded projects with similar scopes of work. 

Demonstrated Skills and Competencies:

• Demonstrated commitment to renewing and maintaining currency with best practices.
• Experience working in a consortium is highly desired.
• Experience with people management is preferred.
• Experience in designing data collection, analysis and reporting tools using appropriate software systems (SPSS, etc.) is required.
• Experience in data processing and analysis, and applying qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods to research, assessment, and monitoring is required.
• Proven strategic and implementation ability with strong conceptual and analytical skills for planning, monitoring, and learning.
• Proven strong ability to work effectively with others to achieve results.
• Outstanding ability to build the capacity of teams and partners.
• Demonstrable understanding and experience of gender and diversity issues and inclusive programming.
• Proven networking and representation skills at a senior level.
• Outstanding report writing and information dissemination skills.
• Excellent knowledge of and experience with humanitarian guidelines and principles.
• Outstanding communication and interpersonal skills across a wide social range including project beneficiaries, community members, IRC colleagues, government officials, academics, partners, donors, etc.

Language Skills: Fluency in Arabic and English required.   Proficiency in French is an advantage.

Working Environment: This position will be based in Beirut, Lebanon, with up to 30% travel within the country required.

All IRC staff are required to adhere to IRC Way Standards for Professional Conduct and IRC country employment policies.

IRC is an Equal Opportunity Employer IRC considers all applicants on the basis of merit without regard to race, sex, color, national origin, religion, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status or disability.