Adaptive MEAL and Impact Evaluation Advisor

Adaptive MEAL and IMPACT EVALUATION ADVISOR

DIVISION: Impact

TEAM: Evidence and Strategic Learning

LOCATION: Oxford

CONTRACT TYPE: Open-ended

GRADE: C                                                                         

JOB FAMILY:  Programme Technical

SALARY:

salary offered in line with National Salary Scales

HOURS: 36

FLEXIBILE WORKING

We believe flexible working is key to building the Oxfam of the future, so we’re open to talking through the type of flexible arrangements which might work for you.

DIVISION PURPOSE: We will tackle the root causes of poverty and suffering working in solidarity with people and partners in fragile contexts and by addressing some of the world’s most pressing barriers to equality.

TEAM PURPOSE: The Evidence and Strategic Learning team spans Research, Adaptive MEAL and Impact Evaluation, Publishing and Evidence Uptake. The team generates evidence, curates and brokers knowledge and communicates for impact across the confederation. It is the main contributor to shaping and communicating OGB’s understanding and experiences of policy and practice in ways that further a just and sustainable future for all.

The post-holder will work 50% of the time under the responsibility of the Middle East and North Africa Regional Platform (MENA RP) and 50% under  the Adaptive MEAL and Impact Evaluation sub-team of OGB (within the Evidence and Strategic Learning team), which provides thought leadership on Adaptive MEAL and Impact Evaluation processes and methodologies. This person will be line managed by OGB, Head of Impact Evaluation and Adaptive MEAL, and will have a matrix management line to the MENA RP’s Programme Quality Advisor specifically for the part of the work under RP’s responsibility.

OGB’s Adaptive MEAL and Impact Evaluation sub-team generates a decolonised evidence base on progress towards and impact of Oxfam’s strategic priorities. It shapes and communicates Oxfam’s knowledge about policy priorities and evidence from practice about what works and the changing roles and priorities on international development. Team members are responsible for developing and implementing Adaptive MEAL and Impact evaluation methodologies, support country and regional teams to implement sound MEAL and generate evidence on impact to inform advocacy and campaigns, improve programme implementation, and influencing a wide range of external audiences.

MENA RP has a mandate to:

• Provide strategic leadership, management & accountability of and to Oxfam country programmes in MENA.

• Deliver regional impact, developing partner relationships, brand, and impact in the region through relevant influencing and advocacy work, public engagement, and programming.

• Connect, coordinate, convene – Connect practitioners to sources of expertise, convene people to share knowledge and learnings, and coordinate capacity building initiatives.

• Enable operational agility and efficiency – Provide support to Oxfam country offices.

In MENA, Oxfam works in development, humanitarian, and campaigning, with a large part of the current transformation focused on becoming a major influencing & advocacy, knowledge-for-impact global reach organization.

JOB PURPOSE: The position will have a double role:

1. Under the lead of the MENA RP (50%), it will help regional and country office teams strengthen MEAL systems, processes and strategies to improve programme quality and impact.
2. Under the lead of OGB’s Adaptive MEAL and Impact Evaluation sub-team, it will advise on, commission, and implement impact evaluations of selected   projects, programmes   and   campaigns and foster a culture of shared real-time learning, support MEAL, and balancing it with methodological innovation and the influencing of policy and practice.

POST HOLDER REPORTS TO

Head of Impact Evaluation and Adaptive MEAL

Matrix management to MENA Programme Quality Advisor

JOBS REPORTING TO THIS POST

N/A

BUDGET RESPONSIBILITY

Yes Evaluation budgets of up to 50k

DIMENSIONS OF THE ROLE

• Provides advisory support for evidence generation through MEL, impact evaluations and related syntheses.
• Leads on implementation of impact evaluations, setting-up steering committees to collaboratively design impact evaluations and maximize future use of results. It will include designing and leading data gathering tools and processes, carrying out analysis, collaborative sensemaking and learning with key stakeholders.
• Produces, assimilates, analyses and uses programme information from varied and diverse sources to provide in-depth analysis in the specific programme unit or policy area
• Supports the design and implementation of adaptive MEAL initiatives, ensuring MEAL informs impact evaluations as well as provide learning for programmes. It will also involve producing diverse products to share findings: presentations, narrative reports, and technical notes.

• Coordinates and delivers agreed plans or strategies over which the job holder has some strategic input.

• Represents OGB or MENA RP (depending on the case) in coordination meetings and some external relationships.
• The role involves extensive travel to projects particularly in the MENA region and globally.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

MENA regional responsibilities:

1. Provide specialized MEAL support to country and regional teams by co-developing and helping implement sound, coherent and effective MEAL strategies, including support to Country offices to develop implementable plans to strengthen MEAL systems, practices, strategies, feedback mechanisms and varied data collection tools.
2. In collaboration with the Regional Programme Quality (PQ) team, strengthen the capacity of country and regional MEAL staff to carry out specific MEAL functions including conducting Programme Quality Reviews, and the collection and reporting of accurate and reliable data for Oxfam Output Reports and One Programme Reports.
3. Maintain a roster of evaluations for the MENA region and support and review country office developed TORs for evaluations that fit with the global standards such as the OECD updated criteria, Oxfam quality standards, effectiveness review,

OGB responsibilities:

4. Co-lead, design and conduct impact evaluations (IEs) of selected initiatives, together with Oxfam country and regional teams and partner teams. This may include overseeing, mentoring and/or advising collaborators (e.g., consultants, Oxfam and partner staff) carrying out impact evaluations and related syntheses. 
5. Contribute to the broader body of knowledge on IE and adaptive MEAL, working collaboratively to connect various sources of information and share knowledge on methods and tools across Oxfam and externally. This may involve facilitating workshops/trainings related to MEAL and evaluation design, data gathering, reflection on findings, sensemaking and learning.
6. Contribute to the team’s collective skills and learning, with specific emphasis on systems thinking in IE, decolonization and feminist leadership, data visualization and implementation of adaptive MEAL approaches.   
7. Actively engage with internal and external actors and networks in current international development debates through written material and presentations.

Shared responsibilities

8. Work with others to plan and promote learning spaces and mechanisms to ensure knowledge generation and use, including facilitating learning and reflection processes, support teams to incorporate thematic Knowledge and Learning Framework questions into programmes and provide tools, guidance and best practices for documenting learning.

Most importantly, every individual at Oxfam GB needs to be able to:

• Live our values of INCLUSION, ACCOUNTABILITY and EMPOWERMENT (read more about these here).

• Ensure you commit to our ORGANISATIONAL ATTRIBUTES (including adhering to the Code of Conduct):

1. Be committed to our feminist principles, and to applying them in your day-to-day behaviour and your work. Be ready to keep learning, with accountability to those who experience oppression as a result of their identities, such as their gender, race/ethnicity, disability, class, or LGBTQIA identity.

2. Be committed to undertaking Oxfam’s safeguarding training and adhering to relevant policies, to ensure all people who come into Oxfam are as safe as possible.

Experience, Knowledge & Competencies

Essential

For this role, we have selected the most relevant feminist leadership practices which we will use for assessment purposes (which you can read more about here):

• Self-Awareness
• Mutual accountability
• Strategic Thinking and Judgment

In addition, an ideal candidate will also have:

• A relevant qualification such as university degree or masters in statistics, research methods, social sciences, or other relevant qualification
• Solid knowledge of and experience working in the MENA region.
• Strong analysis skills
• Extensive experience in conducting impact evaluations including designing data collection tools, working with digital data collection software such as Survey CTO and analysis tools such as Python, R, Nvivo, EvalC3, Stata and strong experience with process tracing.
• Good understanding of the link between MEL, impact evaluations and quality programmes, able to think creatively and practically to design MEL systems and approaches that are useable and useful, including for partners and participating people and communities.
• Excellent interpersonal skills with a proven ability to provide advisory support to others and work respectfully with others, adapting to different working styles and cultural contexts.
• Good understanding, commitment and ideally experience embedding and continuously learning to embed a decolonial, safe, anti-racist, intersectional feminist and partner led approach in your work.
• Good communications skills and ability to capture and disseminate learning
• Fluency in English.
• Experience working with INGOs on MEAL
• Results oriented.

At interview, shortlisted candidates will also be assessed on our values and organisational attributes, as outlined above.

Note: This role does require some travel (approx. 15 weeks a year). We would be open to discussing with you how this could work for you.

Desirable

• Capacity to make complex information accessible and understandable to non-technical audiences including experience in data visualisation
• Knowledge of and/or experience with initiatives focused on resilience, women’s economic empowerment, climate justice and/or advocacy campaigns. Knowledge of and/or lived experience in fragile settings.
• Lived experiences with intersecting systems of oppression, with knowledge and experience of how power and privilege play out in the countries where Oxfam works, including in the UK
• Ability to work and communicate in Arabic and / or French highly desirable

Safer recruitment: All offers of employment are subject to satisfactory references and appropriate screening checks (which can include counterterrorism, safeguarding and criminal records checks). You can find out what this means here.