Somalia: Monitoring and Evaluation Expert for Resilience Project

BACKGROUND

The Danish Refugee Council (DRC) has been providing relief and development services in the Horn of Africa since 1997. Using a protection of human rights framework, DRC has mainly focused on Somalis who are displaced by conflict and natural disaster. Programs include Protection, Food security & Livelihoods, Shelter/NFI and Water and Sanitation. In Somalia, DRC has successfully implemented a 3 year resilience project in Gedo region’s Dollow district as a member of the Somalia Resilience Program (SomReP) Consortium and has been awarded second phase of the project on Village Level Resilience. The project aims to improve the community’s resilience by targeting agro-pastoral, pastoral and peri-urban livelihoods.

PURPOSE

The M&E Expert will, on the basis of the Project Development Engagement Document, be responsible for establishing and maintaining the Village Level Resilience Program (VLRP) monitoring system, including theory of change, pathway of change, results framework and associated objectives, outcomes, outputs, activities, indicators and agreed targets.

The M&E Expert will design effective, innovative and simple methods for cost efficient project monitoring in 4 districts, assist the engaged local organizations and actors in establishing and operating the M&E sub-systems, maintaining regular liaison including visits to local organizations and actors, as well as occasionally participating in random spot monitoring. The M&E Expert will be responsible for preparation of monitoring reports with relevant management information, enabling the overall VRLP management to take corrective actions where required and to monitor performance against the agreed indicators and targets.

The M&E Expert will be responsible for monitoring and evaluating the implementation of the project, ensuring accountability, efficiency and success from start to finish. S/he will be responsible for establishing, modifying and monitoring key performance indicators to report and record progress for specific programs and projects in collaboration with the Team Leader. S/he will also oversee regular project progress reports and will collaborate with project staff to prepare monthly, quarterly and final narrative reports which bring out lessons learnt and best practices. S/he will need to provide necessary information to the grant units during proposal development and follow up with regard to budget and indicators, implementation of processes, and standard operating procedures.

PRIMARY RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Develop and implement M&E framework that will maintain accountability standards and ensure effective monitoring, evaluation and learning related to the VLRP.
• Formulate and implement key performance indicators (KPI) and deliverables for the project and monitor them throughout the duration of the project.
• Analyze and qualify indicators and performance, evaluate information and make recommendations.
• Lead all M&E initiatives for project including monitoring data quality, tracking the progress of activities, and informing staff capacity building initiatives.
• Clarify the core information needs of management and provide relevant and timely information.
• Implement and participate in program and project progress evaluation, survey and program follow up in order to advise and recommend tools and strategies to increase program performances and results.
• Lead the process of facilitating the Lesson Learnt and Best Practices event and the documentation for the stakeholders, country and regional offices.
• Lead in standardization of tools and reporting templates for the project activities to be used across implementing partners.
• Identify the training needs of the M&E team for all implementing partners and coach, train and mentor as needed.
• Facilitate data collection and the flow of data within Program field teams to inform quality programming.
• Perform field visits to ensure the validation and verification of the data collected for accuracy in reporting.
• Prepare terms of reference for internal and external engagement for baselines, midterm and end of project evaluations.
• Support Grants Specialist in reviewing donor reports to ensure high quality reports are submitted on time for this grant/project.

• Any other responsibilities related to SomReP M&E as assigned by the supervisor.
  QUALIFICATIONS

• A minimum of 10 years programme M&E experience, including from conceiving, developing and implementing result frameworks and M&E systems.

• Working experience from both a development context and from OECD countries.

• Solid experience from humanitarian assistance, durable solutions, resilience programmes and livelihoods support.

• Experience of working in sensitive political settings and situations affected by conflict and fragility.

• University degree in social science or similar.

• Experience of facilitating M&E training capacity developmental courses.

• Demonstrated experience in establishing innovative effective and cost efficient M&E systems in the context of large and inaccessible areas.

• Thorough experience in designing and implementing risk management systems for the success of projects in a fragile context.

• Experience of supporting and guiding other organizations in M&E technological methodologies that enhance timely and accurate reporting.

• Experience with latest monitoring software including options for modification to serve specific project M&E purposes.

• Thorough experience in preparation of simple and relevant monitoring reports for management purposes.

• Previous work experience from the Horn of Africa.

• Working experience from Somalia will be an added advantage.

• Fluency in verbal and written English, with Somalia speaking being an added advantage

Commitments

DRC adheres to the Core Humanitarian Standards. All staff are required to contribute to the achievement of these standards.

GENERAL COMMITTEMENTS

DRC has a Humanitarian Accountability Framework, outlining its global accountability commitments. All staff are required to contribute to the achievement of this framework .For general information about Danish Refugee Council, please visit www.drc.dk

CONDITIONS

Availability: 1^st July 2016

Duty station: Dollow in Gedo region with frequent travel to the other project locations. Dollow is a non-family duty Station with RnR after every 6 weeks.

Reporting Arrangements: The M&E Expert reports to the VLRP Team Leader with technical support from Somalia MEAL Manager and the Food Security and Livelihoods Technical Manager.

Contract: 1 year contract dependent on both funding and performance. Salary and conditions in accordance with the Danish Refugee Council’s Terms of Employment for Global Expatriates (available at www.drc.dk under Vacancies). This position is graded as A15.

For qualified National staff the terms of employment will be in accordance with DRC terms for National staff

Interested candidates who meet the required qualifications and experience are invited to submit updated CV and cover letter explaining their motivation and why they are suited for the post.

Please forward the application and CV, in English through the online application on www.drc.dk under vacancies no later than 9^th May 2016. Only online applications will be accepted.

If you have questions or are facing problems with the online application process, please contact job@drc.dk.

For general information about the Danish Refugee Council, please consult www.drc.dk.