Director of Evidence & Information Management (Monitoring & Evaluation)

TITLE: Director of Evidence & Information Management (Monitoring & Evaluation)

LOCATION: Myanmar, Thailand or Home-Based

CONTRACT LENGTH: Fixed-term (2 years, with possibility to extend)

ROLE PURPOSE:

The Myanmar Education Consortium (MEC) partners with selected ethnic and monastic education providers to strengthen their capacity to deliver and sustain good quality learning opportunities for children considered to be hard-to-reach in Myanmar. Applying a ‘systems-strengthening’ approach, MEC provides funding, coordination, technical assistance and research across different complementary education systems to promote continuous improvement of education services. The programme works with its partners, established education providers, to place an emphasis on developing the quality and inclusivity of education in Myanmar, including improved learning outcomes; and with a broader range of diverse stakeholders to address key barriers for the achievement of equitable education. In line with its current 2021-25 programme strategy, the overall aim for MEC is that hard-to-reach children access education services that meet their learning and well-being needs.

MEC is recruiting a Director of Evidence and Information Management (EIM). The Director plays a key role in contributing to the strategy and direction of the MEC programme as well as in leading and managing the EIM department (comprising a total of 9 team members) under the overall leadership and direction of the MEC Director. The EIM Director’s responsibility is to lead the EIM team, ensuring that the monitoring, evaluation and accountability interventions and technical inputs provided for partners are appropriate, contextually relevant and of high quality. S/he will lead a strong, high performing EIM team, ensuring clear-cut roles and functions, working effectively with relevant key teams on all important programmatic, organisational and operational matters.

The EIM Director will provide a major contribution to the overall strategic direction and implementation of MEC activities in close collaboration with the rest of the Senior Leadership team (SLT), in line with the MEC Programme Strategy. S/he will provide technical and managerial oversight and capacity development support to the EIM team, and be a member of the MEC Senior Leadership Team, working in close collaboration with the Directors of Education, Partnership & Programme Support (PPS) and Strategy, Policy, Planning and Learning (SPPL) to provide leadership and strategic direction to the full MEC team.

The role requires excellent skills and experience in people management, implementing monitoring and evaluation systems and structures and working with a diverse set of stakeholders, including support to partner organisations.

SCOPE OF ROLE:

Reports to: MEC Director

Staff reporting to this post: 1 Manager, 1 Advisor, 1 Assistant, 1 (part-time) Specialist

The Evidence and Information Management Director plays a key role in contributing to the strategy and direction of the MEC programme, as well as in leading and managing the Evidence and Information Management team within the MEC team structure under the overall leadership and direction of the MEC Director.

The EIM Director will:

• Provide leadership and management to the Evidence & Information Management team, ensuring the smooth implementation of effective Monitoring, Evaluation & Accountability activities through providing technical, organizational and operational direction to the team.
• Lead the rollout of the MEAL Strategy and MEAL Plan, ensuring that activity is developed and implemented in a timely fashion that recognizes and builds upon the existing structures in place. S/he will be responsible for the operationalizing of the MEC results framework and the generation of evidence through coherent information management systems.
• Ensure the implementation of strong accountability structures and mechanisms.
• Provide strategic leadership on the implementation of targeted evaluation studies, ensuring studies are used to sharpen MEC’s programme interventions in support of complementary systems strengthening.
• Contribute to the overall strategic direction, design and planning of MEC activities in line with the MEC Phase 3 Programme Strategy.
• Provide guidance and support to team members to ensure the programme team can design and provide high-calibre technical support to complementary education systems, in line with identified priorities, including education information management systems strengthening.
• Ensure MEC’s Gender Equality, Disability and Social Inclusion (GEDSI) Strategy and Child Safeguarding priorities are integrated into all aspects of EIM’s work.

KEY AREAS OF ACCOUNTABILITY:

Leadership and Representation

• Lead a high performing EIM team, ensuring timely and high-quality delivery of team activities and supporting collaborative cross-team working;
• As a member of MEC’s Senior Leadership Team (SLT) and Senior Management team (SMT) help ensure that all plans and interventions are aligned with the overall MEC’s programme strategy in support of effective and sustainable ethnic and monastic education systems strengthening in Myanmar;
• Engage with MEC donors on matters relating to EIM;
• Represent MEC at national and international events and proactively advocate for sound evidence-based policies and practices in support of education systems strengthening;
• In collaboration with the Education and SPPL Directors, support oversight and technical leadership on commissioned research and joint studies;
• Support in the identification of new MEC partners and work closely to identify the monitoring, evaluation and accountability technical support they will require.

Programme and Team Management

• Ensure the EIM team work plan, budget and monthly partner engagement plans are effectively and appropriately designed, delivered, and monitored;
• Ensure the delivery of quality, timely reports, including Results Framework reporting, providing inputs to donor indicator tracking systems and preparation of relevant sections of narrative reporting;
• Directly manage 4 staff, and oversee their management of the other EIM staff, including supervising, motivating and supporting the team’s professional development;
• Ensure the effective use of the Performance Management System including the establishment of relevant tasks and clear, measurable objectives and on-going feedback, apart from regular periodic transparent performance reviews and evaluations, including necessary corrective action if required, in line with SCI policy.
• Support the team to strategize and systematically prioritise and plan in order to deliver tasks in a timely manner;
• Encourage a team culture and partnership approach based on sharing, learning and creativity.

Monitoring, Evaluation and Accountability

• Lead the programme’s Monitoring and Evaluation activity to ensure that the MEC M&E system delivers sufficient quantitative and qualitative data to reflect programme results, and to capture progress in the short, intermediate and long term in line with identified indicators within the results framework;
• Ensure systems are in place and used to effectively manage data, monitor activities and ensure accountability across different levels of implementation;
• Ensure MEC routinely collects, analyses and uses evidence, including with appropriate and GEDSI informed disaggregation, to inform programme decision-making and reporting processes;
• Lead the delivery of multi-year Evaluations studies, to ensure evidence is generated, documented and utilised to inform strategic direction, programmatic adaptations and policy and programme solutions;
• Champion knowledge management through the development and use of platforms that store and display evidence and learning that is made accessible and actively used;
• Foster innovation by identifying opportunities to pilot new approaches and to upgrade tools, systems, and processes;
• Lead and direct the implementation of high-calibre technical support in areas of M&E, Accountability and Education Information Management across MEC partners, in line with MEC partners’ identified and emerging priorities.
• Lead the design and use of systems that safely and appropriately ensure accountability to partners, children and communities with whom we work by building trusting and collaborative relationships through information sharing and two-way communication, participation, and feedback and reporting mechanisms, consistent with the MEC Accountability and Partnership Guidelines;
• Champion the use of accountability data and community participation analysis to influence strategic decision-making and advocacy.

Cross-Cutting (Child Safeguarding, GEDSI & Partnership) Responsibilities

• Develop specific and contextual guidance to ensure that the safeguarding of children is incorporated into MEC strategies and children are protected from exploitation, increased vulnerability, or any form of harm or indignity;
• Ensure that Child Safeguarding is integrated into partner MEAL plans;
• Ensure that all EIM activities take Gender Equality, Disability and Social Inclusion into consideration in line with the MEC GEDSI Strategy & Guidelines, and aim to strengthen MEC’s internal as well as partners’ capacity to generate and use GEDSI-related data to inform programme design and implementation plans;
• Ensure that MEC’s Partnership Principles and Management Guidelines are maintained and supported.

General

• Promote and support a strong collaborative team culture across the EIM and wider MEC teams;
• Additional responsibilities as assigned and agreed with the MEC Director.

QUALIFICATIONS, EXPERIENCE AND SKILLS

Qualifications

• Master’s degree (or higher) in areas of development studies / management, statistics, research or relevant disciplines, or equivalent qualifications through work experience;
• Minimum of 7 years of experience within the development and/or humanitarian sector, working in programme management and/or MEAL roles, including roles with leadership responsibilities;
• Proficient in spoken and written English.

Skills and Experience

• Proven success in building and managing a team and dedication to developing staff capacity through training, supervising, coaching, and mentoring;
• Implementation experience in emergency/humanitarian and/or development contexts;
• Demonstrated experience and knowledge of monitoring systems, including robust and responsible data collection and use;
• Demonstrated experience and knowledge of evidence generation for learning, including designing/commissioning, implementing and applying: needs assessments, baseline studies, evaluations and research;
• Direct experience of working with partner organisations in participatory activities (including remotely);
• Experience and knowledge of systems for accountability to children and communities, including information sharing, the participation of adults and children, and feedback and reporting mechanisms;
• Ability to prepare and facilitate technical MEAL training and workshops (including remotely);
• Skilled at communicating and influencing across relevant teams and offices;
• Demonstrable analytical and problem-solving skills and experience in solving complex issues through analysis, defining, and planning a clear way forward and ensuring buy-in;
• Highly developed cultural awareness and ability to work well with people from diverse backgrounds and cultures;
• Ability to work independently and as part of teams/groups;
• Strong, self-motivated remote-working and management abilities;
• Willingness to travel to field sites;
• Commitment to and understanding of MEC’s aims, values and principles.

Desirable

• Additional educational qualifications in a development-related field;
• Experience in education programming;
• Proficiency in Myanmar language and, preferably, another ethnic Myanmar language;
• Experience working in Myanmar.

How to apply

Interested and qualified candidates are invited to apply an Application Letter and Curriculum Vitae to the link below:

For External Candidates:https://stcuk.taleo.net/careersection/ex/jobdetail.ftl?job=220008OJ&tz=GMT%2B06%3A30&tzname=Asia%2FRangoon

For Internal Candidates:https://stcuk.taleo.net/careersection/in/jobdetail.ftl?job=220008OJ&tz=GMT%2B06%3A30&tzname=Asia%2FRangoon

Closing Date : 7 December 2022 (Wednesday)

User Guide for Applicants at SCI: https://myanmar.savethechildren.net/sites/stcico.myanmar.savethechildren.net/files/taleo_applicants_user_guide.pdf

Candidates are also requested to mention in the applications if there is, blood/marriage relationships with the existing Save the Children employees. No requirement of photo or copy of certificates and only short-listed candidates will be contacted.

Remark: For those who failed to mention or incorrectly mention the apply position title, Programme/Sector name and location in their applications, we will consider those as disqualify and we will not consider for short list.