Job Title: Head of Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning

Location: London or Nairobi with flexible working and international travel

Contract: Permanent

Salary: £57,000 gross per annum. The salary for Nairobi will be based on the local market equivalent.

Reporting to: Director of Research, Advisory and Policy

Responsible for: Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning Adviser; supervision of MEL focal points, occasional consultants.

Deadline: 20th Nov 2024.

Conciliation Resources

Conciliation Resources (CR) is an independent international organisation working with people in conflict to prevent violence, resolve conflicts and promote peaceful societies. We believe that building sustainable peace takes time. We provide practical support to help people affected by violent conflict achieve lasting peace. We draw on our shared experiences to improve peacebuilding policies and practice worldwide.

Research, Advisory and Policy Department (RAP)

The Research, Advisory and Policy Department (RAP) of 9 staff facilitates learning and provides guidance to improve peace policy and practice inside and outside CR.

RAP is responsible for the Accord publication series and cross-organisational research programmes, thematic policy advocacy, and the organisational approach to, and technical support to Programme Departments and the research team on gender and monitoring, evaluation and learning (MEL) and policy advocacy. The RAP Department includes the CR EU team based in Brussels.

Job Purpose

The Head of Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning leads on developing and implementing Conciliation Resources’ strategy, systems and skills for MEL in our peace practice. They ensure that MEL in CR serves to: evaluate the impact of our interventions; improve adaptability and effectiveness of our practice, including the objectives in our Gender Strategy; record, organise and learn from evidence of what works and what doesn’t; improve our knowledge base, culture and practice of capturing and measuring change; and inform CR and the wider peacebuilding sector about how to measure progress in peace initiatives.

The Head of Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning acts as the technical lead on MEL, providing thought leadership, strategic guidance and technical advice to Programme and RAP teams on MEL; on learning goals in our Strategic Plan; on measuring progress towards our peacebuilding goals, our Theory of Change and our Results Framework; and on how to use MEL data for different strategic processes.

Scope and Accountability

The Head of Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning is accountable to and line-managed by the

Director of Research, Advisory and Policy, and is a member of the Research, Advisory and Policy team. They work closely with CR Programme Departments and partners, Communications and Development teams, and the Executive Management Team. They are a member of the Team Leaders Forum.

Essential Knowledge, skills and experience

• Thorough knowledge of complexity aware approaches and methodologies for MEL at strategic, organisational and project level, including Outcome Harvesting.
• Experience in leading the design and implementation of MEL systems at organisation level.
• Experience of integrating gender into MEL frameworks and approaches.
• Experience of applying different MEL frameworks and techniques, such as logical frameworks, Outcome Harvesting, theories of change and participatory techniques to programme design.
• Experience in delivering MEL training and capacity building support online and in person.
• Experience of staff line management and the procurement and management of consultants.
• Ability to work as part of a team as well as independently, and to work collaboratively with a flexible approach.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills in English and the ability to communicate complex information and arguments clearly and accurately.
• Strong facilitation skills, including in online format.
• Excellent evaluative and creative thinking skills. Ability to handle a complex and changing workload meeting internal and external deadlines.
• Capacity to listen actively to people from varying backgrounds having a range of political, cultural, and value orientations.
• Good political judgement, including an appreciation of how to handle sensitive and confidential issues.
• Be able to inspire, educate, motivate and influence others across an organisation and more broadly.
• Good IT skills.

Desirable Knowledge, skills and experience

• Knowledge of MEL challenges for peacebuilding.
• Spoken French.
• A post-graduate qualification or equivalent through experience in a relevant subject area.
• Experience of presenting to donors and senior level stakeholders.
• Experience of working in/on a country affected by violent conflict.
• Experience of raising funds to support one’s area of work.
• Understanding of organisational learning.