MEL Adviser
Australia Awards South Asia & Mongolia

Primary Duties and Responsibilities:

Australia Awards – South Asia & Mongolia is administered by Palladium on behalf of the Australian Government’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT). The Program goal is to support eight partner countries – Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Mongolia, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka – in achieving their development goals through education and knowledge transfer, and to build enduring relationships with Australia that advance mutual interests.

In support of this goal, the Program aims to achieve two key outcomes:

• Alumni are using their skills, knowledge and networks to contribute to sustainable development.
• Alumni are contributing to cooperation between Australia and partner countries.

Australia Awards – South Asia & Mongolia is a multi-country program with service delivery offices in Colombo, Dhaka, Islamabad, Kathmandu, Thimphu and Ulaanbaatar. Leadership, coordination, and support are provided by “the Hub” – a regional team based in a range of locations in South Asia & Mongolia as well as in Australia.

The Program is seeking a MEL Adviser, to be responsible to the Colombo-based Team Leader, for the development and maintenance of all Program MEL approaches and systems, and for ensuring that these align with the Australia Awards Monitoring and Evaluation Framework and DFAT’s Monitoring and Evaluation Standards. MEL systems will enable tracking of Program progress towards long-term outcomes and report on performance, effectiveness and efficiency.

The MEL Adviser will also support and supervise the Regional MEL Coordinator, and will build the capacity of the broader Program team.

The Program is seeking approx imately 60 days of input from the MEL Adviser per year, and the Adviser can be based out of any location in Australia.

Applicants for this position are required to request a copy of the Job and Person Specification (JPS) from the Senior Program and Operations Manager by emailing karon.beattie@thepalladiumgroup.com. Only submissions that have outlined, in a cover letter, the applicant’s experience in each of the Key Responsibilities listed in the JPS will be considered for the appointment.

Applications close on Sunday 28th July 9PM Adelaide Time.

Ideal candidates possess the following:

• Minimum ten years’ previous experience in an MEL leadership role on a DFAT-funded international development program
• Detailed understanding of the MEL requirements of Australia Awards programs, acquired through design, implementation or evaluation of Australia Awards programs
• Experience of working with and within a diverse, dispersed multicultural team
• Demonstrated ability to communicate and collaborate effectively with senior stakeholders
• Proven capability in the preparation of high-quality plans and reports for external audiences
• High ethical standards and a commitment to integrity and professionalism
• Flexibility and responsiveness to respond at short notice to urgent requests
• Proven organisational skills and attention to detail, with ability to prioritise own workload and deliver quality outputs within agreed timeframes.
• Tertiary qualification in Evaluation, Project Management, Education, International Development or other relevant discipline

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