MILKA Advisor

Job Summary:

CARE works in partnership with community members, government, local civil society organisations, and the private sector. CARE currently implements projects in five provinces: Vientiane Capital, Phongsaly, Luangnamtha, Salavan and Sekong Province.

This position is focal point for the Monitoring, Impact, Learning, Knowledge management, Accountability (MILKA) within CARE international in Lao PDR, and work closely with the Program Director to ensure program quality, research, learning and support alignment with organisational priorities.

This position aims to lead the evidence and impact team in Laos Country Office. It will provide strategic management support, advising, capacity development, and technical assistance services to promote sound design, monitoring, evaluation, and learning practices ensuring that effective processes and systems are in place to measure and share evidence of program impact of project, country operations and global reporting.

JOB RESPONSIBILITIES

1. Program strategy and development

• Lead monitoring of projects, track country level performance against indicators and report on global indicators, with monthly tracking and reporting.
• Provide leadership in key monitoring and evaluation (M&E) thematic areas.
• Represent MEAL priorities and knowledge in internal and external knowledge sharing and decision-making forums.
• Support projects to address DME and program effectiveness gaps through designing process and capacity interventions.

2. Technical inputs and capacity development:

• Leadership to the evidence and impact function in align with global standards.
• Drive improved program quality in country office, with quality assurance standards.
• Ensure cascading of Pathways of change, System level impact, PIIRS and PQ drivers into country projects and reporting up.
• Access and build competencies, business processes, and monitoring and evaluation approaches to verify, document, communicate and improve program effectiveness
• Align and report on donor M&E requirements.

     3. Partnership and networking:

• Promote learning and innovation in MEAL across all projects, strengthen and streamline utilization of knowledge assets to achieve CO objectives.
• Drive new collaboration approaches and partnerships related to M&E/program quality to benefit all CARE Laos programmes.
• Facilitate workshops, peer learning approaches.
• Develop professional network and partnerships with relevant universities, private sector, donor, and non-profit entities.

     4. Research, accountability and evidence-based learning:

• Lead knowledge management & learning through collecting & analyzing data across all projects; assisting with measuring program impact, capturing, & sharing lessons learned, best practices, research & internal reports.
• Promote learning & innovation in MEAL across the projects, strengthen & streamline utilization of knowledge assets to achieve CO objectives.
• Involve in the implementation of staff performance &evaluation plans.
• Ensure implementation of Community Accountability Mechanism.

EXPERIENCE AND QUALIFICATIONS:

Qualifications (Know How):

• Master’s degree in the social or physical sciences or any relevant field.
• Qualitative and/or quantitative research and evaluation skills, including but not limited to study design, survey instrument design and use, establishing and measuring outcome and process indicators, sampling, data analysis plans, data cleaning, and statistical analysis.
• Leading assessments, research, and evaluations
• Demonstrated ability to report, present and communicate results, written and verbal in English.

Desired:

• Master’s degree in data analytics/ business intelligence/ international development
• Experience in gender and/or social exclusion analysis
• Evidence of the ability to facilitate M&E capacity building approaches.

Experience/Technical Skills

Required:

• Strong analysis and problem-solving skills, planning and organizational skills, ability to prioritize multiple tasks and to work gracefully under pressure.
• 5 years + of experience in monitoring and evaluation (large program, national or regional level).
• Proven ability to facilitate working groups, communities of practice or other similar learning mechanisms.
• Proven ability to collaborate with all levels of staff and to motivate and mobilize individuals outside their reporting line to achieve agreed strategic plans.
• Knowledge of the monitoring and evaluation requirements of key institutional donors (USAID, DFAT, EU, etc.)