MERL Assistant

Aperçu de l'organisation

Tostan is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization headquartered in Dakar, Senegal, and currently operating in five West African countries. Strategically, the organization is committed to further developing its core competency—education-based empowerment—and to documenting and scaling up the sustainable impact it creates across a range of issues. Tostan’s flagship model, the three-year Community Capacity-Building Program (CCBP), has already reached thousands of communities in West and East Africa since 1991. Results in the areas of governance, education, health, economic empowerment, and the environment are currently being tracked, and Tostan is particularly proud to have played a significant role in the large-scale empowerment of women and girls and in the community’s abandonment of harmful practices such as female genital mutilation and child marriage. As part of its plan d'engagement stratégique 2023-2030, Tostan is focusing on strategic scaling. The organization is developing new implementation strategies to support community leadership by driving systemic change on a larger scale at the regional level. It is also creating new models to share and replicate its programs with other development partners and is expanding its capacity to share Tostan’s comprehensive approach to support and influence a range of local and global audiences. For more information, please visit: www.tostan.org

Department overview

The Monitoring, Evaluation, Research, and Learning (MERL) team is an integral part of Tostan’s Program Department. Its mission is to coordinate and support the program monitoring and evaluation system in the countries where Tostan operates, as well as research and learning. Through this team, Tostan continuously monitors performance in partner communities and conducts internal evaluations, including baseline studies, midterm evaluations, and final evaluations.

Roles and responsabilities

Under the direct technical supervision of the MERL Focal Person and the TI MERL team, and the administrative supervision of the National Coordinator, the MERL Assistant will be responsible for supporting the MERL Country Responsible in ensuring the strict implementation of all monitoring and evaluation activities within the national coordination office.

She/He will have as mission to :

➔ Support the MERL Focal Person in supporting and coordinating the monitoring and evaluation strategies and activities implemented by SERA at the national coordination level

➔ Support the ERL Focal Person in overseeing the monitoring forms

➔ Support the ERL Focal Person in ensuring that data is collected;

➔ To support the ERL Focal Person in ensuring that the collected data is transmitted to the national and/or international MERL office;

➔ To support the MERL Focal Person in conducting monitoring missions in collaboration with the national coordinator to assess the progress of activities in the field;

➔ To support the MERL Focal Person in training CMCs on aspects related to Monitoring and Evaluation.

As MERL team member:

Responsibility 1: support the MERL Focal Person in ensuring strict implementation of the monitoring system established by MERL

➔ Understand the monitoring and evaluation system that has been implemented.

➔ Share the components of the system with colleagues in the coordination team (coordinator, supervisors, and other relevant stakeholders).

➔ Ensure that any challenges encountered in implementing the system are documented and shared with management.

Responsabilité 2: Support the MERL Focal Person in building the capacity of field staff (supervisors and facilitators) in monitoring and evaluation, data collection methodology, and the completion of data collection forms

➔ Train the coordination staff—particularly the coordinator and supervisors—on monitoring and evaluation

➔ Train supervisors on how to fill out data collection forms

Responsabilité 3: Support the MERL Focal Person to ensure that monitoring data is collected on time according to the agreed-upon schedule

➔ Check whether the data collection forms are up to date

➔ Ensure that each supervisor collects data in their assigned area

➔ Ensure the completeness and quality of the collected data

➔ Ensure that the collected data is submitted to MERL

Responsabilité 4: Support the MERL Focal Person in leading the planning and collection of qualitative and quantitative data in the field during studies and evaluations

➔ Participate in the planning of studies and evaluations

➔ Participate and play an active role in training on methodology and tools for data collection during studies and evaluations

➔ Participate in the supervision of data collection

➔ Ensure the quality and completeness of data for each study and evaluation

Key relation:

Supervisor (N+1) : MERL Focal Person

Direct relationships (direct functional relationships): supervisors

Other colleagues: coordination staff

Location : Bassé, The Gambia

Key Qualifications Required:

Education :

➔ Have at least 2 years of experience in the field of monitoring and evaluation of development projects

➔ Hold a bachelor’s degree or equivalent in community/local development or in the planning, design, and management of development projects, or in project monitoring and evaluation.

Language Skills:

➔ Be able to speak, read, and write in English;

➔ Have a good knowledge of at least one national language spoken in the area of assignment

Knowledge and experience :

The MERL Assistant must have proven skills and abilities in the following areas:

➔ The ability to coordinate several different projects simultaneously

➔ Knowledge and qualifications in community development

➔ Knowledge and proven experience in the design, implementation, and monitoring and evaluation of development projects

➔ Proficiency in computer skills, particularly in using common software programs (Word, Excel, PowerPoint). Proficiency in other software such as Airtable, Tableau, etc., would be an asset.

➔ Be able to use tablets for electronic data collection.

➔ Have experience working in rural areas with local communities while respecting human dignity, and be able to work well under pressure.

Characteristics

➔ Be open-minded and cooperative

➔ Be able to work under pressure and in a complex, multicultural environment

➔ Have excellent time-management skills, as well as the ability to handle multiple tasks simultaneously and prioritize

➔ Have a driver's license

Type of contract : local contract