Tostan International Job Vacancy: Monitoring and Evaluation, Research and Learning Director - Dakar, Senegal

Position Mission:
Ensure Tostan and partnering communities possess appropriate data for strategic decision-making.

Responsibilities:

Technical:

• Lead periodical review of M/E strategies to monitor and evaluate community wellbeing, early child development, social norms, behavioral change, as well as others as required.
• Lead the collection of the evidence necessary for organizational strategic decision-making.
• Plan and supervise collection of mixed-methods data during site studies, baseline studies, interim/final evaluations and monitoring of activities.
• Conduct and supervise formative field researches to further the understanding of behavioral change dynamics and how community empowerment programs contribute to those dynamics.
• Publish research results on academic and non-academic journals, offering evidence of Tostan’s results and furthering the understanding of Tostan’s approach to international development.
• Supervise the writing of monitoring and evaluation reports for all Tostan’s projects and in all countries where Tostan works.
• Collaborate with the Grants and Programs departments in drafting and revising result and logical frameworks, and monitoring/evaluation plans for specific projects.
• Supervise creation and management of database.
• Manage electronic data collection system and tools.

Management:

• Recruit and manage office monitoring, evaluation, and research staff, including volunteers and those working remotely, and ensure performance is managed and talent is nurtured.
• Set, monitor, manage and report on budget and expenditure for the work undertaken by the Tostan International (TI) MERL team.
• Represent Tostan and the MERL department internally and externally when requested (meetings, conferences).
• Manage complex projects, almost always involving multiple countries and supervision of TI MERL officers’ work.
• Supervise the work of all country offices and conduct field supervision missions when necessary. Represent Tostan with donors and conduct frequent missions abroad with this purpose (a maximum of 25% of this job will be spent travelling).
• Develop Tostan MERL strategy and vision by reviewing high-level objectives, and supervise International and National MERL staff in achieving those objectives.
• Build capacity of MERL staff at international and national levels. Assess National Office staff needs in Monitoring, Evaluation, Research and Learning, planning, and implementing training. Identify capacity needs in the international office and plan appropriate training strategies.
• Be a leader and inspire others in the TI MERL department. Be an example of performance and engagement with other team members. Lower internal tensions or friction through constructive and positive teamwork.
• Conduct bi-annual coaching one-to-one meetings and annual performance reviews with each TI MERL staff members.
• Conduct performance evaluations of Tostan National MERL Focal points in collaboration with National Coordinators and relevant TI MERL Officers.

Supervises:

All TI MERL Staff, National MERL Focal Points (technical supervision), Regional MERL Focal Points (technical supervision), International and National MERL volunteers. 

Number of staff managed:
8 at TI (technical supervision of another 11 people in the national and regional offices)

Financial:

• The MERL Director is responsible for creating and managing the annual MERL budget. The MERL Director is also responsible for managing the budget (or portion of budget) of any project that includes MERL activities (for instance: projects reinforcing MERL systems, budget lines for project monitoring and evaluation, research budges from research institutions).
• The MERL Director can authorize expenditures up to $2,000 (or equivalent) and is responsible for creating and managing the department budget.
• For expenditures beyond that threshold, a written authorization from the CEO or COO will be required.
  

Key Qualifications and Selection Criteria:

Education
Masters in Mathematics, Statistics, International Development, Human Rights, International Education or another relevant Social Science discipline. Ph.D. is highly desirable.

Language Proficiency
Excellent command of written and spoken French and English required.

Knowledge & Experience
At least 10 years of experience in monitoring, evaluation or research with experience in international and multi-cultural settings required. 7 years of experience for candidates who hold a Ph.D.

Characteristics

• Demonstrated technical competency in designing and implementing primary data collection and analysis.
• Demonstrated experience in writing high-quality evaluation reports and sharing monitoring data with internal and external stakeholders.
• Experience with data entry and analysis programs such as SPSS (preferred), Stata, CS Pro, Epi Info or similar statistical package. Experience in analysis of qualitative data, preferably with qualitative analysis software such as Nvivo, MaxQDA, Atlas.ti or similar.
• Very strong analytical skills required. Experience in engaging colleagues in interpreting and learning from findings is desirable.
• Ability to effectively coordinate multiple projects simultaneously, working well under tight time constraints and meeting deadlines with attention to detail and quality.
• Experience in evaluating community wellbeing and/or abandonment of harmful practices and/or multidimensional human development is highly desirable.
• Able to prioritize among different tasks and simultaneous requests.
• Identify department needs and appropriate solutions.
• Diplomatic and capable of working with other department directors and chief officers to take high-level strategy decisions. 
• A sense of humor.
  

Location: Tostan International in Dakar, Senegal

Reports to:
CEO

To Apply:
Please email your resume and a thoughtful cover letter, including a list of references, outlining how your skills and experience meet the qualifications of the position and stating how you heard about this opportunity, to hr@tostan.org. Please ensure you put “MERL Director” in the subject line.

Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis. Please be prepared to submit samples of work and demonstrations of ability should you be contacted for an interview. 

The deadline for applications is August 21, 2016.

Please note, incomplete applications will not be considered. 

Tostan is an equal opportunity employer. We evaluate all applicants without unlawful considerations of race, religion, age, sex, national origin, disability, or any other basis prohibited by applicable law.

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