Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning Lead

About Us:

Children International Inc. (CII) is based in Manila and is an affiliate of Children International, a global development organization headquartered in Kansas City, USA.

Children International's vision is to bring people together to end poverty for good. Our mission is to connect people around the world in the fight to end poverty. Working together, we invest in the lives of children and young people, build the healthy environments that they need to thrive, and support them to create a lasting change in their own lives and in their communities. In line with our new direction we call the "Child Path Model," we commit to providing all children and youth with dynamic, engaging, and interesting learning opportunities to support their journey to become successful individuals and active citizens.

As a locally registered entity, CII boasts of a dedicated team of over 100 staff and 200+ volunteers. The organization operates offices and programs that support more than 25,000 young people across different communities in Quezon City, Caloocan, Manila, and Calumpit, Bulacan.

The Career Opportunity

The Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning (MEL) Lead is employed by Children International Inc. The MEL Lead shall be entering CII at an auspicious time as the organization pursues new Child Path strategies that foster greater effectiveness, efficiency, and accountability, redounding to the benefit of every one of the 25,000 sponsored children in Manila and Bulacan.

The MEL Lead shall report directly to the Programs Manager of CII. They will also connect with the Regional Program Officer – MEL of Asia-Africa for technical advice and global alignment. The Lead shall collaborate as well with many other colleagues in the Manila Agency, including the agency director, managers, program leads, center coordinators, and field officers, as well as with participants, families, and other stakeholders. As such, the Lead is expected to adhere to all CII policies, notably, child safeguarding.

The MEL Lead position would require project management, problem solving, nurturing stakeholder relationships, building partnerships, and promoting continuous improvement, transparency and accountability.

In this pivotal time of change in CII, the MEL post is a critical responsibility. The role will be challenging but fulfilling, an opportunity to contribute to and witness the gradual but meaningful transformation in the lives of thousands of young people in the sponsorship program of CII.

Responsibilities Of This Role

• Support the development of monitoring, evaluation, and learning plans during work planning using tools and strategies prescribed by the agency and organizational MEL policy.
• Champion and ensure the implementation of the MEL strategies, and plans of CI aligned with the global "CI Framework" which are contextualized and executed in the Agency to meet performance expectations, with highest priority given to fully enabling execution and implementation of the Child Path Model.
• Develop and implement tools and strategies to track and enhance accountability and impact of the programs and interventions being implemented by CII in the service areas center.
• Coordinate with program staff at the agency in the direct implementation of participatory field research as well as various constituent voice methodologies and community participatory processes for continuous learning and adaptation.
• Design and administer program review and monitoring tools and adapt information systems in the field to readily analyze program indicators and track and evaluate progress toward goals.
• Build the capacities of other program colleagues and stakeholders in administering tools and strategies effectively in the field.
• Ensure consistency, accuracy, reliability, timeliness of all information gathered through the assessment data quality and integrity.
• Coordinate with operations and program teams to regularly update, document, and communicate progress of all programs and ensure timely submission of data and other reporting and learning requirements (e.g., midyear and year-end reports, and other technical reports) required by the Manila Agency and Children International Kansas City, in accordance with prescribed templates, systems, policies, and other requirements which support informed decision making.
• Prepare and submit critical assessment or analytical findings and reports to facilitate informed decision-making by the management, in collaboration with the members of field, support, and technical teams. These may include assessment on efficiency and effectiveness of the program as well as identified salutary action points and course corrections to improve child participation and outcomes.
• Support teams in facilitating learning and reflection sessions to enable them to understand monitoring and evaluation findings and to promote the use of information in driving decision-making and adaptations as needed.
• Encourage continuous improvement initiatives and champion change within a complex, ever-changing work environment.
• Promote a learning culture that addresses agency challenges.
• Enable seamless information flow and ensure effective collaboration and coordination within the Manila Agency and community, and across the global organization to maximize collective impact on young participants and families.
• Partner with teams across other agencies and CI Kansas City headquarters to facilitate sharing of lessons learned and best practices and generate knowledge products required for the improvement of CI's work.
• Participate regularly in key stakeholder activities carried out in the service area centers to observe, build alliances, engage, and solicit feedback with diverse stakeholders, both internal (i.e., staff, volunteers, and community members) as well as external (e.g., government institutions, other NGOs, and partners).

Education, Experience and Key Skills:

• A graduate degree in the relevant field of study with at least 3 years of experience in a similar role.
• Knowledge and understanding of theory of change, project management monitoring & evaluation frameworks, logical framework, preferably within development organizations.
• Demonstrated analytical and research skills with experience in designing and administering analytical tools, surveys, program impact assessment and monitoring and evaluation systems.
• Proficiency in the use of Microsoft Office applications; specifically, a good working knowledge of Excel for administrative purposes and for management of analysis of quantitative data (including creation of graphics and tables).
• Possess good interpersonal skills with the proven ability to deal tactfully, manage conflict and build effective relationships to effectively collaborate with people across different levels, both internally and externally.
• Proven ability to analyze complex information, identify trends, problem solve and suggest improvements.
• Time management and planning skills with the ability to handle multiple deadlines and priorities smoothly.
• Learning mentality characterized by listening, humility, openness, and courage to change.
• Self-motivated and proactive with a high level of compassion, empathy, integrity, courage, and passion to work on complex social causes, especially the cause of children and young people.

Travel Requirement

• Willingness to travel across the service areas in Quezon City, Caloocan, Manila, and Bulacan, and possibly outside the Philippines, when necessary.

Organizational Policies

• Strictly observe confidentiality and strong ethics with respect to all participant information/financial and other organizational data.
• Comply with and ensure adherence to the organization's policies, safety and security protocols and child safeguarding norms and guidelines by self as well as all stakeholders both internal and external.
• Promote diversity and inclusion, value other cultures, and demonstrate respect while relating with all organizational constituents irrespective of their race, color, faiths, gender, sexual orientation, caste, abilities, experiences, beliefs, and ethnicity.

Overall Decision Making & Supervision

• This position requires critical thinking, subject matter expertise, analysis, evaluation of intangibles, and a high degree of initiative.
• This position is "monitored on results and feedback from collaborators."