The Iraq Community Resilience Initiative – Ta’afi (ICRI-Ta’afi) is a United States Agency for International Development Office of Transition Initiatives (USAID/OTI) program implemented by Chemonics International in Iraq. ICRI-Ta’afi aims to increase stability in Iraq by supporting accelerated recovery in conflict-affected areas and strengthened social fabric of Iraqi communities.
Purpose: The Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning (MEL ) Officer is responsible for overall monitoring, evaluation, and documentation of learning for activities under ICRI-Ta’afi. In collaboration with other colleagues within the grants management unit, the MEL Officer plays a key role, drawing on lessons learned and best practices to contribute to the development and implementation of quality activities.
Reporting: The MEL Officer reports directly to the MEL Manager.
Responsibilities:
- Drafts monitoring, evaluation, and learning (MEL) plans for grants in coordination with program development officers, tracking and documenting progress towards indicator targets, and updating targets on a regular basis using the program’s database
- Liaises with MEL assistants and other field-based staff to ensure timely, accurate, and reliable high-quality data collection, reporting, and analysis for activity monitoring, surveys, pre/post-intervention assessments, and evaluations using quantitative and qualitative tools
- Conducts grant evaluations, identifies lessons learned, and shares relevant information with the broader program team to support team-wide learning
- Maintains the program database and updates MEL data on project activities in an organized and timely manner
- Works with program team members to analyze and report on emerging program trends, lessons learned, and other factors to better inform program development and reporting and create a robust feedback loop
- Contributes to building the capacity of and providing technical assistance to ICRI-Ta'afi partners and grantees in monitoring and evaluation techniques
- Performs other duties as requested
Qualifications
- Bachelor's degree in a relevant field required
- A minimum of two years of demonstrated experience in monitoring and evaluation, or analysis and reporting on program impact and implementation required. Experience with donor-funded organizations preferred
- Demonstrated analytical ability and understanding of the local and regional political context, with the ability to think creatively in conceptualizing project activities
- Ability to work independently with minimal supervision, to prioritize multiple work assignments in an extremely fast-paced environment, meet deadlines, and exercise good, professional judgment that communicates the established message of the program
- Strong organizational, management, and administrative skills, preferably with respect to research, analysis, and MEL
- Strong working knowledge of Microsoft Office (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook) required. Experience working with data collection software preferred
- Ability to work in a professional and cordial manner with fellow staff members, visitors, the general public, and partner institutions, local NGOs, governmental entities, and community stakeholders
- Strong understanding of conflict sensitivity and “do no harm” principles
- Willingness to travel within Iraq occasionally
- Fluency in written and oral Arabic and English is required; written and oral fluency in Kurdish and other local languages is desirable, but not required
