Monitoring and Evaluation Officer

Present in Sierra Leone since 1999, IRC supports Sierra Leonean institutions – government, civil society, community-based organizations and private sector – to provide improved social services, decrease youth unemployment and mitigate gender based violence.  The IRC does this through programs and partnerships designed to improve the life of women, youth and children by implementing Health, Education, and Women and Girls’ Protection and Empowerment programming. 

WGPE Program Vision: Women and girls live in a world where they are valued, and able to :live free from violence and inequality; pursue their potential, and exercise their rights to their own safety, equality and voice.

The IRC is implementing a USAID-funded project - “Protection of Women through Empowerment and Response (POWER)” project which promotes the economic empowerment of women in Kenema district through the facilitation of Village Savings and Loan Associations (VSLAs) and provision of business skills training. Additionally, the intervention includes two beneficiary-led, gender-transformative social engagement programs designed to increase women’s meaningful decision-making in the household and support men to understand and confront the root causes of gender-based violence. Finally, this project seeks to strengthen GBV response, coordination and referral pathways; working with the Ministry of Gender and Children’s Affairs (MGCA), the IRC will identify gaps in the implementation of the National Referral Protocols (NRP) for GBV and design a strategy to disseminate the NRP to all VSLA members. The IRC is also collaborating with the Ministry to verify GBV service providers in Kenema to ensure functionality of the referral system.

Job Summary

Reporting to the Monitoring & Evaluation Manager, the M & E Officer is responsible for the collection and accurate inputting of information collected by the project field staff, and for supporting the overall data entry aspects of the program. He/she will provide direct support to the M & E sector in creating/maintaining the corresponding data-collection tools and systems. The M & E Officer will work closely with the M &E Manager to maintain quality assurances of data collected. She/he will do follow-up monitoring visits to communities as required. S/he will be based in Kenema with travel to operating communities.

Key Working Relationships

Internal: WGPE Coordinator, Country Program MEL Coordinator, Site Manager, WGPE Program Manager, Field Manager

External: MGCA, Gender Officer – Kenema District Council, Partners

Specific Responsibilities:

Program/Project Design and learning:

• Develop and make sure the designated project has tested monitoring tools that capture both program activity and indicators progresses;
• Ensure records are checked during meetings for accuracy and provide support where necessary and share data with program managers.
• With support from the M&E Manager and or M&E Coordinator, collect program field level information required by IRC, donors and/or stakeholders; and establish and maintain project level information management system;

Monitoring

• Ensure on time execution of projects major monitoring and evaluation events including but not limited to data quality audit and field data supervision;
• Document findings from data quality audits and store in project files to ensure collective and sustainable access;
• Provide technical assistance to staff and or partner organization on information management system, proper data collection and record keeping;
• Provide consistent, supportive supervision to strengthen staff performance as necessary to meet monitoring objectives;
• Provide M&E inputs for reports written during project implementation at the field level;

Reviews & / Evaluation

• Provide summarized monthly data analysis showing target against progress over time
• Follow up with Community Officers on programme quality improvement action plans. Ensure action points are followed up and relevant measures taken and incorporated into programming; and verify entered data for completeness, correctness, and consistency and follow up on any data quality issues;
• Periodically lead in the presentation of M&E data trends during reflective practice forums at field office/ project level and gather lessons from project implementation processes.
• Support the implementation of processes to review the quality of existing project data, information collection methods and the suitability of the existing data for the provision of sound baseline information;
• Maintain a tracking spreadsheet for M&E activities and events – baselines, assessments, reviews, evaluations – tracking trends and recommendations, progressing their implementation where appropriate;

Database management, Information Management and Reporting

• Provide and maintain MIS content/requirements and feedback to project team and document progress on indicators/achievement of targets using Indicator Performance Tracking Tables (IPTT)
• Submit data set to update country office wide program database, IPTT, & Comet on monthly basis;
• Maintain and regularly update project monitoring reports, including lessons learned.

• 1-2 year Diploma in Statistics, Computer Science/IT/or any sector or sub-sector related field;

Experience:

• At least two years’ experience working in monitoring and evaluation;
• Experience working in Women and Girls programs and in rural settings.
• Ability to clearly convey concepts to populations with limited numeracy and literacy skills;
• Excellent training and mentoring skills with ability to work as part of a team with diverse backgrounds;
• Familiarity with result framework analysis and M&E plan implementation;
• Experience in conducting assessments;
• Strong experience working with community groups;
• Strong data collection, analysis and report writing skills;

Skills & Abilities

Mandatory:

• Best practice in monitoring and evaluation;
• Proficiency in basic computer operations and data entry, including Microsoft Excel
• Strong writing and organizational skills;
• Good verbal communication skills in local languages and working knowledge of English;
• Willingness to travel frequently to field sites;
• Committed to the mission and principles of the International Rescue Committee;
• Good understanding of gender and child rights;
• Good interpersonal skills, with the ability to work within a team environment;
• Ability to work independently, think analytically and take initiative in solving problems;
• Good judgement and negotiation skills;
• Must be results driven.
• Must be able to ride a motorbike and hold a valid license.