Senior Officer-MEAL (Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability and Learning)

Job Description Job Title: Senior Officer-MEAL (Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability and Learning) Responsible to: Country Representative Responsible for: N/A Key internal relationships: Project Managers, Finance officer, Operations officer Key external relationships: Donor and Government and Civil Society Partners MEAL teams as needed Location: Vientiane office, with occasional travels to provinces Contract: Full-time Salary range: Grade 8 with a salary ranging 1,500-1,900 monthly dependent on skill and experience Additional Information: Interviews will be held on a rolling basis until position is filled Job Context: Cord is an international Non-Governmental Organization (iNGO) with administrative headquarters in the United Kingdom and an operational staff team in Laos. Cord has 50 years of experience in humanitarian and development work with communities worldwide affected by conflicts. We believe that people can only flourish where strong relationships exist between governments, civil society and the private sector, creating a space for dialogue, dispute resolution and confidence building. This leads to more inclusive development, better governance and people’s rights being represented. Cord is looking for people who are passionate about seeing positive change in our world and want to join a small and committed team. Cord has a presence in Laos since 2011. Cord Laos is a multi-disciplinary team of technical national and international experts that deliver initiatives to develop the capacity of communities, civil society and government. Cord works in partnership with a range of stakeholders and has a multi-donor multi-partner programme. Job Purpose: The Senior MEAL Officer works closely with the Country Representative to strengthen Cord Laos programme quality and provide the foundation for evidence-based programming. The position holder will establish or strengthen monitoring, evaluation and accountability systems focusing where necessary on extensive capacity building for project teams and partners. The Senior MEAL Officer will also be responsible for leading relevant research, learning, and the implementation of best practices working closely with the program and global teams. This role involves collecting and analyzing project data, preparing reports, supporting the project team, and interacting with project partners and beneficiaries. Areas of Responsibility: 1/ Monitoring and Evaluation – 70% - Function as a technical lead on M&E in Laos, with regular exchange with the global team and consulting with project teams in relation to the different phases of the project implementation; - Assist in the design, setup and implementation of M&E frameworks, logframes tools, and methodologies; - Analyze MEAL data and produce knowledge products, reports, factsheets with useful statistical analysis and presentation (charts, tables, histograms, box plots) as necessary in a timely manner; - Support the project teams in their data collection, entry, cleaning, and analysis for ongoing projects utilizing digital collection methods where possible (such as KOBOToolbox); - Ensure linkages across portfolio and alignment with organisational MEAL frameworks, ensuring quality and coherence of MEAL systems and evidence gathering - Contribute to the preparation of reports, dashboards, and presentations; - Participate in field visits to monitor project activities and gather feedback; - Ensure the quality, accuracy and integrity of project data in Cord’s data management system for all Lao projects; - Collaborate with teams in developing knowledge and information collection, tracking, and monitoring tools, including using online and digital technology in line with Cord’s OMEAL approach; - Analysis key changes, learnings and trends in project implementation and ensure teams regularly document the relevant data needed; - Support the planning, training in and facilitation of Outcome Harvesting processes, including stakeholder engagement, outcome identification, validation and review; - Assist in the documentation, coding, and analysis of harvested outcomes to identify patterns, contributions, and lessons learned; - Contribute to the integration of Outcome Harvesting findings into project learning, reporting, and adaptive management and feed these through to the global team; - Provide technical oversight for Base- and Endline reviews with either Cord teams or external consultants; - Contribute to track and evaluate the overall impact of projects’ activities, monitor project’s indicators and help strengthen M&E; - Oversee the provision of data to the Project Teams for use in preparation of reports to donors and other stakeholders, as required; - Contribute to donor proposals and fundraising efforts (particularly logical-framework designs and formulation of SMART indicators) and reports, through analysis and interpretation of findings; - Provide MEAL related capacity building and awareness to implementing partners and other institutions supported by Cord as appropriate; - Provide regular input to internal reports of project activities. 2/ Accountability systems and framework (20%) - In close collaboration with the Country Representative and global team, build on, design and establish the Country Office Accountability framework and structure; - Establish strengthened systems as part of the projects, including information dissemination and community feedback mechanisms; - Collaborate with safeguarding team to design accountability mechanisms that raise awareness of safeguarding messages and enable reporting of sensitive concerns - Establish a mechanism to review systems, and to improve them over time in close consultations with partners; - Develop M&E plans for donor proposals that are realistic and meet Cord/donor accountability standards. 3/ Other – 10% - Actively contributes to a positive learning environment with the CSOs partners; - Participate in regular project team meetings and other workshops when needed; - Carry out any other assignments as tasked by the Country Representative.

Experience - At least three years of progressively responsible and directly relevant professional experience with an INGO, with at least two years direct experience in a role with MEAL responsibilities - Degree in social science, communication, business and administration management or relevant and demonstrable work experience. - Knowledge of and experience working with the Lao civil society sector. - Experience in knowledge production and management, documents filling systems. - Experience in collecting and analysis quantitative and qualitative data. - Experience in project and activity monitoring and evaluation, including using online tools and digital technology. - Understanding of Outcome Harvesting or other qualitative evaluation methods is an asset. - Strong writing, editing, and reporting skills. - Proficiency in MS Office applications, particularly Excel and Word, and comparable tools for MEAL such as KoBo Toolbox. - Understanding of peacebuilding programmes is a plus. Skills & Abilities - Experience in working within a complex and diverse partnerships programme. - Strong capacity for effective communication and ability to build a common language with diverse stakeholder groups. - Well-developed communication and interpersonal skills. - Demonstrated ability to multi-task, meet deadlines and process information in support of changing project circumstances. - Project management skills, including good planning, monitoring and evaluation skills. - Good skills in capturing, analysing, managing, retrieving and disseminating information effectively using appropriate information systems. - Demonstrated ability to support others, facilitate collaboration and peer learning. - Demonstrated ability to work efficiently as a team player as well as independently. - Excellent planning, organisation and time management skills. Attitudes & Values - Commitment to Cord’s value and ethos. - Willingness to travel occasionally within provinces. - Sensitivity to issues affecting social and economic inclusion/exclusion (gender, ethnicity, HIV status, LGBTQI+, disability). - Demonstrated commitment to peace and a vibrant civil society. - Patience and persistence to develop relationships with a range of stakeholders. - Commitment to reflection and personal/professional learning.