Cameroon: Regional PMER (Planning, Monitoring, Evaluation and Reporting) Advisor

Regional PMER (Planning, Monitoring, Evaluation and Reporting) Advisor

Position type and closing date

The closing date for applications is 20 November 2018.

Contract duration: 2 years with possibility for extension.

Applicants are required to uphold the core values of our organization.

Background

World Service is the internationally recognized humanitarian and development arm of the Lutheran World Federation (LWF), assisting people in need irrespective of their ethnicity, religion or gender. We implement programs worldwide, working with both local and international partners, helping communities achieve their full potential and advocate for their universal rights. Our partners include Lutheran Churches and their related agencies, the European Commission (ECHO), the US Government (BPRM) and UNHCR, with whom we are a key implementing partner. For additional information please see www.lutheranworld.org.

World Service is rolling out its new strategy 2019-2024 which covers the three programmatic areas: livelihoods, quality services and protection & social cohesion. It also elaborates nine areas of organisational development which include quality programs and systems development. The team of Quality Assurance and Accountability (QAA) that sits in World Service provides the planning, monitoring, evaluation and reporting framework for the operation in the fields. This includes the alignment of country programming with the global strategy that is done in a 9-12 months synchronization process - producing a contextualised country strategy including a country results framework (CRF). For this strategic period the QAA team will deliver a collective outcome framework that is based on the new strategy and will inform the CRF.

LWF World Service works since four years with Newdea, an online project management system that still needs some outside support to get fully understood in all its features and better used – especially by management.

In the past few years, we had Regional Advisors for Anglophone and Francophone Africa and Asia. The global QAA team is in a restructuring process to strengthen capacities and the operations’ capacity for real time data collection and data management. The new position holder has to show flexibility and openness for changes in the detailed job description and/or the country portfolio. For the time being, we foresee for this position that the focus should be on francophone countries, at least for the first year. However, on request, the Advisor has to be flexible to cover also other country program needs.

The Francophone country teams make up one third of the 21 World Service Country and/or Emergency Programs world-wide, namely Burundi, Chad, DRC, Haiti, Mauritania, Cameroon and Central African Republic. This represents a significant capacity-building need within LWF World Service. The Programs in Chad and Cameroun are particularly project-heavy, which represents a further challenge when considering the work needed to upload their full project portfolios on to the web-based system.

Purpose of the position

The PMER Advisor supports the smooth and full transition of all francophone Country/Emergency Programs’ project portfolios to the LWF World Service PMER new strategic framework and its web-based support system.

The advisor will work with a participatory approach, making clear how the various relevant stakeholders shall be involved in the capacity building process and consulted at different stages in the process. The advisor is expected to travel to all Country Programs and Emergency Operations and also travel to project locations to organise workshops and on-the-job training for relevant staff and partners.

A clear work plan will be developed based on needs expressed by Country Representatives/Team Leaders, Program Coordinators and national PMER staff . He/she will report to the World Service Global Coordinator for Quality Assurance and Accountability in Geneva, and will work closely with Country Program Representatives, Coordinators and national PMER staff. He/she will also consult on a regular basis the Regional Program Coordinators in Geneva responsible for the respective countries . The advisor will be part of the Quality Assurance and Accountability Team and participate in consultation, virtual and face-to face meetings.

In country, he/she reports to the Country Representative who can delegate the coordination of the mission to relevant staff. The Advisor is supposed to strengthen the PMER focal person or teams and the project and program managers in their PMER function. In some programs, there is also the need to help to develop an adequate PMER structure. Hence, it is also necessary to work with the senior management team to ensure the quality of follow up and the sustainability of the capacity development.

Required Qualifications

University degree in development studies, agriculture, economics, social sciences or other relevant field.

Knowledge and Experience

Minimum of 5 years of experience in project management and practical work in designing and operating PMER systems in humanitarian and/or development organizations.

Proven experience in quantitative data treatment/ impact studies.

Indepth understanding of a PMER framework and capacity to analyse and improve them.

Good knowledge on dealing with big data (meaningful collection, treatment, analyses, interpretation and conclusions).

Familiarity with web-based PMER systems, and a capacity of fast learning of the World Service Newdea system, if not already familiar with it.

Expertise in training and coaching on PMER, both in-person and via virtual means.

Ability to work both in detail (on project indicators, for example), and from a more framework perspective (e.g. with a view to supporting cross-country learning).

Capacity to work independently, while maintaining regular communication with colleagues in the region and globally.

Language Skills

French advanced written and oral skills

English advanced written and oral skills

Main Duties

1 To provide technical support in the synchronization process to the new global strategy and alignment at country level.

2 To improve capacity in and understanding of PMER processes and tools, including:

• project cycle management for different types of projects (multi-donor/basket-funded, bi-lateral development projects, humanitarian projects, etc.);
• providing support for the development of M&E plans, including different types of indicators and how to define them concretely (also in the web-based system), including gender and age markers, etc.;
• how to include feedback and learning loops to the field staff, partner organisations and the populations we seek to serve;
• the new global PMER framework for LWF World Service;

3 To maximize use of the web-based PMER system, including alignment with the new World Service PMER framework by the 2018 PMER cycle (e.g. use of standardized templates and indicators), including:

• increased capacity in the creation of results frameworks/log frames, the identification of indicators and access to base-line data;
• clearer analysis of qualitative and quantitative outcomes achieved at project, country and regional levels and in relation to specific intervention sectors;
• clearer articulation and enumeration of contributions made by francophone countries to the achievement of the World Service Global Strategy;

4 To improve quality of proposals, including needs and capacity assessment (to the extent possible, in collaboration with the Global Funding Team).

5 To improve quality and incisiveness of results-based reporting, by:

• Analysing the quality of current reports in view of possible improvements;
• Identifying fields of improvement;
• Working on pending or future reports (together with the local PMER Focal Points and the Regional Program Coordinators in Geneva);

6 To improve quality of data collection and use of data for managing projects and improved accountability – also to affected population:

• Revisiting the data collection tools;
• Analysing the need of data and information;
• Analysing the current use of data (how much used for proposal, for monitoring for learning; etc.);
• Analysing the options that the standard questionnaires (including the indicators) offer (relevant/useful/feasible);
• Developing jointly a data and information flow in the project cycle and at programmatic/Strategic level;
• Supporting and rolling out new approaches to real time data collection on concrete examples;

7 To expand and easier-to-access evidence-base generated by Country Programs for use in policy and advocacy activities at local, national, regional and global levels, and related to key sectors of intervention.

8 To increase accountability, coherence and synergy in the collection, management and sharing of PMER data among francophone Country/Emergency Programs and indeed with donors and other stakeholders.

To apply, please click on the following link:https://lutheranworld.recruiterbox.com/jobs/fk0jwuo?cjb_hash=O_rlHD97&apply_now=true