MERL Coordinator

Aasaman Nepal (ASN) ‘A pioneer organization for education and nutrition’, is one of the leading Terai based NGOs led and managed by social activists since its establishment in Dhanusha, Janakpur in 1999. ASN has been engaged in developing and implementing programs aimed at protection, promotion, and fulfillment of child rights in Nepal. Currently ASN has been working in 17 districts under 6 Thematic Areas as: Education/Child Protection, Women Empowerment, Livelihood/ Natural Resource Management, Disaster Risk Reduction, Health/ Nutrition and Good Governance.

Aasaman Nepal is implementing USAID Education: Equity and Inclusion is a five-year project set to implement in Karnali and Madhesh Province with the objective of contributing to reduce barriers to access and retention in grade 6-10; improve quality education for marginalized children; and ensure quality implementation of disbursement linked indicators related to equity and inclusion activities under School Education Sector Plan (SESP). The project will be implemented in approximately 1800 schools spanning 215 LGs across 18 districts of Karnali and Madhesh Province.

Aasaman Nepal is looking for the self-motivated, result oriented and hard-working Nepali citizen for the following position:

Monitoring, Evaluation, Research and Learning (MERL) Coordinator – One (Janakpur)

Job Purpose:

This position will lead USAID Education: Equity and Inclusion project MEAL component in the province in close collaboration with key Government of Nepal (GoN) counterparts (province and local government) and other education programs and advisory support of ASN Senior Management Team. The MEAL coordinator will be responsible for all the MEAL related actions of the intervention that particularly focusses on project development, project start up, implementation and phase out. The function will particularly provide necessary support for preparation of MEAL plan, results periodic baseline, evaluation, and monitoring process in the assigned program areas and to improve the quality of programs and information management through improved monitoring and accountability system in the program areas.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES:

Planning:

• Support on USAID Education: Equity and Inclusion project planning process to develop quality plans for the operation, ensuring engagement and compliance from all management, technical and support teams to a results-based and adaptive process,
• Ensure compliance with organizational standards for planning,
• Develop, modify and adapt program log frames based on context,
• Develop log frames as needed and in coherence with the proposal themes,
• Provide technical support to the team member and partners teams to ensure quality plans (e.g., design of the Log frame and indicators) and support to bring together a coherent and high-quality plan of action.
• Ensure that planning, monitoring, evaluation and reporting is well represented and supported in the operational planning and budgeting and in operational management.

Monitoring:

• Design and implement systems to record and track information related to target groups
• Develop standard guideline for reach calculation
• Monitor project activities, and produce and submit monthly report,
• Carry out quality outcome and quality monitoring and submit reports,
• Facilitate corrective actions based on the monitoring findings and update in the system,
• Maintain project database including relevant documents and reports,
• Compile, analyzes and present the key findings of monitoring in regular meetings,
• Provide necessary guidance to Social Mobilizers for accurate data collection,
• Follow up project teams to implement recommendations and follow up actions provided after the monitoring,

Evaluations & Learning:

• Ensure implementation of Result Based Monitoring and Evaluation Guideline of ASN implemented at project
• Lead assessments, baseline survey and evaluations- as per requirement of project.
• Lead monitoring visits and evaluations/ field studies
• Conduct review and reflection workshop on a periodic basis.
• Prepare Knowledge Management and Learning Capturing Plans
• Capacitate project teams on key learning, good practices and evidence generation
• Preparation of annual report of the organization

Reporting:

• Ensure reporting processes, templates, and systems are in place and aligned with partners requirements
• Generate periodic reports and ensure all the activity specific reports are generated
• Prepare a situational reports or emergency reports in case of emergency situations or anticipatory actions
• Establish and implement mechanisms to meet all the reporting deadlines and ensure quality inputs are provided on time for accurate and high-quality reports
• Capacity building of program team for reporting.
• Conduct monitoring visits, prepare reports and share it to the program team on time and support team to enhance their capacity on reporting tools and skills.
• Lead to design effective communication channels and prepare reporting chains for accurate and relevant information.

Accountability:

• Implement Mechanism and Guidelines in the project
• Ensure community empowerment mechanisms are in place in project intervention
• Prepare the implementation plan to ensure social accountability tools are used in the project
• Generate monthly report on accountability including feedback and response status and ensure all the responses are made on time

Other

• Represent the project at different levels of consultations and meetings, advocacy actions, and workshops at province level.
• Other responsibilities as assigned by provincial Director and Project Manager.

TECHNICAL EXPERTISE, SKILLS AND KNOWLEDGE

Education qualification and experience

• Master’s Degree in Education, Social Sciences, Public Administration, Development Studies, Gender & Development, Management, Statistics or any relevant field.
• Minimum 5 years of experience in project/program management in similar roles of authority, preferably education projects in Nepal.
• Experience managing USAID funded project would be an added advantage.

Knowledge

• Advanced knowledge of Result based monitoring and evaluation.
• Sound knowledge on recent practice of Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability and Learning.
• Having sound knowledge on protection and safeguarding
• Knowledge of international and national education program, guideline and policies;
• Knowledge about the Nepal government’s provincial priority program in education and related policies and plans;
• Basic knowledge about School Sector Education Plan (SESP) and the role of provincial and local government and development partners in implementation.
• Basic understanding about the issues of equity and inclusion (EI) in education and EI related disbursement linked indicators (DLI) at local level.

Skills

• Sound knowledge on data collection and analysis tools;
• Strong knowledge on content development and report writing;
• Experience in Fund Raising and Proposal Development;
• Experience of leading trainings
• Sound communication, problem solving and relationship building skills;
• Sound knowledge on conducting workshops;
• Ability to communicate effectively verbally and in writing in English and Nepali complex and technical information to technical and general audiences; and Proven IT skills: Word, Excel, Outlook, PowerPoints etc.

Languages: Strong command of Nepali, English, Maithili, Bhojpuri (oral and written) and local language preferred/required.

Aasaman Nepal has zero tolerance of abuse and exploitation of vulnerable people. We expect all our employees/volunteers to ensure we are protecting children, young people and vulnerable adults from harm and abide by our safeguarding policy.

Other Attributes for all positions: Excellent quality of work and commitment to high standards, strong communication skills, team building and willingness and motivated for good service delivery with strong networking and interpersonal skills and comfortable to work under stress and emergencies.

Age Limit: Candidates between 21 years to 45 years are only eligible to apply for the above position, depending upon the nature of job they will carry.

All employees must adhere to child safeguarding in person’s provisions covered in the project agreement.

Monitor staff and partners’ and ensure adherence to Aasaman Nepal’s policies and internal procedures, protocols, Aasaman Nepal’s code of Conduct with special attention to Safeguarding Standards and Procedure, Case Handling Framework, Child Protection and Do No Harm Policies. Also, immediate reporting and redress of any complaints and issues based on its severity.

Notes:

• Locals, especially women and members of ethnic or marginalized communities from Madhesh Province are encouraged to apply for this position.
• Applications received after the deadline will not be considered and only shortlisted candidates will be notified for the further process.
• Canvassing at any stage of the recruitment process shall lead to automatic disqualification of the candidate.

Interested candidates are requested to submit their application along with updated CV in below link by 12/11/2023.

https://forms.gle/bbN3vhBKHgtxFpe77

Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted for participation in the recruitment process. No telephone enquiry is entertained. ASN reserves the right to qualify/disqualify any applications without any reason.

This job description is not incorporated into the employment contract. It is intended as a guide and should not be viewed as an inflexible specification as it may be varied from time to time considering the organization work. The post holder will be expected to demonstrate high level of efficient and effective working skills to perform the responsibilities.