Learning and Knowledge Management – Technology (LKMT) Advisor Job at Catholic Relief Services - CRS - 2015

Internal/ External Vacancy Announcement

 About CRS: “Catholic Relief Services carries out the commitment of the Bishops of the United States to assist the poor and vulnerable overseas. Our Catholic identity is at the heart of our mission and operations. We welcome as a part of our staff and as partners people of all faiths and secular traditions who share our values and our commitment to serving those in need.”

 In Ethiopia, CRS has a long and rich history of providing emergency relief and development assistance to the people of Ethiopia since 1958. At present, CRS/Ethiopia implements multiple projects through different partner organizations.  CRS/Ethiopia has a highly diverse portfolio ranging from very large food-supported emergency response to cutting edge development programs. The current CRS/Ethiopia budget stands at $100 million with funding from the U.S. Government, UN agencies, private foundations, individual donors, and CRS private funds.

 CRS strictly adheres to its Policy on Protection of Children and Vulnerable Adults among its staff, consultants, volunteers, and affiliates. CRS is an equal opportunity, affirmative action employer: women, minorities and people with disabilities are encouraged to apply.

 As part of CRS family, you will join the more than 5000 strong and vibrant individuals working globally to accomplish the mission of CRS. CRS/Ethiopia invites you, the qualified candidate, to apply for the following positions;

 

Position Title: Learning and Knowledge Management – Technology (LKMT) Advisor     

Duty Station: Addis Ababa

Employment term: Indefinite period contingent upon funding of the REAAP Program

Reports To: Chief of Party-REAAP 

Program Background:

Catholic Relief Services (CRS) has worked in Ethiopia since 1958. For more than 50 years, CRS has taken the lead in responding to natural and man-made shocks affecting Ethiopia’s most vulnerable communities. Moving beyond emergency response, CRS’ disaster mitigation and recovery projects in drought and flood-prone areas have rebuilt individual and community assets through non-food aid in the form of agriculture, livestock, health, nutrition, livelihoods support and water and sanitation assistance. Recognizing the urgent challenges posed by climate change, CRS is implementing an integrated $6 million disaster risk reduction (DRR) Program called Resilience through Enhanced Adaptation, Action-learning and Partnership (REAAP) in Ethiopia’s most drought-prone and food insecure districts. The purpose of REAAP is to build resilient communities and local structures to plan for and mitigate the effects of climate change.

Position Summary:

The Learning and Knowledge Management – Technology Advisor (LKMTA) is a key personnel position on the task of improving access to the Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability and Learning/MEAL information and analysis for program management and community-based decision making. S/he will build upon community knowledge to map and assess community vulnerability to climate variability, inform the development of appropriate coping strategies and improve decision making based on climate information and early warning system to increase resilience.  In close collaboration with the Chief of Party, Deputy COP, and NRM/Climate Change Advisor, the LKM/T Advisor will oversee REAAP MEAL officer and guides the implantation of MEAL/SMILER system including data collection, analysis and ensure that the program information and analysis components are tracked and utilized in cooperation with the NRM/Climate Change Advisor. The LKM/T Advisor will be contributing to project progress reporting and responsible for the production of best practices, lessons learnt, success stories, conducting research and other documentation.

Position purpose:

·         To act as a contact person of REAAP learning and knowledge management and provide guidance on learning and knowledge management in all aspects of the project;

·         To represent the REAAP knowledge management and learning events and information sharing as requested;

·         To lead annual outcome survey, real-time evaluation and analyses the findings and make sure the findings are incorporated in the annual project planning and implementation.

Summary of Duties and Responsibilities:

 1.      Evidence based Research, Documentation and Dissemination

 ·         Conduct action or operation research studies in selected programmatic/thematic areas aimed at providing best practice in project interventions and generate evidence based reports.

·         Disseminate learning and best practices and research products to stakeholders and CRS/Ethiopia partners to support project/activity improvement and replication of best practices

·         Keep database and track of reports that are of use to REAAP consortium;

·         Synthesize findings, lessons learned and recommendations from REAAP and project  evaluation reports for integration in current activity implementation and in future planning;

·         Synthesize findings, lessons learned and recommendations from other projects and project evaluation reports for integration in current REAAP implementation and in future planning;

·         Document actionable points of learning generated from baseline survey, Gender analysis, indegionous knowledge assessment, Real-Time Evaluations, operation research studies and other special studies conducted by CRS in selected programmatic/thematic areas aimed at providing best practice in project interventions and generate evidence based reports.

·         Ensure knowledge and learning are documented and translated into action within CRS and partner program plans;

·         On annual basis produce and document project success and learning case stories on thematic areas of REAAP;

·         Support Program and partner staff on how to document and communicate best practices in USAID success stories to communities and government stakeholders. 

·         Ensure that all REAAP documentation is in line with the donor’s communication guideline.

 

2.      Reporting and data quality management

 ·         Review and submit timely tabular and narrative report for the quarter and annual progress reports to COP/ DCOP Contribute to external reporting submitted to the donor and other external stakeholders of the program;

·         Support MEAL officer in Routine/Annul data quality audit (R/ADQA) and train partners staff on data quality;

 

3.      MEAL System development and Capacity building

 ·         Review and revise REAAP Monitoring and Evaluation/SMILER system as per USAID’s standard and ensure the implementation of the system to generate information for evidence based reporting

·         Train and coach partner M&Estaff and program staff in Monitoring and Evaluation principles and basics, SMILER/M&E system tools and follow up the implementation of MEAL system;

·         Support Program and partner staff on how to document best practices  

·         Coach and support REAAP MEAL officer and partner MEAL staff

·         Regularly assess capacity gap and train partner MEAL staff on M&E, data quality and evidence based reporting.

·         Work with ICT/MEAL Manager and REAAP MEAL officer to launch the mobile database system for project data collection and reporting.

 

4.      Supervision and performance Evaluation

·         Supervise REAAP MEAL officer and conduct performance evaluation.

·         Mentor and guide REAAP MEAL officer in managing and implementing program MEAL system, and guide in the development of program database system.

·         Identify (technical) gaps and barriers to the implementation of  learnings and develop strategies and action plans to address barriers and gaps; 

·         Identifying evidence based operational constraints and problem solving findings that help consider both operational and strategic decision making (process);

 

5.      Program Evaluation, Assessments and analysis

·         Contribute to the Disaster (Community) Resilience Framework development;

·         Assessing preliminarily outcomes and results of REAAP in collaboration with MEAL, SILC, Gender, Nutrition and other Program Officers.

·         Coordinate the process of project evaluations and related reflection forums;

Review midterm and final evaluation reports and synthesize findings, lessons learned and recommendations for up- taking.

·         Research best practices and learning from like-minded organizations and work closely with the CoP to introduce innovative ideas that will help improve quality of program implementation.

 

6.      Coordination and networking 

·         Organize and co-facilitate the quarterly and bi-annual program management meetings with partners.

·         Assist the Chief of Party in developing annual planning and review process and ensure the quality in line with USAID standards and principles.

·         Assist the CoP  in identifying evidence based operational constraints and problem solving findings that help consider both operational and strategic decision making;

·         Assist the CoP in assessing preliminarily outcomes and result of the REAAP in collaboration with the NRM/CC Advisor, MEAL officer, Gender officer , SILC program Project Officer; 

 

KEY WORKING RELATIONSHIPS: This position reports to the Chief of Party. Other key relationships include but are not limited to:

Internal: Head of Programs; Head of Operations; Chief of Parties of DFAP and JEOP, program managers in related sectors (agriculture/NRM, health, etc.); regional technical advisors; CRS/Ethiopia administration.

External: Implementing partners (Handicap International, Cordaid and ECC-SDCOH); regional, zonal and district governments; humanitarian and development coordination bodies and USAID..

Required qualification:

Education and Experience

·         Master’s Degree in social sciences, development studies, Agricultural economics, Statistics    or related field is required or demonstrated equivalent work experience in the field.

·         Significant previous experience in Learning and knowledge management, Design, monitoring and evaluation of DRR and natural resource management activities.

·         At least five (5) years’ work experience with  international non-governmental organization (INGO) in the knowledge management, Monitoring and Evaluation or project management.

 

Competencies:

·         Exceptional judgment and inter-personal skills and ability to work with diverse and teams.

·         Proven experience working with INGOs, Government, universities, and the private sector to build and sustain coordination structures and mutually beneficial market linkages.

·         Experience with participatory methods, institutional partnerships and diplomacy in communication.

·         Proven ability to think strategically and innovatively.

·         Flexibility to work effectively both in a team and independently.

·         Cultural sensitivity, patience and flexibility.

·         Demonstrated personal accountability, driven to serve others and achieve results.

·         Excellent English language oral and written communication skills.

·         Willingness to travel to resource-poor areas at least 30%

 

Agency-wide Competencies

These are rooted in the mission, values, and principles of CRS and used by each staff member to fulfill his or her responsibilities and to achieve the desired results.

·         Serves with Integrity

·         Models Stewardship

·         Cultivates Constructive Relationships

·         Promotes Learning

CRS strictly adheres to its Policy on Protection of Children and Vulnerable Adults among its staff, consultants, volunteers, and affiliates. CRS is an equal opportunity, affirmative action employer: women, minorities and people with disabilities are encouraged to apply.

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