Senior Programme Officer (Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning)

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]As the Senior Programme Officer for Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning (MEL), you will guide, shape and oversee the integration of the Foundation’s new MEL strategy. You will work closely with staff across all our programmes, providing them with appropriate monitoring and evaluation tools, training and learning processes to enable the Foundation to: (i) continuously improve our programmes; (ii) tell our story of change; and (iii) affirm the Foundation’s role as advocate and champion for the people of the Commonwealth.

 

The organisation

The Commonwealth Foundation was established by Heads of Government in 1965, reflecting the commitment of Member States to ensuring that the Commonwealth family would be as much an association of people as of governments. As one of the three intergovernmental pillars of the Commonwealth, the Foundation operates within that critical space between government and civil society.

Our focus is to:

• Support the active and constructive participation of Commonwealth citizens in all aspects of their governance
• Nurture the growth of vibrant and free civil societies in all Commonwealth countries
• Advance the principles and ideals of the Commonwealth.

Most of the Foundation’s work is delivered through three core programmes: Commonwealth Civil Society, Creative Commonwealth and People of the Commonwealth.

 

Knowledge, Learning and Communications

The Knowledge, Learning and Communications (KLC) programme captures, distils and shares knowledge and learning to strengthen the Foundation’s impact and effectiveness. The programme brings together a range of functions critical to the Foundation’s identity, coherence and visibility including the facility to learn internally; management of information and infrastructure; leadership of the Foundation’s monitoring and evaluation work; and all aspects of our communications and outreach including reporting.

Our approach to MEL reflects our commitment to a clear and straightforward mixed-methods approach which combines both results-based and reflexive methods, with an emphasis on adaptive, participatory and learning-oriented practices. We are committed to ensuring that our reporting on MEL is concise and easy for our wide range of stakeholders to understand.

 

The Senior Programme Officer

The Senior Programme Officer (SPO) will oversee the effective implementation of the MEL strategy across all programmes and areas of work. Working under the supervision of KLC’s Senior Manager, the SPO will guide and implement effective internal MEL processes; lead the exchange of knowledge and learning from projects and programmes, and lead on management of internal knowledge systems.

Cross-team work is integral to this position and the SPO will be expected to collaborate closely with colleagues in all other programmes and will be involved in other areas of the Foundation’s work relevant to their experience and expertise.

 

Key responsibilities include:

Guiding and refining monitoring and evaluation systems 

• Support the effective delivery and ongoing refinement of the Foundation’s MEL strategy, translating its Theory of Change and results framework into programme and project level monitoring. 
• Working closely with programme managers and teams, lead on the development, review and application of MEL tools and processes to help find the most effective ways of communicating our impact and embedding MEL across the Foundation 

 

Knowledge management and learning 

• Develop processes for gathering baseline data required for our annual report 
• Regularly undertake data analysis to support results tracking and check the quality and accuracy of data. Support colleagues to enhance and/or streamline data management processes where possible 
• Coordinate the development of both internal and external reporting and planning documents  
• Support the collection, analysis, documentation and systems of knowledge and the exchange of learning from projects and programmes 
• Proactively research new methods and systems to improve our approach to managing information 

 

Capacity building 

• Support MEL capacity development for Foundation partners and provide technical expertise and insight for MEL where requested 
• Lead on capacity building for programme staff 

 

What we offer

We offer a competitive salary based on what you bring to the role with an expectation band of between £36,000 to £39,000.

The Foundation is proud of our welcoming and accommodating working environment. We strive to be a great place to work.

We offer generous holidays (almost seven weeks a year excluding public holidays).  Fifteen percent of your salary is payable tax-free at stipulated periods in lieu of a formal superannuation scheme.

All Foundation staff are enrolled in our private health scheme, including dental cover.

 

We operate from a wonderful office at Marlborough House in Pall Mall, London. The successful applicant must live within commuting distance of Marlborough House. We are currently operating a flexible working policy requiring staff to be in the office several days a week. While the policy is still being trialled, we expect to retain, over the longer-term, a measure of flexibility that enables the Foundation to maintain its high levels of productivity while preserving our team ethos and ensuring staff are happy.

 

Our commitment

The Foundation celebrates diversity, and we are proud of our diverse and welcoming team. All qualified applicants already eligible to work in the UK will receive consideration for employment without regard to disability, race, nationality, ethnic or national origin, religion or belief, sex, gender, sexual orientation, gender reassignment, marital status or pregnancy. If you need us to make any special accommodation in the recruitment and selection process because of a protected characteristic, please let us know.

 

The process

The application requires you to provide a comprehensive CV as well as a motivation letter that clearly addresses the criteria as outlined in the person specification and the competencies bank below.

 

You must possess and declare the right to work in the UK at the time of application submission for your application to be considered.

 

Shortlisted applicants will be contacted within two weeks of the close of applications. We are expecting to hold first-round interviews via video link. Second-round interviews may be required and held in person.

Application documents[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_btn title=”Download Job Description: Senior Programme Officer MEL (August 2022)” color=”pink” link=”url:https%3A%2F%2Fnnngo.org%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2022%2F08%2FKLC-Senior-Programme-Officer-MEL.pdf|title:Read%20More||”][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/2″][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_btn title=”Download Commonwealth Foundation Competency Bank” color=”pink” link=”url:https%3A%2F%2Fnnngo.org%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2022%2F08%2F2022-Competency-Bank.pdf|title:Read%20More||”][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/2″][/vc_column][/vc_row]