Project Background:

DAI is implementing the US Department of State’s Bureau of Democracy, Rights and Labor (DRL)’s funded project “Strengthening Leadership within Union Councils (LUC)”.

LUC is a four-year project (2019-2023) and is working with local governments in Sindh and Punjab to increase the capacity of local councils to fulfill their commitments to providing services to local communities and improve the equitable allocation of local resources.

LUC will work with the Union Councils (Sindh) and Village Panchayat and Neighborhood Councils (Punjab), various government departments, independent commissions, academia, and local civil society organizations and platforms to achieve the following objectives:

Objective 1: Increase the local councils’ capacity to engage in good governance best practices. Following thematic areas are included under this objective:

• Understanding of good governance, planning and budgeting
• Support for service delivery, planning, decision making and monitoring
• Enhanced access to local council services

Objective 2: Increase the leadership skills of council members (officials and elected representatives). Following thematic areas are included under this objective: 

• Leadership training program for elected and reserved seat councilors
• Institutional strengthening of Local Government Academies

Objective 3: Provide councils with opportunities to engage under-represented groups (women, youth and minorities). Following thematic areas are included under this objective:

• Capacity building of youth, women and minority councilors
• Inclusive engagement of relevant stakeholders in local councils (local CSOs/NGOs, bar associations, press clubs, community leaders, councilors etc)
• Advocacy capabilities of community activists

Position Summary:

Under the guidance of PTL, the MEL Manager will be leading the M&E component and generating outputs and results specified for this Component as well as for the whole project. He/she will lead the design and implementation of MEL system (per the approved MEL Plan) including MEL strategy, theory of change, performance indicator reference sheets performance monitoring of program activities, knowledge management, etc. and reporting in compliance with DRL and DAI standards. He/she will advise Program Team Leader as well as lead and support project teams in regular assessment of project activities, outputs and outcomes against agreed indicators and targets.

The MEL Manager will report to the Program Team Leader. The position will be based at LUC’s Lahore office.

MEL Manager will be supported by two officers, one each in Sindh and Punjab, and will undertake frequent travel within and outside Lahore (including Faisalabad, Sukkur, Khairpur), with more sporadic travel to other cities as per project requirements.

Major Responsibilities:

• Leadership role for the Monitoring and Evaluation component, identify delivery issues of the component and ensure effective coordination of the component activities for quality and consistency
• Lead the design and implementation of LUC indicator data collection methodology/tools, and data processing/analysis processes to ensure data capture, verification, analysis and reporting meet the five data quality standards of validity, reliability, timeliness, precision and integrity
• Leadership role in facilitating regularly workshops to develop/review MEL plans/indicator targets to ensure efficient implementation of program activities towards achieving quarterly and annual indicator targets
• Train LUC and implementing staff on their responsibilities for monitoring and evaluation and on internal indicator data quality assessment to ensure LUC’s indicator data meet DRL and DAI data quality standards while ensuring data security of M&E data collected according to DAI’s best practices
• Leadership role in design and conduct of baseline surveys, organizational capacity assessments, developing relevant indicators and targets linking project activities to impacts, assessments and evaluation studies
• Draft terms of reference (TOR) and scopes of work (SOW) for baseline studies, periodic assessment of partners/government units, special/case studies, impact assessments, final evaluations, gender analysis and needed local consultancy services with regard to LUC’s MEL
• Work closely with program teams in establishing and managing a cloud-based MEL system and ensure data requirements are integrated into project management processes
• Undertake regular field visits to support implementation of MEL and identify where adaptations might be needed
• Provide continuous support to relevant project staff on data collection and analysis, and to ensure timely data collection, analyses, reporting, and completion of other M&E activities
• Regularly review and analyse monitoring data and help organize periodic learning days and quarterly learning summits with staff to help managers identify successes, lessons learned, and make decisions about adapting activities and approaches to achieve results
• Lead identification and documentation of success stories, achievements, lesson learned and document recommendations to be integrated into broader knowledge management efforts and into the successive cycles of project planning and implementation
• Lead in preparation of high quality weekly, quarterly and annual reports that provide accurate assessments of project impact
• Complete other duties as necessary and assigned by the Program Team Leader.

Requirements (Education, Experience, Skills, Languages etc.):

Education:

• Masters in relevant social sciences such as statistics, public policy, public administration, development studies, data sciences, sociology etc. from HEC recognized university

Professional Experience:

• Substantial 7-10 years of overall experience in MEL with at least 3 years of managerial experience in monitoring and evaluation, designing and conducting assessments and program evaluations using both qualitative and quantitative methods
• Substantial experience of working with USAID, multilateral/bilateral agencies or large NGOs is required
• Depth of experience of MEL reporting according to USAID guidelines will be an asset
• Prior experience of measuring the success of projects/initiatives working in the governance sector is essential

Technical Competencies:

• Mandatory and substantial experience in establishing MEL systems development and implementation
• Ability to create organizational work planning, quality assurance documents, tools etc.
• Substantial knowledge and experience of methods and techniques of quantitative and qualitative data collection/analysis
• Strong experience in data collection, management and analysis and data security
• Demonstrated experience participating in baseline assessments, specialized studies, and impact evaluations for complex development programs.
• Strong training skills to build the capacity of staff/partners such as CSOs.
• Excellent written communication and report writing skills, with analytic capacity and ability to capturing key project activities against specific objectives and outcomes and their linkages to short-, medium- and long-term project impacts through quality project reports.

Management Competencies:

• Excellent experience in planning, monitoring and reporting through leadership of M&E teams essential
• Skills in supporting staff with a variety of levels of knowledge and capabilities
• Has good oral communication skills and conflict resolution competency to manage inter-group dynamics and mediate conflicting interests of varied partners.
• Must be a team player and able to work collaboratively with multiple teams across the organization
• Can keep focus in stressful situations and successfully mobilize necessary support/resources to deal with operational/technical challenges

Professional Behaviors:

• Demonstrates DAI values of integrity, responsibility, excellent and global citizenship
• Creative self-starter with an ability to work independently and also as an integral part of project teams to deliver results
• Focuses on result for the client and responds positively to feedback
• Consistently approaches work with energy and a positive, constructive attitude.

Other Competencies:

• Proficient in office software (word, Excel, PowerPoint, Access, etc.) and data software analysis (SPSS, Sphinx, etc.)
• Fluency in written and spoken professional/business English and Urdu are required.
• Fluency in Sindhi and/or Punjabi will be a plus.
• Must be willing to travel as per project needs.

About DAI

DAI works on the frontlines of global development. Transforming ideas into action—action into impact. We are committed to shaping a more livable world.

Since 1970, we have worked in more than 150 countries—delivering results across the spectrum of international development contexts, from stable societies and high-growth economies to challenging environments racked by political or military conflict.

Across the globe, we work together with a shared mission of helping people improve their lives. We tackle fundamental problems caused by inefficient markets, ineffective governance, and instability. We combine expertise and innovation across multiple technical sectors to deliver long-lasting results.

We work with a wide range of clients, including national and local governments, bilateral and multilateral donors, private corporations, and philanthropies.

As one of the world’s pre-eminent international development consultancies, DAI has implemented high-impact projects in Pakistan for more than 40 years and is registered as DAI Pakistan (Pvt) Ltd with SECP.

Our ability to innovate and implement solutions to complex problems is a direct result of our commitment to act with integrity in everything we do. DAI employees have worked to achieve profound and positive change in the countries and communities in which we work. DAI brings to Pakistan its global perspective, resources, and expertise, and a locally led team of world class professionals based in Islamabad and other cities.

Our core values are excellence, integrity, responsibility, and global citizenship. These values shape our culture and provide the basis for our success.

DAI is an equal opportunity/affirmative action employer with a commitment to diversity. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to ethnic origin, religion, veteran status, disability status, and gender identity.