Monitoring, Evaluation & Learning Officer - Heart of Conservation Initiative

About the role

The Heart of Conservation Initiative (HCI) is a 5-year global project aimed at increasing Indigenous Peoples' and local communities' capacity to access sustainable finance for territorial stewardship. The Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning (MEL) Officer, based in Kenya, Cambodia or Brazil, reports to the Project Manager and covers monitoring, evaluation and learning, with a focus on components 1 and 5. The role is cross-cutting and supports both Indigenous and local community partners and GEF core indicator requirements.

Key responsibilities

• Design indicator collection methodology with the Project Manager and C1 partners, monitor M&E plans and advise on data use for adaptive management
• Deliver a Results Framework and Work Plan Tracking Report for the global HCI each project year, including core indicators
• Co-develop a learning agenda and culturally appropriate learning methods with C1 partners, and lead the annual reflection workshop
• Help prepare the 6-month, 12-month and annual project progress reports, and investigate emerging data for adaptive management proposals
• Organize learning exchanges and knowledge fairs with GESI and CKM officers, and build a live, transparent database of project data
• Ensure data sovereignty and safety, collect data from external sources, and troubleshoot culturally appropriate data collection approaches
• Support external evaluation planning and execution, and present project progress and lessons learned at regional and international forums

Required profile

• Bachelor's degree in a natural or social science, environmental management, program evaluation, international development or a related field; advanced degree preferred
• At least 7 years of relevant experience (a Master's degree substitutes for 2 years); 3 years in designing and implementing M&E systems for NGOs, agencies, government or large Indigenous associations
• Experience supporting Indigenous peoples and local communities organizations with culturally sensitive collaboration
• Fluency in English; Spanish, French and/or Portuguese strongly preferred
• Experience in distributed teams across time zones; international field experience preferred

Required skills

• Data analysis and database software such as Excel or Smartsheet
• Research methods, quantitative and qualitative data collection, and statistical software such as R or Stata (desired)
• Open Standards for Conservation Management or WWF standards, results-based management, and traditional ecological knowledge indicators (preferred)
• Writing skills and experience organizing learning or capacity-strengthening events (an advantage)