DAI seeks a Monitoring and Evaluation Specialist for a 5-year, $25 million USAID funded Program for Aquatic Natural Resources Improvement (PANI) program in Nepal.

Background:
Water is the single most important natural resource underpinning Nepal’s economy and livelihoods. The sustainable management of water resources in Nepal depends on addressing climate change and protecting healthy, biodiverse ecosystems. PANI aims to enhance Nepal’s ability to manage water resources for multiple uses and users through climate change adaptation and the conservation of freshwater biodiversity. The focus will be at the watershed, basin, and national scales and the project has approximately $5 million in grants and activity procurements. This goal will be reached by meeting the following objectives:
•    Reduce threats to freshwater biodiversity in the Karnali, Mahakali, and Rapti river basins.
•    Increase the ability of targeted human and ecological communities to adapt to the adverse impacts of climate change through improved water management.
This will be accomplished through four intermediate results (IRs):
•    IR 1 – Increased knowledge, engagement, and benefits for local water users
•    IR 2 – Improved river-basin-level resource management
•    IR 3 – Increased coordination and strengthened enabling environment
•    IR 4 – Expanded knowledge base

Responsibilities:

• The M&E Specialist will design and lead an iterative and collaborative process that manages information and establishes a monitoring and reporting system including development of program indicators to help inform USAID, the Chief of Party, and Technical Program Officers of project status and progress toward achievement of key results as agreed in the annual work plans. Other responsibilities include:
• Lead development of theories of change (TOCs) in coordination with annual work plan
• Lead development of Monitoring and Evaluation Plan
• Develop methodology, tools, and procedures for systematic data collection and analysis of program indicators
• Coordinate and develop good working relationships with PANI team members, partners, and key stakeholders to ensure the establishment and high-quality operation of PANI’s monitoring system.  
• Guide, supervise, and otherwise ensure the collection, analysis, and use of baseline and other data on an on-going basis to inform PANI program and, as relevant and practicable, stakeholder decision-making.  Develop shared understanding among key stakeholders of the value of M&E data and tools in developing information that informs/strengthens decision-making
• Maintain database and meet with database developer as needed
• Assist curriculum developers in designing training on M&E and build the capacities of PANI team members and partners in M&E
• Develop surveys and survey administration protocols to assess the impact of training
• Ensure that data entries are valid, complete, and accurate
• Manage M&E data from project staff, partners, and stakeholders via qualitative research tools and feedback systems.  This will include identifying gaps in information resources and making efforts to obtain the necessary information.
• Ground truth data with staff, subcontractors, partners, and beneficiaries
• Work with other key staff to develop a standard format that all activity monitors will be able to use
• Take part in site selection process to ensure that PANI watershed selection leads to coherent project results and meets program-level targets
• Review potential target watersheds and PANI interventions and ensure that they are selected in a way that can demonstrate comprehensive, program-level, and basin-level results for biodiversity, climate change, watershed management, gender, and other PANI targets consistent with PANI’s situational model and theories of change.
• Work with team to ensure M&E accurately captures curriculum objectives and field needs
• Analyze data for donor-requested reports, including identifying lessons learned
• Produce activity updates and performance reports, as needed, including working with the Communications Specialist to disseminate lessons learned and contribute to newsletters
• Coordinate with project staff to create success stories
• Design and carry out evaluations to assess project impact

Application Instructions:

Please send your CV and letter of interest to [email protected] with “Monitoring and Evaluation Specialist” in the subject line by May 11, 2016.  Only short-listed candidates will be notified.