Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning Adviser (SEO Grade) – British High Commission in India

Apply by 15th march 23

British High Commission in India We maintain and develop relations between the UK and India.

The British Government is an inclusive and diversity-friendly employer.  We value difference, promote equality and challenge discrimination, enhancing our organisational capability. We welcome and encourage applications from people of all backgrounds. We do not discriminate on the basis of disability, race, colour, ethnicity, gender identity, religion, sexual orientation, age, veteran status or other category protected by law. We promote family-friendly flexible working opportunities, where operational and security needs allow.

Job Category  Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (Programme Roles)

Job Description (Roles and Responsibilities)  About Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO)

How we approach our work is important. The How We Work Statement (below) sets out the ambition we share across the UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) for how we lead and behave towards each other, how we make decisions, and how we get the job done. Some aspects may be particularly relevant to this role.

• We put respect and kindness first. We are inclusive, we get to know each other, and value our diversity and the contribution we each bring. We are fair, act with integrity, and tackle inequality and unacceptable behaviour. We work together and take responsibility to solve problems.
• We draw on the expertise, insight and diverse perspectives of people across the FCDO, HMG, and beyond.
• We use the best available data and evidence. We are open to challenge and take a sustainable, long-term approach. We are transparent about the rationale for decisions and smart about taking and managing risks.
• We are agile and alert to emerging opportunities. We encourage learning, innovation and use of data and digital. We are all clear on what we are expected to deliver and support each other in doing so. We look to reduce duplication and unnecessary process. We are committed to transforming both the FCDO and the way HMG delivers international policy.
• We all have a responsibility to embrace the changes of the FCDO as it transforms, building the culture we want to see and delivering our cultural statement in how we lead and behave towards others; how we make decisions and how we get the job done is everyone’s responsibility.

Description of Team/Division

• Within FCDO, the Indo-Pacific Regional Department (IPRD) designs and delivers major transboundary regional programming and provides technical policy advice to  FCDO teams across the Indo-Pacific. The team delivers major multi-year Official Development Assistance (ODA) programmes in three main areas:
• Climate, Economic Development and Trade and Connectivity, and Modern Slavery. We have scoping work underway on Health and Open Societies programming. The team is a mix of technical advisors (focused on the Indo-Pacific), a policy lead, and Programme Managers. We support the delivery of HMG’s Indo-Pacific
• Strategy, as set out within the UK Government’s 2021 ‘Integrated Review’.

IPRD staff are based across the department’s three Hubs: London, Delhi, and ASEAN Hub currently based in Singapore and Jakarta. The IPRD Jakarta/ASEAN hub sits with and forms part of the UK Mission to ASEAN, delivering a specific suite of ASEAN development programmes as part of the UK-ASEAN relationship.

FCDO is setting up a new team to support our diplomatic posts across the Indo-Pacific region with their bilateral project and programme management.  This is to raise the quality and capability of our network’s programme management, in line with the The team will be part of IPRD and will be based in the British Embassy in Jakarta and the British High Commission in New Delhi to cover multiple time zones of the region. It will provide support to posts around the Indian Ocean region as well as China, North East and South East Asia and the Pacific.  It will help with procurement, programme and financial management, and monitoring and evaluation. In a consultation we ran with our Indo-Pacific diplomatic network earlier this year, between 10-20 posts indicated they needed support with this. The team will report to IPRD’s Deputy Head based in New Delhi. Once we have set up and piloted the team, there is a potential to make it permanent.

Purpose of Job

We consider monitoring, evaluation, and learning (MEL) fundamental to successful  programme delivery; to drive evidence based decision making; and to  broaden the UK’s (and global) evidence base for development interventions. At FCDO, the overall MEL activity involves: designing qualitative and quantitative systems to track progress of our programmes (monitoring); using the monitoring data to learn, adapt, and improve effectiveness of programmes (learning); and assessing whether or not our programmes succeed in achieving desired impact (evaluations) to improve future programming.

The purpose of this role is:

Firstly, to provide monitoring, evaluation, and learning (MEL) support to all ongoing and future programmes of IPRD to ensure effective delivery. You will provide MEL support to all programmes from the design and business case stage to programme completion stage.  This involves designing robust programme theories of change, results frameworks, and working with implementing partners to ensure these frameworks are implemented well and robust monitoring data are generated to review programme progress.

Secondly, you will deliver MEL support to designated UK Embassies and High Commissions across the Indo-Pacific region without an in-house MEL advisor, to design and implement a MEL plan for their bilateral programming. Delivering this objective will account for 50% of this role, and will contribute to the new Jakarta/Delhi based Post Support team, supporting our diplomatic posts in the Indo-Pacific with their bilateral programme management.

Key responsibilities and accountabilities

In this role, the MEL Adviser will work 50% on IPRD’s own programmes, and 50% supporting bilateral programming as part of the new IPRD Post Support Function. It will:

• Work closely with IPRD’s Senior MEL Adviser to ensure the department’s overarching MEL strategy is successfully implemented, both at programme and portfolio levels, to ensure efficient tracking of progress and contribution to FCDO objectives.
• Work closely with IPRD programme teams to provide monitoring, evaluation and learning support for ongoing and future programmes. You will work with the senior MEL Adviser to ensure all programmes have robust monitoring frameworks in place; ensure all ICF programmes have relevant ICF Indicators in their results frameworks; ensure that implementing partners supply robust data for tracking and reviewing programme progress; and ensure quality learning is produced and applied consistently to maximise programme effectiveness.
• Proactively engage with programme implementing partners to ensure they buy into programme theories of change and clearly understand FCDO/IPRD expectations at outcome level.
• Proactively engage with FCDO’s M&E networks, central teams, Statistics and Evaluation Cadres, to draw on best-practice approaches and adapt them to IPRD MEL requirements.
• Throughout the implementation phase of all IPRD programmes, provide clear guidance to programme teams on best monitoring practices, ensuring data quality, and actively engage in annual review processes to ensure progress is reported correctly.
• Work closely with IPRD’s Senior MEL adviser to develop a strategy for effectively providing MEL support to selected number of smaller IP posts (as part of Post Support Team), and then deliver this support. This support is expected to begin as soon as possible, and you will provide it remotely. IPRD will review the effectiveness of this support at the end of 2022-23 period and decide on any changes or improvements. As mentioned in the Purpose section, you will be expected to allocated about 50% percent of your time to deliver this objective.
• The MEL adviser will report to the MEL lead, also based in New Delhi. PLEASE NOTE: due to the dynamic nature of our work, aspects of this role may change over time. The post-holder will need to be flexible and willing to adapt to evolving responsibilities.

Candidates who secure a role that is considered specialist/technical, may be required to affiliate to the relevant specialist network/cadre, if not already a member.

Essential qualifications, skills and experience  IPRD is a regional team that addresses development challenges across the Indo-Pacific region rather than in a single country. We work on transboundary challenges, and with large regional and international organisational partners such as the World Bank, UNDP, ADB etc. Our MEL work, therefore, requires working with major international stakeholders such as these on, for example, helping them develop or improve theories of change and results matrices—that match FCDO standards and expectations—for FCDO funded programmes that they deliver as well as understanding of development issues that span multiple countries in the region. Applicants to this role are therefore expected to have experience in MEL that is delivered regionally or internationally rather than which is strictly single country focused.

The successful candidate  will be proactive, take initiative, and have:

Essential:

• Fluent in written and spoken English.
• A strong background in Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning, ideally designing theories of change and results frameworks for development interventions in multiple sectors and that have footprint in multiple countries.
• Strong communicator with evidence of excellent written and presentation skills.
• Able to help others make good use of social research/evaluation evidence.
• The ability to work independently and be able to build strong relationships.
• Effective team player and ability to work effectively within and across teams.

PLEASE NOTE: The candidate CV needs to demonstrate they have undertaken similar roles and activities as shown in the Key Responsibilities section above.

Qualification

A degree in related fields (social sciences) with a minimum 4-years of relevant experience.

Civil Service Behaviours required for this role:

In line with recruitment into all positions in the British civil service, we will assess candidates’ suitability for this role based on a set of key behaviours. To ensure a successful application it is important that you explain how you demonstrate these behaviours, including through your experience. You are strongly advised to read the Success Profiles Civil Service Behaviours Framework, which provides detailed guidance on how the behaviours are defined and the standards expected at Level 3 for this position  These behaviours are:

• Communicating and Influencing
• Seeing the Big Picture
• Making Effective Decisions
• Working Together

Technical Competencies required for this role:

MEL Advisory roles in FCDO function within the Evaluation Cadre—one of the thirteen advisory cadres which are professional bodies within FCDO. Each cadre has its Technical Competency Framework, which defines competencies in which candidates should demonstrate expertise. Applicants to this role are expected to demonstrate:

• A thorough knowledge of research/evaluation methodology, method, and the latest techniques, including main quantitative, qualitative and evaluation methods (at e.g. post graduate level) with at least two years of applied experience. Is up to date with methodological developments.
• For more information on competencies required at SEO level, please refer to relevant section in FCDO Evaluation & Government Social Research (GSR) Cadre Technical Competency Framework and then answer the questions in this application form in the forthcoming sections.

International Competencies required for this role:

The job-holder would be strongly expected to exhibit the Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office’s International Competencies in this role, notably:

Build and maintain cooperative and productive relationships with an effective range of external contacts. Use the network professionally and sensitively to the benefit of the UK.

• Applicants are encouraged to use the STAR (Situation, Task, Action, Result) format to prepare specific examples of when they have demonstrated these behaviours in their application. Using the STAR format to provide evidence of your skills and experience in your application and at interview helps to give a structure.  You briefly describe the situation in which you showed the behaviour, and then explain your task in addressing the situation, what action you took and the result of this.

Desirable qualifications, skills and experience  Desirable :      

• Experience in working remotely with teams and colleagues
• Proven ability to deliver tasks at pace.
• An ability to grasp technical M&E issues and translate them into clear and pragmatic advice and/or programmatic responses.

Strongly Desirable

Experience and academic background in designing research methods (Quantitative or Qualitative), with an eye on developing indicators for measuring change in concepts such as resilience and adaptation to climate change, improvement in health, education etc.

Required behaviours  Seeing the Big Picture, Making Effective Decisions, Communicating and Influencing,

• Working Together
• Application deadline  15 March 2023
• Grade  Senior Executive Officer (SEO)
• Type of Position  Full-time, Permanent
• Region  South Asia & Afghanistan
• Country/Territory  India
• Location (City)  New Delhi
• Type of Post  British High Commission
• Salary Currency  INR
• Salary  1,892,888
• Start Date  1 April 2023

Other benefits and conditions of employment  Candidates who secure a role that is considered specialist/technical, may be required to affiliate to the relevant specialist network/cadre, if not already a member. The successful candidate will be required to seek accreditation to FCDO’s Evaluation Cadre at some point in future. This will be decided between the candidate and line manager.

The appointment will be under local terms and conditions of “Country Based Staff” and subject to security clearance.

Start date: As soon as possible.

Additional information  All applicants are required to mandatorily fill the complete online application form including the employment and educational details and the behavioural questions. We will be thoroughly reviewing the application forms only for all the required details. Forms that are incomplete in any respect will not be considered while shortlisting for the next stage.’’

Any incomplete applications will not be considered. Applications that do not provide required response as evidence for four behavioural competencies; provide insufficient or irrelevant evidence in support of the Essential, Strongly Desirable, and Qualification aspects under Experience section will not be considered.
For inclusivity and diversity, please remove the following personal information when uploading your CV: name, address, email address, age, date of birth, and gender.

To ensure a successful application it is important that you explain how you demonstrate these behaviours, including through your experience. You are strongly advised to read the Success Profiles Civil Service Behaviours Framework, which provides detailed guidance on how the behaviours are defined and the standards expected at Level 4 for this position.

Applicants are encouraged to use the STAR (Situation, Task, Action, Result) format to prepare specific examples of when they have demonstrated these behaviours in their application. Using the STAR format to provide evidence of your skills and experience in your application and at interview helps to give a structure.  You briefly describe the situation in which you showed the behaviour, and then explain your task in addressing the situation, what action you took and the result of this.

• The start date mentioned in the job advert is a tentative start date and the successful candidate will be required to undergo security vetting procedures. Any offer of employment will be subject to the candidate achieving suitable clearances.
• Please be aware that you will only be able to apply to vacancies for Country Based Staff roles with the British Government through this official tal.net site (operated by Oleeo). Jobs may be advertised on third party websites, however our adverts will always link back to the official tal.net site. If you complete and send an application through any other site, we will not receive it.