Back Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning / Collaboration, Learning and Adaptation Director (MEL/CLA) Director

Winrock International is a nonprofit organization that works with people in the United States and around the world to empower the disadvantaged, increase economic opportunity, and sustain natural resources. By linking local individuals and communities with new ideas and technology, Winrock is increasing long-term productivity, equity, and responsible resource management to benefit the poor and disadvantaged of the world.

POSITION SUMMARY:

Winrock International is recruiting applicants for the position of Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning/Collaboration, Learning, and Adaptation (MEL/CLA) Director for the Dominican Republic (DR) Solid Waste Reduction Program. The goal of this five-year (2024-2029), USAID funded project is to reduce waste in communities and municipalities, leading to clean oceans in the DR. It will achieve a significant reduction in Greenhouse Gaz (GHG) emissions by establishing composting of organic waste, reducing methane production; and by increasing plastic recycling rates, reducing emissions from the fossil fuels used to make virgin plastic.

The MEL/CLA Director will lead the development and implementation of the MEL and CLA plan, system, and practices to ensure data quality and collaborative learning and adaptation throughout implementation. The Director will provide technical leadership in MEL and CLA to ensure Winrock and USAID MEL and CLA requirements are met. The MEL/CLA Director will report to the Chief of Party (COP) and work closely with the Winrock home office Agile team.

POSITION RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Support the Chief of Party in establishing a culture of collaborating, learning, and adapting within the project, fostering and facilitating learning, innovation, and performance information feedback loops.
• Draft, finalize, implement, and regularly update the project’s Activity MEL Plan (AMELP). Articulate and implement strategy and plans for collaborative learning and adaptation based on project results (outputs and outcomes), performance improvements, and lessons learned throughout project implementation.
• Work with Winrock Home Office Technical Lead to design and implement the project’s Management Information System (MIS) using Winrock MIS. Lead data management from collection to analysis, reporting, and sharing. Oversee the project results capturing and coordinate their reporting.
• Serve as the primary responsible for the MEL/CLA data quality. Design and implement internal data quality assurance processes and tools. Ensure that the project successfully goes through external, USAID-led data quality assessments.
• In collaboration with Winrock Home Office Evaluation and Learning Technical Lead, lead the evaluation activities, outcome surveys, and learning studies of the project, from the design stage to dissemination of findings and use.
• Supervise, guide, and strengthen the capacity of the MEL Officer.
• Strengthen the MEL and CLA capacity of the technical staff.
• Work closely with the Gender Equality and Social Inclusion (GESI) Specialist to integrate GESI within the MEL/CLA activities, processes, and tools, and measure GESI related results.
• Participate in Winrock International’s Community of Practice.
• Any other tasks as assigned by the Chief of Party.

POSITION QUALIFICATIONS:

Education:

Master’s level degree required in social science related discipline. Specialized training/certification in monitoring & evaluation a plus.

Experience and Technical Skills:

• Minimum of eight years’ experience managing and implementing complex MEL systems for international development projects, preferably with USAID and in the environmental sector.
• Experience designing and leading CLA and adaptive planning programs with donor-funded projects, preferably USAID.
• Experience managing or overseeing large M&E databases and ensuring data quality.
• Experience in both quantitative and qualitative data collection and analysis as well as system mapping.
• Experience managing and developing surveys required.
• Experience with capacity building in MEL/CLA required.
• Experience with mobile data collection strongly preferred.
• Familiarity with emerging trends in MEL/CLA in the environmental, especially pollution reduction and management sector strongly preferred.

Communication Skills:

Strong verbal and written communication skills. Strong interpersonal skills. Excellent command of English.

Required Travel:

Regular travel to the project’s areas of interventions (up to 40%)

This position is not eligible for expatriate benefits and follows a Dominican Republic salary scale.

Winrock is an equal opportunity employer. We are committed to providing equal employment opportunity for all people and value diversity and inclusiveness. Winrock recruits, employs, trains, promotes and compensates regardless of race, color, religion, sex, gender, gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, national origin, ancestry, citizenship, age, physical or mental disability, medical condition, family care status, or any other basis protected by law.

At Winrock we have a clear mission: Empower the disadvantaged, increase economic opportunity and sustain natural resources through unwavering dedication to accountability, equity, innovation, integrity and transformation.

Winrock knows that its success comes from the hard work and steadfast dedication of its diverse workforce. Winrock remains committed to maintaining diversity, inclusion and equity across the entire organization.