Position : Manager of Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning (MEL)

Contract : 1 Year with renewable

Location: Khon Kaen, Thailand

Work type : Full-time (onsite)

Department: :  Greater Mekong Community Affairs (GMCA)

Closing date : May 23, 2025

This position description is the basis of the position holder’s employment contract with Mekong Institute (MI). It sets out the employee’s roles and responsibilities and what he or she is expected to deliver to contribute to MI’s work. Managers will use the position description to guide the employee in his or her work and as the basis for the annual performance evaluation process.

Mekong Institute

MI  is  an  intergovernmental  organization  that  contributes  to   regional  cooperation  and integration through capacity development, dialogue, and advocacy for the acceleration of sustainable  socioeconomic  development  and  poverty  alleviation  in  the  Greater  Mekong Subregion (GMS).

Founded and represented by Cambodia, P.R. China, Lao PDR, Myanmar, Thailand, and Viet Nam,  MI’s strategies are aligned with the core tenets of the GMS Cooperation  Program Strategic  Framework  2030,  ASEAN   Economic   Community,  and  the  2030  Agenda  for Sustainable Development.

MI supports these frameworks through the implementation of projects across the areas of Agricultural Development and Commercialization (ADC), Trade and Investment Facilitation (TIF), and Sustainable Energy and Environment (SEE), while addressing issues of social inclusion and vulnerability, digital economy and innovation, and  labor mobility to cement holistic and sustainable development impacts in the subregion and beyond.

Role of the Unit

The MEL Unit plays a key role in ensuring that MI has in place and is using all the monitoring, evaluation, and learning systems and tools  necessary for  internal management, external reporting, and quality assurance purposes and that the systems are applied across the whole organization. The Unit will serve as the central hub for creating, recording and disseminating data about MI’s work and results. To do this, the Unit will ensure that:

-     Appropriate MEL systems and tools are in place and kept up to date for all departments and teams;

-     Program staff are able to integrate MEL into the design and implementation of all new projects and activities;

-     Data collection is timely and accurate; and,

-     Data analysis and presentation are appropriate for internal management reporting, lessons learned, quality assurance, and for external reporting purposes.

Position Description

The role of the MEL Manager is to set up, manage and lead the implementation of MI’s organization-wide MEL system. Playing a key role in facilitating the input of MI departments and units, the Manager is responsible for ensuring that the relevant staff understand the importance of MEL and can implement the systems effectively. Additionally, the Manager is responsible for providing Senior Management Team and other stakeholders with high-quality analytical reporting on the results of MI’s work and for leading organizational performance assessment processes.

Main Deliverables, Responsibilities and Tasks

Key Deliverables

-     A fully established and well-functioning organization-wide MEL system

-     A fully established and well-functioning MEL Unit that guides and supports all other departments in MEL activities and oversees the gathering and recording of data

-     Up-to-date  and accurate analysis of MEL data to  provide senior management and other  key  stakeholders  with  evidence-based   learning  and   recommendations  for decision making

-     All relevant staff have the knowledge, understanding and skills needed for systematic M&E data collection and recording

-     Organizational report development

Main Responsibilities and Tasks

-     Advise  and  guide  the setup and  management of monitoring software systems to effectively capture and display project data as the key tool for reporting

-     Ensure appropriate systems, indicators and tools are developed and implemented to enable all MI departments meet institutional and donor requirements for results-based monitoring, outcome and impact measurement

-     Ensure  mechanisms  for the utilization of MEL data to  inform program and project development by working closely with Program Managers and teams to incorporate appropriate MEL systems, tools and activities into planning

-     Provide expertise in M&E planning and methodology

-     Provide accurate and timely analytical reporting for senior management to facilitate and promote evidence-based learning, reflection, and decision-making for effective oversight and organizational decision making

-     Perform quality assurance checks on the data captured in M&E systems

-     Manage evaluations and other activities such as baseline surveys, including design, budgeting, data collection and analysis and report writing

-     Oversee MEL capacity development within MI to ensure staff have the understanding and skills needed for implementation of MEL systems

-     Provide support to proposal development for M&E components, logistical framework development, and attend partner meetings as required

-     Support    program    departments,     including    Communications    and     Knowledge Management, to appropriately format and disseminate results to stakeholders at all levels

-     Develop, implement and review MEL Unit work plan and budget in line with the organizational strategy and planning processes

-     Lead organizational performance assessments

-     Manage and support the MEL Unit staff to enable them to work effectively in guiding and supporting MEL activities across MI

-     Maintain up-to-date knowledge of MEL practice and introduce innovations to MI as relevant

-     Any other reasonable task requested by senior management

Required Qualifications, Skills and Experience

Essential

-     Master's   degree   in   statistics,   applied   sociology,   monitoring   and   evaluation, international development, or related field

-     At least five years’ experience in:

o Managing  comprehensive   MEL  systems,  demonstrating  the   impact  of programs and projects, using qualitative and quantitative data

o Managing a team, ensuring optimum staff performance and efficient delivery against requirements and ongoing team capacity development

-     Knowledge  of   international  grant   management  and  how  it  relates  to   MEL  of programmes

-     Excellent working knowledge of computer software packages for data handling and management

-     Proven  ability  to support, mentor and build  MEL capacity across the organization through various means, including staff capacity development

-     Proven ability to develop and support others to develop MEL frameworks, theories of change and/or Log Frames for donor-funded projects

-     Proven Ability to generate accurate qualitative information and analysis

-     Excellent analytical and writing skills in English

Desirable

-     Ability to speak any of the GMS country languages

If you have the skills and experience to exceed in this position and are passionate about equitable and inclusive economic growth in GMS, Submit your CV and the letter cover via the link https://forms.gle/NF6HaZhixcxUKpJu5 by May 23, 2025, by select the position “Monitoring Evaluation and Learning (MEL)Manager”

Please note that the closing date is midnight Bangkok, Thailand time and only applications successful in progressing to the next stage will be responded to.