R&P Senior Program Officer, Affiliate Monitoring

Position: R&P Senior Program Officer, Affiliate Monitoring

Department: Refugee Resettlement and Integration

Division: Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning (MEL)

Reports to: MEL Manager

Status: Full-Time/Exempt

Location: Arlington, Virginia

Workplace: On-site (Work from home once a week after 90 days on the job.)

Background: The Ethiopian Community Development Council, Inc. (ECDC), established in 1983, is a non-profit, tax-exempt 501(c)(3) community-based organization with a mission to resettle refugees, promote cultural, educational, and socio-economic development programs in the immigrant and refugee community in the United States, and conduct humanitarian in the Horn of Africa. Since 1991, ECDC has resettled refugees from around the world. ECDC’s resettlement network includes seven branch offices and 18 affiliated community-based non-profit agencies.

Job Summary: Under the supervision of the Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning (MEL) Manager, the Senior Program Officer will support ECDC and its affiliate network to effectively monitor, evaluate, and learn from their refugee programs. The staff will ensure timely monitoring and evaluation, including data collection and analysis, organizing monitoring schedules, conducting on-site and remote monitoring activities, compiling and analyzing monitoring-related data, and reporting findings. The staff will also play a key role in developing and updating ECDC’s monitoring tools, contributing to the R&P program reports, providing training to ECDC affiliates, and supervising staff. The staff works collaboratively with the R&P program staff and the Affiliate Network Training Coordinator. Handles other duties as assigned.

Key Responsibilities

Affiliate Monitoring

• Conduct on-site, desk, and ongoing monitoring of ECDC’s resettlement affiliates/branch offices to ensure compliance; prepare monitoring reports; review and edit reports prepared by monitoring officers; and submit R&P monitoring reports to the MEL Manager for review promptly.
• Share finalized monitoring reports with affiliates promptly.
• Oversee ECDC’s annual network monitoring plans and schedules. Monitor and track affiliate network program compliance and outcomes.
• Set up systems for consolidating and sharing observations of strengths and gaps in programming so that best practices can be highlighted and corrective action plans set and completed on time.
• Support monitoring staff in developing program performance improvement plans (PIPs) and compliance improvement plans (CIPs). Follow up with program officers at established intervals throughout the year regarding compliance progress and corrective actions taken.
• Provide oversight into updating monitoring protocols and tools.
• Assist in preparing for a funder’s monitoring of affiliates and ECDC headquarters.

Training and Technical Assistance

• Collaborate with the Affiliate Training Coordinator to identify trends and gaps in network knowledge and performance to inform targeted training.
• Provide training and technical assistance to ECDC’s affiliate network on ECDC’s MEL approach, data collection, and reporting tools.
• Support ECDC’s affiliate partners in collecting quality data, including supporting analysis and final reporting.
• Assist program staff with data interpretation to explain the context for trends over time, inform decision-making, and develop best practices and program delivery.

Program Support

• Aggregate, analyze, and visualize data across ECDC’s refugee resettlement programs to contribute to program and organization decision–making and program strategies.
• Provide information across ECDC’s network and with supporters in collaboration with the communications officer.
• Assist in writing and reviewing R&P quarterly program reports, annual R&P reports, and other R&P program-related reports and documents.
• Collaborate actively with other resettlement agencies and the Refugee Council, USA, about monitoring activities.

Capacity Building

• Develop and oversee an ECDC Monitoring, Evaluation, Learning (MEL) strategy to bring evidence-based understanding to ECDC refugee resettlement programs and inform continuous improvement.
• Develop and strengthen ECDC’s organizational-wide understanding of MEL through individual meetings and group learning sessions with staff.
• Build program staff understanding of MEL concepts, tools, data collection, quality analysis, and best practices.
• Supervise data collection methods used by ECDC’s affiliate network, including baselines, monitoring surveys, and community feedback sessions, ensuring they are conducted as planned.

Staff Supervision

• Supervise and mentor monitoring staff.
• Update staff job descriptions, complete job performance review forms, and discuss them with the MEL Manager before conducting individual staff performance evaluations.
• Approve PTOs and sign and submit bi-weekly timesheets.
• Assign, oversee, and set goals for duties related to monitoring activities.

Qualifications

• A master’s degree in economics, statistics, applied social science, or related fields and at least three years of relevant work experience.
• Experience in survey design, data collection, data management, analysis, and their use in humanitarian or development settings, including using software such as Excel, ODK, Kobo, SPSS, and STATA.
• Ability to effectively analyze and synthesize data (both quantitative and qualitative) to draw and explain evidence-based conclusions.
• Experience working with refugees or refugee-serving organizations.
• Proficient understanding of monitoring and evaluation tools, principles, and best practices.
• Exceptional project management skills, including strategic prioritization and multitasking.
• Must be legally eligible to work in the U.S
• Must pass a background check.

Competency

• Analytical and Quantitative Skills—Strong analytical skills and professional judgment, particularly for assessing compliance risk and controls and making decisions within the scope of assigned responsibilities.
• Communications—Excellent verbal and written communication, facilitation, and interpersonal skills, including communicating complex quantitative analysis into actionable insights.
• Time Management—Ability to manage competing priorities, handle multiple tasks simultaneously, and thrive in a complex, fast-paced environment with multiple priorities.
• Teamwork—Able to relate professionally to and collaborate with diverse individuals in a multicultural environment.
• Flexibility—Able to work after office work hours occasionally.