MERL Specialist

Position title: MERL Specialist

Organization: Aflatoun

Location: Flexible/Remote – open to candidates globally

Contract type: 1-year renewable consultancy agreement

Job type: Full-time (40 hours per week)

Deadline to apply: 8 December 2024

Expected start date: February/March 2025

The Organization

Aflatoun International is a non-profit organization, which offers social, financial & entrepreneurship education to children and young people worldwide, empowering them to make a positive change for a more equitable world. Aflatoun creates high-quality curricula for different age groups, which are contextualized to local needs and circumstances, and are implemented by nearly 400 partner organizations in 108 countries. Aflatoun programmes inspire children to discover their talents and put them to use, to stand up for their rights and those of their communities through active learning and problem solving. They learn how to save, how to budget, and how to set up social and financial enterprises that benefit themselves, their families and their communities. Aflatoun has been recognized globally (Brookings, Harvard, HundrEd, Million Lives Club) for its high-impact, low-cost model, which has been shown to be effective in changing behaviors of participants across the globe.

By using a social franchise model, Aflatoun transfers curricular content, monitoring and evaluation tools, and training capacity to partner organisations, helping them enhance their existing expertise and create an efficient learning ecosystem. Aflatoun’s programmes follow an active-learning, participant- centered methodology, which combines social and financial education (SFE) through engaging participants, educators, government institutions and civil society organisations.

We are currently looking for a dedicated and enthusiastic Monitoring, Evaluation, Research, and Learning (MERL) Specialist to join us in our mission.

Position

The MERL Specialist plans monitoring and evaluation strategy of projects, develops monitoring and measurement tools, implements research and data collection, analyses data, and communicates insights for learning. As part of the Monitoring & Evaluation, Research and Learning (MERL) department, the MERL specialist also works on other assignments on specific projects.

Key Areas of Responsibility

Tool development & training

• Provide support in building and strengthening the technical capacity of the Aflatoun Secretariat and the partner network, as well as partners in special projects, in the use and implementation of M&E methodologies. These includes:
  • Develop and maintain Aflatoun’s M&E tools that focus on measuring financial and social emotional skills of children and young people as well as monitoring implementation of educational programmes. This includes reviewing and improving existing M&E tools and developing new or adapted M&E tools tailored for specific purposes.
  • Provide technical assistance on the monitoring and evaluation of Aflatoun program to partner network as well as partners in special projects through consultation as well as capacity building events.
• Conduct mapping and develop M&E frameworks.
• Develop learning/training materials based on needs (target audience, donor).
• Adapt evaluation and research materials for different contexts.
• Apply continuous learning in improvement of programming.
• Manage stakeholder expectations and work towards strong relationships from a win-win lens.

Primary Research – Studies and Evaluations

• Conduct research studies for organizational learning and international advocacy.
• Design and implement effective evaluation research to assess effectiveness of Aflatoun’s program effectively combining qualitative and quantitative methods, including experimental approach for impact evaluations.
• Compile reports, evidence briefs and manuscripts.
• Synthesize research findings and work with the Communications Team to translate them into communication products (blogs, briefs, articles, and others).

Compilation of Strategic Information

• Consolidate a pool of SFE key evidence to promote the use of knowledge-based evidence across the different areas of the organization.

Non-technical responsibilities as Aflatoun staff

• Positively contribute to team discussions and the effective running of the organisation.
• Cross-departmental collaboration, compliance with organisational policies and procedures including submitting monthly timesheets.
• Perform other duties and tasks, consistent with the skills and expertise, as required in non-routine circumstances.
• Be willing to adapt to different tasks and different cross-organisational tasks, this includes but is not limited to helping deliver Aflatoun events such as the International Conferences and staff retreats.

Required Skills & Qualifications

• Advanced university degree in Education, Psychology, Economics, or other relevant disciplines.
• Strong skills in quantitative and/or qualitative methodologies.
• Familiarity with statistical software (STATA, R) is required.
• Familiarity with qualitative data analysis software software.
• Experience in experimental and qualitative field research.
• Demonstrated skills in strategic and project planning, and strong organizational skills.
• Excellent communication skills and attention to detail.
• Practical training and previous work experience in M&E evaluation.
• Proficiency in English. Additional language(s) (French, Spanish) is an advantage.
• Ability to handle multiple tasks and to work under pressure; flexibility.
• Understanding and willingness to conduct work and demonstrate behaviours in line with Aflatoun International’s values and policies.
• Proven ability in collaborating closely with multilevel stakeholders; experience in managing projects implemented in consortia will be considered an advantage.
• Excellent interpersonal skills and demonstrated ability to lead and work effectively in team situations.
• Capacity to work well under pressure, and the ability to communicate appropriately and effectively cross-culturally is critical.

Employment details

The position is for 36-40 hours per week. We offer a dynamic and pleasant multicultural working environment, with the salary level awarded depending on relevant work experience and local market rates based on the candidate’s country of residence. The position may require occasional international travel

Due to the nature of Aflatoun’s work with children around the world, specific attention is drawn towards Aflatoun’s Child Protection Policy and its Policy on the Protection of Sexual Exploitation and Abuse (PSEA). These two policies are required to be signed by new employees and forms part of the employment documents related to the employment contract. The applicant commits to zero tolerance towards sexual exploitation and abuse.

Screening for integrity is part of the recruitment process. Aflatoun considers it important to ensure the reliability, professionalism and the Integrity of its organization and its employees. By applying for this position, the candidate accepts to be screened by Aflatoun which involves conducting a background check with 2 referees from the professional environment of the candidate, submitting a self-declaration of good conduct along with the CV and cover letter, and submitting a declaration of good conduct issued by the Judicial Documentation system in their home country in case they reach the final stage of the hiring process. The screening will cover up to 10 years. Only the data relevant for the screening of the position will be collected. In case the candidate is not selected for the position, the data will be destroyed 4 weeks after the closing of the position.

For technical positions, an additional written test may be required.

Management may appoint at a lower step based on the candidate’s skills and experiences against the position’s requirements.

Application details