Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning (MEL) Assistant – Terms of Reference

The Programme

Axiom International are implementing the UK Support to Public Security Director Project. The project aims to support the Jordanian Public Security Directorate to become increasingly effective and capable of preventing and responding to evolving threats to Jordan’s security. Key components of engagement include capacity building in counterterrorism and anti-narcotics, police leadership, training development, community engagement, and gender mainstreaming. Throughout the project, gender and conflict sensitivity is being mainstreamed to ensure gender responsive, Human Rights compliant, and conflict sensitive design, implementation and review.

The Role

This position will work closely with and under the direction of the MEL Manager to assist with the day-to-day monitoring, evaluation and learning (MEL) activities of the programme. This is likely to include the following:

Under the direction of the MEL team, the MEL Assistant will

• Thematic Engagement Oversight: Participate in regular meetings with thematic leads to stay informed about ongoing activities and ensure that all MEL activities and tasks are updated accordingly.
• Field Visits: Conduct field observations of PCDP’s training interventions. This will be a priority task for the role.
• Data Translation and Organization: Translate and categorize/organize/clean large amounts of qualitative and quantitative data gathered by the program.
• Data Analysis: Conduct analysis of quantitative and qualitative data using Excel.
• Research Brief Drafting: Draft short research briefs based on the information collected from direct and indirect beneficiaries (primary data) and existing information sources such as think tanks, government data, and international organizational data (secondary data).
• MEL Tool Designing and Testing: Assist with the designing, translation, and testing of MEL tools, and share thoughts for improvement.
• Database Maintenance: Maintain the findings database and develop pivot tables on a daily basis. (Each type of training/workshops should have its own database).
• SharePoint Data Upload Management: Upload the raw data, MEL reports, and all database sheets on SharePoint as soon as they are completed.

Required Skills and Experience

This is a junior-level role. In addition to some experience in MEL, we are interested in candidates with strong interpersonal skills.

• Legal Compliance: Must be a Jordanian citizen or a legal resident of Jordan, holding the necessary government-approved working status.
• Bilingual Proficiency: Possess strong written and spoken skills in both English and Arabic, with the ability to communicate clearly and concisely in both languages.
• Travel Readiness: Willingness and capability to travel to various areas of Jordan, sometimes for extended periods, ensuring commitment to on-the-ground monitoring and evaluation.
• Work Ethic and Team Collaboration: Maintain an approachable and collaborative manner, easily working with others and effectively taking directions as needed. Additionally, work effectively as part of a team and collaborate with thematic leads to ensure MEL activities are well planned and well in advance.
• Interpersonal Skills: Demonstrate exceptional ability to engage effectively with individuals from diverse backgrounds, quickly establishing trust and building positive relationships with colleagues, partners, and beneficiaries to facilitate data collection and collaboration.
• Fast Learning Capability: Demonstrate a quick learning pace, allowing for rapid assimilation of new information and skills.
• Detail Orientation: Detail oriented, consistently checking and re-checking to ensure accuracy and precision.
• Adaptability: Ability to adapt to changes and varying circumstances, especially when conducting field observations or dealing with diverse data sets.
• Task Flexibility: Ability to undertake a variety of tasks, even those perceived as less interesting, such as translating and organizing extensive data sets.
• Communication Skills: Effective communication, both written and verbal, to convey findings, write reports, and interact directly with thematic leads.
• Organizational Skills: Ability to assist in organizing and coordinating MEL activities efficiently.
• Time Management: Efficiently managing time and priorities, especially when handling multiple tasks and deadlines.
• Analytical Skills: Ability to analyse data, identify trends, and draw meaningful conclusions from monitoring and evaluation activities.
• Research Skills: Willingness to continuously enhance research skills and stay updated on best practices in monitoring and evaluation.
• Problem-Solving Skills: Capacity to identify issues, challenges, and areas for improvement, and propose solutions.
• Critical Thinking: Ability to think critically and evaluate information objectively for accurate reporting.
• Initiative: Take proactive steps to contribute ideas, improvements, and innovations to enhance MEL processes.
• IT Proficiency: Possess strong IT skills, including proficiency in using Excel, Word, and PowerPoint for efficient data management and analysis.
• Cross-Cultural Competence: Sensitivity and awareness of cultural differences when interacting with diverse populations.
• Attention to Ethical Considerations: Understanding and adherence to ethical standards in research and data collection.
• Inquisitive Nature: Exhibit a keen interest in understanding the underlying reasons for situations, demonstrating a natural scepticism and curiosity.

Reporting Lines

The MEL Assistant will report to the in-country MEL Manager, and ultimately to the MEL Lead. This role will also require communicating closely with the entire technical and management team to ensure the programme’s data needs are detected, covered, reviewed and learning fed back.

Location

This is a full-time consultancy post based in Amman. The programme will make efforts to support candidates based outside Amman, and we encourage candidate from all backgrounds to apply.