Manager, Restoration Delivery Monitoring and Evaluation

Manager, Restoration Delivery Monitoring and Evaluation

Conservation International protects nature for the benefit of humanity. Through science, policy, fieldwork, and finance, we spotlight and secure the most important places in nature for the climate, biodiversity, and for people. With offices in 30 countries and projects in more than 100 countries, Conservation International partners with governments, companies, civil society, Indigenous peoples, and local communities to help people and nature thrive together.

POSITION SUMMARY - This position could be based in Bogota-Colombia, Rio de Janeiro - Brazil, Mexico City – Mexico, Capetown - South Africa or Remote possible.

As a core component of its Climate Strategy, Conservation International has set ambitious targets for scaling restoration globally as a climate solution. The Restoration Delivery Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) Manager will develop and oversee a robust M&E framework to track, analyze, and report on the rapidly growing stream of restoration projects across different restoration strategies and provide the resources for CI to adaptively manage its rapidly scaling global restoration portfolios. This work will position CI as a thought leader and partner of choice in nuanced, data-driven, tailored, cost-effective restoration and contribute key knowledge to the global ecosystem restoration community derived from CI’s restoration portfolio.

The Restoration Delivery M&E Manager reports directly to the Restoration Partnerships Director in the Center for Natural Climate Solutions and collaborates closely with the Global Restoration Lead, the Restoration Science Director, the Restoration Economy and Finance Director, the Restoration Monitoring Manager, and finance, awards and operations staff, as well as internal and external thought leaders. To be successful, the Restoration Delivery M&E Manager needs demonstrable experience in developing and overseeing M&E frameworks for complex international programs, covering an array of themes, including policy, finance, ecosystem restoration, and others. They must be comfortable working with multiple collaborators simultaneously, as well as capturing and integrating metrics on stakeholder engagement, gender, IP&LCs, and others and ensuring that the M&E framework actively supports adaptive management of the program and successfully informs CI’s strategy for implementing restoration at scale through data-driven implementation worldwide.

RESPONSIBILITIES

The Restoration Delivery M&E Manager is responsible for the delivery of Monitoring and Evaluation for Ecosystem Restoration, including:

The development, implementation, and reporting of the M&E Plan for a large multi-country portfolio, including gathering all relevant data, preparing necessary reports, overseeing external evaluations, and other activities that may be required. This will include, among others, the completion of the Program level Results Framework and the Program level tracking tool. The completion of the latter will require gathering data from key IP Program partners to assess the direct and indirect environmental benefits of the partnership work and reporting.

Oversee and advise on the support to be provided to resource assessment, monitoring, evaluation, and impact assessment, at project and program levels. This will contribute to optimizing adaptive management and impact delivery at these levels, and to establishing the bases for scaling out of program results.

Key Functions

Project management

Support and inform, in close collaboration with the Global Coordination Unit (GCU) and country project teams, on the M&E system for the integrated program as a whole and its Global Coordination Project (GCP), including finalizing the formulation of programmatic indicators that are compatible with country project indicators and the application of their results in support of adaptive management.

Identify and develop M&E methodologies, plans, and tools necessary to support project and program-level tracking.

Support the evaluation of the overall program impact assessment and the GCP assessment.

Provide periodic quarterly reports and assessments on progress against goals for internal and external audiences, including quarterly and annual M&E reports for submission to CI-GEF and GEF.

Support data management, collection, and standardization across the program, acting as a focal point for data requests.

Capacity building

Advise and support country project teams on the formulation and implementation of their project-level M&E systems, including harmonized methodological guidance for M&E knowledge collation and management, the identification and application of tools for M&E and resource assessment at field, community, and landscape levels, and the fine-tuning of indicators required to ensure their relevance and, where needed, their compatibility with GCP/IP indicators.

Review and advise country projects on the application of M&E in adaptive management.

Support project management capacity-building efforts, contributing to identifying, developing, and delivering high-quality technical products that aim to help CI staff and partners improve their project management capabilities. This includes a focus on refining and delivering M&E training.

Support and inform the refinement of institutional indicators and key project- and program-level indicators as necessary.

Knowledge management and exchange

Contribute to knowledge management and exchange activities to ensure that all information and products developed by the program is made available to relevant stakeholders to promote best practice in ecosystem restoration, including robust M&E practices.

Lead technical exchanges and coordination with key project/Integrated Program partners on methodologies and tools for M&E, assessment, and information management, in order to ensure that the project is applying best practice.

Present M&E framework and results to internal and external audiences as needed.

Other duties as assigned by supervisor.

WORKING CONDITIONS

Frequent travel to project sites and to international meetings.

Ability to work extended work hours to meet project deadlines.

Guidance on flexible work arrangements will be shared during the interview process.

QUALIFICATIONS

Required

Bachelor’s degree in environmental science or equivalent discipline and 4-6 years of work experience with M&E research programs or initiatives or the equivalent combination of education and experience.

Experience with developing and executing monitoring and evaluation plans for ecological monitoring and/or ecosystem restoration.

Experience working with different approaches including MEL, MEAL, and MERL.

Considerable experience formulating strategies to achieve M&E goals, developing and implementing M&E plans, and reporting on progress.

Proven ability to understand, interpret, and apply technical and scientific information and data to achieve tangible results.

Excellent oral, written, and interpersonal communication skills.

Strong attention to detail and time management skills.

Proficient in Microsoft Office, project management training, monitoring & evaluation (M&E) training.

Proven ability to work in a team environment and work well across cultures and within and across organizations.

Excellent English oral and written communication skills.

Preferred

Ability to communicate in Spanish, Portuguese, or French.

Experience working with local partners, with an understanding of the on-the-ground realities and challenges of project development and delivery.

Proven team player able to work effectively across cultures and within and across organizations.

To apply for this position please submit a resume and cover letter.

See all Conservation International Career Opportunities HERE

Conservation International is an equal opportunity, affirmative action, and Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility-committed employer. We are proud to have a diverse, global workforce where employment decisions are based on qualifications, experience, position requirements, business needs, market conditions, merit, and other legitimate nondiscriminatory factors.

As a science-based organization, CI follows CDC recommendations for COVID-19 and other vaccines. Accordingly, for the health and safety of our employees, their families, and our community, subject to applicable local law, all Conservation International staff are expected to be vaccinated against COVID-19. However, vaccination is no longer a mandate or condition of employment and employees are not required to provide proof of vaccination. This means we will not require an individual to be vaccinated to enter a CI office, attend CI events or travel on CI-related trips. This applies for our community partners as well. This vaccine expectation applies to all team members working remotely, in a hybrid work arrangement, and on-site. Job applicants are NOT required to state their COVID-19 vaccine status in their application.