Specialist (Monitoring, Evaluation, Research and Learning), Institute for Educational Development

Specialist (Monitoring, Evaluation, Research and Learning), Institute for Educational Development

Location
Karachi, Pakistan

Introduction
Aga Khan University chartered in 1983 as Pakistan's first private international university, is committed to the provision of education, research, and health care of international standards relevant to Pakistan and the region. The affiliated Aga Khan University Hospital provides state-of-the-art clinical facilities and well-equipped diagnostic services. The University currently has teaching sites in Pakistan, East Africa, the United Kingdom, and Afghanistan, and is a major component of Aga Khan Development Network.

As an equal opportunity employer, AKU believes in promoting a diverse and inclusive culture and is committed to adopt appropriate standards for safeguarding and promoting a respectful relationship with and between diverse workforce of its faculty, staff, trainees, volunteers, beneficiaries, wider communities, and other stakeholders with whom it works, including children and vulnerable adults and expects all employees/trainees and partners to share this commitment.

Aga Khan University - Institute for Educational Development (AKU-IED) was established in July 1993 with the overall objective of becoming a leader in educational reform and improvement, especially in developing countries. The aim of the Institute is to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of schools and other educational institutions in the country through innovation, policy development, practice, training and research.

This is a grant-funded contractual position for a period of eighteen months.

Responsibilities
The Monitoring, Research and Learning Specialist will play a lead role in the systematic documentation of the project’s activities, events, success stories, challenges, and outcomes. He/she will be responsible for communication and showcasing the project’s achievements. He/she will provide MERL-related support to the Managers the project management.  The incumbent will report to the Manger and work closely with the Project Academic Team (Team Leads and Training specialists).. Specifically, you will be responsible to:

• review and finalize the project’s MERL plan
• develop strategy and tools for data collections for bassline studies
• lead collection, analysis and reporting of baseline studies
• lead in designing and conducting end-line surveys or evaluation studies and reports
• undertake systematic documentation of the project’s activities, processes, successes stories, and outcomes  
• lead in collecting, organizing, maintaining, processing, and reporting MERL data
• collect and organize information about the project’s work (intervention, progress, events, success stories, etc.,) and create relevant content from this information and communicate it with the project’s stakeholders and wider audience through social media platforms and other means 
• assist the Project’s management in showcasing project achievement
• prepare and submit periodic reports to the supervisor and conduct small research studies (case studies), as and when required
• provide both direct data analysis assistance (analysis of quantitative data manually or using computer software) as well as training in data analysis to the project team). 
   

Requirements:
You should have:

• a master’s degree in social or natural sciences or statistics from a reputable national or international university    
• at least three years of relevant demonstrated experience in leading or contributing to MERL portfolio in large-scale development projects (preferably in education)   
• sound knowledge of computer software, particularly those required for quantitative data analysis package (e.g., SPSS / NVIVO and others)
• knowledge of research, communication and reporting
• demonstrated skills in writing reports based on MERL data
• well-versed in accessing and using digital resources in MERL planning and execution
• good analytical and communication skills in both oral and written forms
• ability to work well with teams
• ability to meet deadlines
• willingness to field visits for data collection and monitoring purposes and during odd working hours.

Comprehensive employment reference checks will be conducted.