Monitoring, Evaluation & Learning Officer

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The Knowledge Platform Security & Rule of Law (KPSRL) is a Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs project run by Clingendael’s Conflict Research Unit, in collaboration with the International Development Law Organization and Saferworld UK. The KPSRL is committed to improving the quality and impact of Security & Rule of Law (SRoL) programming and policies, with a specific focus on fragile and conflict-affected settings. To do this, the KPSRL convenes programming specialists, policymakers, and researchers to generate and share knowledge, improve practice and increase learning across the SRoL sector. Established in 2012, the KPSRL now has over 3.500 participants including civil society, academics and researchers, as well as policy officers representing national and multilateral donors.
The KPSRL is managed by a Secretariat that coordinates, activates and facilitates the Platform, working to increase the uptake of knowledge, and provides grants from its Knowledge Management Fund (KMF) to stimulate experimentation, innovation and research uptake within the SRoL sector. In addition to hosting a repository of cutting-edge knowledge products garnered from projects and programs around the globe, the Secretariat regularly convenes learning events, including webinars, white paper discussions, programming-led learning symposiums, research seminars, practice labs and an Annual Conference.

The KPSRL Secretariat is looking for a Learning Officer from 1 March 2021 to strengthen the KPSRL Secretariat’s own Monitoring Evaluation and Learning (ME&L) and lead the Secretariat’s work in supporting KPSRL participants and key stakeholders in identifying their own learning challenges and pathways.

Job description

The purpose of the job is to support the achievement of the KPSRL’s overall objective – to strengthen the learning capacity of the network – by working with Platform participants and its key stakeholders (e.g. NL MFA and its affiliates) to improve their own learning and knowledge uptake.

The Learning Officer will lead the Secretariat’s work on supporting and strengthening organizational learning, both within the Secretariat and among the KPSRL community. The Learning Officer will have a key advisory role in developing a programmatic learning instrument that enables collaborative learning from implementation, and distills lessons for improving SRoL donor policy. In addition, the Learning Officer will collaborate with the rest of the Secretariat staff in organizing an Annual Conference each year, and in managing projects that have been awarded a Knowledge Management Fund grant.

Key tasks include:

• Lead development and implementation of the Secretariat’s own ME&L strategy and practice, including:
  • Building a fit-for-purpose monitoring, evaluation and learning (ME&L) system
  • Regularly interrogating and updating the Secretariat’s Theory of Change
  • Developing an adaptive programming approach for the Secretariat, ensuring the team dedicates the necessary time and resources to learn from its own practice (and that of others) and makes useful changes to its activities, incorporating such learning
  • Maintaining oversight of monitoring protocols and data collection, and leading in the drafting of Annual Reports, describing in detail both accountability and learning
• Lead the Secretariat in identifying institutional learning barriers among KPSRL participants, including:
  • Mapping the most prevalent institutional factors that hinder Platform participants’ and key stakeholders’ ability to learn and improve practice and policy, paying attention to challenges at programme, portfolio and (cross-)organizational levels
  • Advising the Secretariat team in shaping the KPSRL tools, activities and convening power to respond to institutional challenges, where possible
• Support the development of a new Programmatic Learning Instrument, including:
  • Helping design a pilot instrument to incentivize and support learning between SRoL programmes
  • Providing input and advice on how to define, recognise or ‘measure’ whether such an instrument has been successful in facilitating programmatic learning; defining potential deliverables, proposing benchmarks and setting up a light-touch evaluation system
• Support the Secretariat’s engagement with the Learning Agendas of key stakeholders, including:
  • Working with key stakeholders (NL MFA, Embassies in SRoL focus countries, implementing partners executing multi-annual programmes) and their knowledge partners to develop, implement and update their learning agendas
  • Providing technical support and advice to key stakeholders whose learning agendas are coming up against institutional obstacles
• Contribute to managing Knowledge Management Fund projects
• Contribute to the organization of the Annual Conference

Qualifications and experience

We would be interested in candidates who can demonstrate the following:

• A university degree in social or political sciences and 5-10 years of relevant working experience (of which, preferably some spent in conflict-affected or developing countries)
• Experience of working on the facilitation of network learning, preferably in the SRoL field
• Experience of working on the programming, monitoring, evaluation and learning cycle, preferably in the SRoL field
• Experience in feeding practical knowledge and experience into policymaking and programming processes
• Knowledge of monitoring, evaluation and learning methodologies, organizational learning methodologies and system thinking, preferably knowledgeable of IATI reporting
• Preferably familiar with the current international peace and security agenda and familiarity with the work of OECD-DAC INCAF, the g7+, and other (multilateral) organizations working on issues pertaining to conflict and fragility (United Nations and the World Bank Group, the European Union)
• Access to a relevant network of experts (policy, practice and research) in both the Global North and South

In addition:

• Insatiable curiosity for the nexus of learning between policy and practice
• Capable of working independently and under time pressure and with strict deadlines while maintaining high levels of quality in her/his work
• Proven networking skills to create, maintain and deepen working relationships and align internal and external stakeholders around an evolving programme
• Ability to write succinctly, supported by publications, reports, articles and/or blogs
• Strong analytical skills and the ability to present complex arguments in a compelling way
• Flexible, thoughtful and nimble approach to issues and colleagues, able to contribute constructively and positively when working as part of a team
• Capable of reading and writing in Dutch and English fluently; preferably also capable of conversing and conducting research in French and/or Spanish. Further linguistic skills are considered an asset.

Salary

The salary depends on the level of education and working experience, guideline is scale 11 BBRA based on a 32 hours working week. The contract is initially valid for a period of one year with the option for renewal.