Proposal Writing, Reporting and M&E Manager

Position

• Full-time maternity cover for four months, starting 2 November 2020 until 28 February 2021, with possible extension.
• The position reports to HQ Technical Director based in Berlin, Germany.
• The position will preferably be based in Berlin, Germany. Alternatively, the position can be remote (working hours to be aligned to German time).
• The staff will work closely with country teams in Africa, Middle East and Asia, via frequent phone conferences (restricted travel due to Covid-19). Due to dime differences between country teams, flexibility in terms of working hours will be expected.

Main Responsibilities

1. Proposal Writing

a) Facilitate and assist in the development of technical concept notes and elaboration of proposals:

• Provide technical guidance to ensure compliance with RET’s and donor’s strategic objectives, quality standards and requirements; ensure adherence with the respective donor ‘call for proposals’.
• Develop and/or review logical frameworks, formulating results, indicators and targets in line with applicable theory of change (TOC).
• Liaise closely with country teams to clarify open questions.
• Conduct content and language editing of concept notes and proposals (in English)
• Conduct final review before submission; ensuring accuracy, completeness and coherence of the information presented (e.g. cross-checking narrative against logframes and budget).

b) Establish submission timetables in consultation with HQ; ensuring timely input is obtained from country teams, reviews and approvals are obtained at the relevant levels, and proposals are finalized and submitted on time.

c) Identify new funding opportunities / calls for proposals and inform management accordingly.

2. Progress Reporting

a) Review progress reports from country offices and conduct quality assurance; ensure accuracy and completeness of information; liaising with country teams to clarify open questions; and conduct language editing of the reports (in English) to improve the overall quality of reporting.

b) Keep track of reporting deadlines and ensure timely preparation and submission of reports.

c) Follow up with country teams on progress against key performance indicators as per the project logframes, identifying implementation bottlenecks and programmatic challenges, and relaying field observations to HQ management in a timely fashion.

d) Keep clear and accessible records of all official documents (concept notes, proposals, agreements, progress reports etc.).

3. Monitoring & Evaluation

a) Assist in-country M&E Focal Points in developing project-level logframes and M&E plans that comply with RET’s and donors’ standards and policies.

b) Assist in-country teams in the setup of M&E systems – including qualitative and quantitative e-database, in coordination with RET’s Data Platform team.

c) Support in-country teams in data collection by:

• advising on primary data collection techniques, and secondary research resources;
• reviewing/improving data collection templates;
• advising on data quality requirements/standards;

d) Coordinate with in-country teams to ensure work plans and M&E plans are well-aligned in terms of objectives, activities and timeline.

e) Collaborate with in-country teams to identify and document lessons learnt for improvement of future programming.

f) Support internal project evaluations in consultation with the TD and in collaboration with country teams.

4. Educational/Technical Support (preferably)

a) Provide technical support to the education teams to improve the quality of implementation

b) Design, review and share program-specific tools/ resources/ curricula with education teams;

c) Assess and clearly define the training needs of staff.

d) Undertake regular field monitoring visits to assess progress and identify technical quality issues and/or other implementation issues, provide solutions and implement modifications;

e) Conduct cross-country analysis of tools and materials, in coordination with the Technical Director

f) Other education-related duties as assigned by Technical Director – EMEAA Region

Key Qualifications

• A University Degree in Monitoring and Evaluation, Social Sciences, International Affairs, Political Sciences, Development Studies, Business Administration or equivalent required
• Fluency in English required; knowledge of French is a strong asset
• 3-5 years’ experience in M&E and reporting in managerial capacity in a non-profit context
• Demonstrated track record of successful proposal writing/donor reporting
• Work experience in humanitarian / development context in Africa is desired
• Experience and ability to communicate effectively with intercultural teams required
• Ability to multitask and work well under pressure in a fast-paced environment required