Job Description

OFFICE LOCATION

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CapeTown- South Africa

WHO WE ARE

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The mission of The Nature Conservancy (TNC) is to conserve the lands and waters upon which all life depends. As a science-based organization, we develop innovative, on-the-ground solutions to the world's toughest environmental challenges so that people and nature can thrive. Our work is guided by our values, which include a commitment to diversity and respect for people, communities, and cultures. From a rewarding mission to career development and flexible schedules, there are many reasons to love life #insideTNC. Want to know more? Check out our TNC Talent playlist on YouTube to hear stories from staff or visit Glassdoor.


One of TNC's primary goals is to cultivate an inclusive work environment so that employees around the globe have a sense of belonging and feel that their unique contributions are valued. We know we'll only achieve our mission by hiring and engaging a diverse staff that reflects the communities in which we work. Recognizing that people bring talent and skills that have been developed outside the scope of a job, we take a holistic approach to recruitment that considers life experience in addition to the professional requirements listed in our postings. Please apply - we'd love to hear from you. To quote a popular saying at TNC, "you'll join for the mission, and you'll stay for the people."


TNC's work in Africa transcends three key pillars: securing ownership rights to lands and resources for indigenous people, strengthening leadership and resource management and helping communities value nature through a holistic appreciation of its benefits while increasing revenue streams for conservation efforts and socio-economic development. Together with our partners, we are witnessing critical milestones in integrated land and fisheries management, ocean and source water protection, energy development and sustainable food production, working together and strengthening our resolve in tackling global challenges such as climate change, habitat and biodiversity loss that stands to adversely impact the nearly 1.4 billion people that share Africa. TNC and the Blue Nature Alliance have established the Blue Benguela Partnership (BBP) to benefit the long-term prosperity of the Benguela Current Large Marine Ecosystem (BCLME). Building on the multi-stakeholder collaboration in the region, the BBP program launched its first phase in December 2023. The program vision is to enhance human and ecosystem wellbeing in the BCLME for present and future generations through improved ocean protection, conservation, and sustainable blue economic development along the coasts of Angola, Namibia, and South Africa. The program aims to support:

Progress in national marine spatial planning (MSP) Marine protected area establishment and expansion combined with community conservation The improvement in sustainable near shore small-scale fisheries Reduced Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated (IUU) large scale fishing via Monitoring, Control, Surveillance, and Enforcement (MCSE). The mobilization of sustainable financing to enable long-term commitments towards effective ocean management and protection.

WHAT WE CAN ACHIEVE TOGETHER

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The Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning (MEL) Specialist provides technical and scientific support to TNC's Blue Benguela Partnership (BBP) program team, TNC's Africa Oceans Strategy, and other TNC staff as appropriate to advance the program under TNC's 2030 Goals. They strengthen the program MEL processes and build the MEL capacity of TNC staff, implementing partners, community members and interested agencies. They design, undertake and coordinate the BBP Program MEL Plan arrangements and provide technical assistance in relation to program monitoring, reporting and data management.


The MEL Specialist designs the program MEL Plan with the program partners in the target countries, coordinates the monitoring of program progress and results against output and outcome indicator targets, and produces performance reports aggregating the qualitative and quantitative evidence. The position ensures systematic and functional implementation of the MEL Plan by the partnership. The position also shapes the program evaluations at baseline, midline and/or endline, and supports evidence-based learning to guide program adaptation over time.


The position will report to the BBP Program Manager with a dotted line to the regional MEL Director for technical MEL guidance and linkage with MEL actions across ecosystems and countries. The position will preferably be based in TNC office in South Africa and will require field visits to the program implementing partners in Angola, Namibia, and South Africa.

WE'RE LOOKING FOR YOU

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The MEL Specialist will be responsible for the design, coordination, and implementation of the MEL framework for the BBP Program, and they will also support other strategy programs such as the Africa Oceans Strategy.


The responsibilities and scope for this position are:


Design a MEL system that supports the development of both the overarching BBP Program MEL Plan and the country program MEL Plans, in order to effectively capture program performance and continuous monitoring. Facilitate the country project teams to develop relevant MEL Plans. Including, outlining the key objectives along the results chain with clear and agreed outcome, intermediary result and output statements combined with SMART indicator sets and the MEL arrangements for data collection, analysis and reporting. Coordinate the baseline studies as required for the key indicator sets. Ensure MEL arrangements are clearly agreed and suitably tailored to TNC's, the program partners' and relevant stakeholders' MEL mechanisms, capacity and resources. Coordinate and/or support partners to ensure all relevant indicators pertaining to their projects are regularly tracked, updated and reported as agreed. Provide MEL capacity-building support to relevant team and project partner members. Conduct data aggregation and analysis of partner MEL reports to measure and present a robust assessment of overall BBP Program progress and lessons of performance against output, intermediary result and outcome targets. Coordinate, produce and deliver program performance reports Update regional performance dashboards and manage the TNC Hub database for the BBP Program. Undertake data quality assurance of partners' self-reporting of progress; Coordinate follow-up with partners to address any gaps and/or inconsistencies. Conduct site visits to promote appropriate monitoring of project activities and to enhance data validity and quality. Participate in evaluation exercises including, mid-term program evaluation and project review and learning sessions. In collaboration with program partners, utilize the MEL findings to generate lessons and provide clear evidence-based recommendations to inform adaptive implementation by the projects and/or strategy. Contribute to the preparation of project proposals and reporting according to donor requirements. Foster and support cross-project learning, lessons learning workshops and strengthen a Community of Practice for the sharing of best practices and lessons for adaptive management.

WHAT YOU'LL BRING

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B.S. Degree in science or in a related field and 7 years of professional experience in MEL, conservation practice, social sciences, development studies, statistics, project management, or related disciplines. Supervisory experience, including motivating, leading, setting objectives and managing performance, workloads and finances under deadlines. Experience and demonstrated knowledge in oceans, fisheries and/or community development. Experience in developing and implementing monitoring and evaluation plans including, The development of quantitative and qualitative MEL tools and methods Data analysis skills and knowledge of statistical software such as Excel The selection and definition of SMART indicators Data analysis, aggregation and reporting methods Producing and writing MEL performance reports and coordinating partner performance reporting Data quality control, overseeing data collection and quality assurance. Experience in providing MEL capacity building, mentoring and delivering MEL technical support to project implementors and partners, preferably to multiple projects across various locations/ countries in Africa. Experience in designing and maintaining a database for monitoring data for multiple projects. Proficient facilitation, communication skills (oral and writing), and fluency in English. . Experience writing and communicating scientific information to a broad range of audiences and stakeholders.

WHAT WE BRING

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Since 1951, TNC has been doing work you can believe in. Through grassroots action, we have grown from a small non-profit into one of the most effective and wide-reaching environmental organizations in the world. Thanks to more than 1 million members, over 400 scientists, and the dedicated efforts of our diverse staff and partners, we impact conservation around the world!


TNC offers competitive and comprehensive benefits packages tailored to the individual countries where we work. These may include health care benefits, retirement benefits, parental leave, paid time off, life insurance, and disability coverage as well as an employee assistance program and other life and well-being benefits. Learn more about our benefits on our Culture Tab on nature.org/careers.


We're proud to offer a flexible work environment that supports the health and well-being of the people we employ.

APPLY NOW

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To apply for job ID 56485, submit your materials online by using the Apply Now button at https://careers.nature.org/. Need help applying? Visit our recruitment page or contact applyhelp@tnc.org.

The Nature Conservancy is an Equal Opportunity Employer

. Our commitment to diversity includes the recognition that our conservation mission is best advanced by the leadership and contributions of people of diverse backgrounds, beliefs and culture. Recruiting and mentoring staff to create an inclusive organization that reflects our global character is a priority and we encourage applicants from all cultures, races, colors, religions, sexes, national or regional origins, ages, disability status, sexual orientation, gender identity, military, protected veteran status or other status protected by law.


TNC is committed to offering accommodations for qualified individuals with disabilities and disabled veterans in our job application process. If you need assistance or an accommodation due to a disability, please send a note to applyhelp@tnc.org with Request for Accommodation in the subject line.

An attractive salary and benefits package is part of TNC's value proposition to our employees. TNC strives to provide competitive pay and bases salaries on the geographic location of the role committing to being equitable across groups and providing hiring salary ranges when possible.

Since we support flexible and remote work for our employees, many positions have a flexible location within countries where we're registered as a Non-government Organization and established as an employer. This may mean we're unable to provide a hiring salary range in the posting for some of our positions. However, candidates invited to be part of our interview process will be provided their location specific range upon request.