INOVASI 3 - NTT, Provincial Monitoring, Evaluation, Research and Learning (MERL) Officer

INOVASI 3 - NTT, Provincial Monitoring, Evaluation, Research and Learning (MERL) Officer

Project Overview and Role:

Indonesia’s Vision 2045 sets the goal for Indonesia to transition from a resource-based economy towards an advanced service, technology, and knowledge-based economy by the centenary of its independence (2045). The 2025-2045 National Long Term Development Plan emphasises the urgency of Indonesia’s human resource development to fully realise 2045 goals.

Faced however with persistent low student performance that is emblematic of a learning crisis, significant improvement in student learning will be required to reach Indonesia’s 2045 goals. Government of Indonesia (GoI) has started an ambitious program of education reforms. Successive education ministers have set out to modernise the education system through reforming the national curriculum and teaching and assessment approaches, to produce citizens with strong foundational skills, open minds, and inclusive values.

Australia is a long-term supporter of the Indonesian basic education sector, with continuous investments supporting education quality improvements for the past two decades, including through the INOVASI program (Phase 1 2016-2020; Phase 2 2020-2023) that focused on supporting acquisition of literacy and numeracy foundational skills in early grades classrooms; exploring local problems and solutions; and generating evidence to inform government policy development and practices.

This third phase of INOVASI (2024-2027) builds upon the existing program’s approach and lessons learned and takes the focus on the development of foundational skills through to the end of the primary grades. Phase 3 will engage with priority issues of Australia’s development policy: gender equality, effective inclusion of children with a disability, responses to the climate change challenge in education. It will focus on the challenge of policy implementation and the gaps that exist between national policies and practices at district and school levels, and use the well attested-success of INOVASI’s local problem-based approach to continuously support policy development for effective fit between policy and implementation context.

The Program is managed by Palladium on behalf of DFAT.

Primary Duties and Responsibilities:

Purpose of the Position: The Provincial MERL Officer is responsible for the implementation of the MERL plans at the provincial and district levels. INOVASI’s MERL Strategy will describe (i) the program’s approach to assessing and reporting progress towards and achievement of End of Program Outcomes (EOPOs) and Intermediate Outcomes (IOs), (ii) how evidence generated by the MERL system will be used in program decision making, adaptation, communications, and policy dialogue, (iii) the program’s research agenda and how it will contribute to and support assessment of progress and achievement of IOs and EOPOs, and (iv) the resourcing and roles and responsibilities of the Performance and Learning (PNL) team. INOVASI’s MERL will also support key partners in improving their education ecosystem, learning quality, and learning outcomes of primary student’s foundational skills. Implementation of the MERL Strategy will involve the Jakarta PNL team as well as MERL personnel in each provincial team.

Under the supervision and direction of the Provincial Manager, the MERL Officer works with the provincial team to collect and generate robust evidence of how district education ecosystem works and improves, what interventions work, what does not, and under which circumstances, in support of assessing and reporting progress towards achievement of EOPOs and IOs.

In addition, s/he is also responsible for ensuring that data is adequately stored in the Program Data Management System (PDMS), training the team to use the PDMS, coordinating the analysis, and facilitating utilisation of the findings. Overall, the MERL Officer ensures an integrated and practical MERL practices across programs, districts within the province, and across provinces (for East and West Java).

Working with children
Is this position likely to come into contact with children? Yes No

Duties: Under the direction of the Provincial Manager a and in collaboration with the Monitoring and Learning Specialist, the Provincial MERL Officer will:

• Support the implementation of MERL Strategy and coordinate the provincial MERL plans across the province and all the targeted district partners.
  
  • Support the Provincial Manager in developing the annual provincial MERL plan, covering the aspects of monitoring, evaluation (supporting national evaluation and local evaluation if relevant), research (supporting national research and local research if relevant), and learning. The plan should cover both the province, in areas such as collaboration with BPG/BPMP, and all targeted districts.
  • In consultation with the Provincial Manager and through discussion with the broader team, set up the process and mechanism for implementating ofthe annual provincial MERL plan. This includes, but not limited to, streamlining and integrating the processes and mechanisms across the province and districts, and utilizing PDMS.
  • Ensure the implementation aligns with INOVASI ToC and Result Framework, capturing data and evidence on inputs, activities, outputs, and their contributions to Intermediate Outcomes (IO) and the achievement of the End of Program Outcomes (EOPO); including how INOVASI contributes to those results and how the partner education ecosystem is enhanced..
  • Provide relevant data and information for the Provincial Manager and collaborate with other provincial team members to facilitate regular reviews within the internal INOVASI team, using MERL findings to reflect and adjust program implementation.
  • Support the provincial team in extracting findings from the provincial monitoring activities and developing appropriate reports in various formats, such as PowerPoint presentations, fact sheets, flyers, or other reporting forms, in close coordination with the communication team.
  • Work alongside education and/or policy team members and communication staff, to help the provincial team facilitate the dissemination of learning activities to partners, aiding them tp adjust program implementation based on their own monitoring and/evaluation results or those from INOVASI or other sources.
  Support dissemination and sharing of MERL-related information and data across the provinces, districts, sub-districts or schools, including supporting the development of success stories, good/best practices and lesson learned.
  • Oversee the application of Program Data Base Management (PDMS) across the province and all targeted districts. This includes training designated personnel to enter data into PDMS (including grant partners), generating findings, and identifying relevant and useful results. Regularly review PDMS to ensure it is adequately updated by both internal INOVASI staff and targeted partners.
• In collaboration with the MERL Lead, support Evaluation and Research activities as needed at both provincial and district level.
• In coordination with the Monitoring and Learning Specialist, support dissemination and implementation of learning activities at provincial and district level as required.
• Serve as rapid response unit to collect quick performance-related data as required.
• Contribute to INOVASI reporting tasks, such as monthly updates, semester reports, or PAF-DFAT reports by providing relevant districts and provincial data.
• Ensure compliance with DFAT monitoring, evaluation and learning standards, which includes, but is not limited to, monitoring assumptions through the provincial risk register, child protection risk assessment, and maintaining proper practice in performing data collection (as required).
• Facilitate and serve as a resource person, participating in any external supervision and evaluation missions as required by the Provincial Manager or Monitoring and Learning Specialist.
• Assist in developing other Program activities and deliverables as required by the Provincial Manager or Monitoring and Learning Specialist.
• Perform other tasks as reasonably required by either the Provincial Manager or the Monitoring and Learning Specialist, consistent with the incumbent’s qualifications and experience.

Required Qualifications:

The Provincial MERL Officer will possess the following qualifications:

• Technical expertise in monitoring complex development program at subnational level; with a preference for experience in education sector, adaptive programs, and/or donor-funded programs.
• Knowledge of education sector is preferred.
• Proven ability to apply inclusive perspectives in monitoring, analysing findings, and covering aspects of gender equality, disability equity, and social inclusion.
• Experience is applying the three lenses is preferred.
• Demonstrated ability in developing monitoring processes, collaborating within a team, overseeing implementation, and translating the national Result Framework into
• monitoring instruments and reports.
• Proven ability in analysing monitoring, evaluation and research findings.
• Strong computer proficiency, particularly in Excel, and ability to work with data-based platform; familiarity with other analysis software is an advantage.
• Understanding of climate change issues is an advantage.
• Demonstrated adaptability and ability to perform in a fast-paced, high-pressure, dynamic and ambiguous context.
• Capacity to work both independently and as part of a team.
• Demonstrated experience in managing and/or facilitating M&E staff/teams in various locations.
• Strong interpersonal skills.
• Ability to express opinions in English, verbally and/or in written is an advantage
• Willingness and ability to travel at short notice.

Application closed on Friday, April 5th 2024 at 11.59 PM (Jakarta time)

Palladium is a child-safe organisation, and screens applicants for suitability to work with children. A copy of Palladium’s Child Protection Guidelines is available on our website: thepalladiumgroup.com/policies

Due to the anticipated volume of applications, only successful candidates will be contacted. All applications should be submitted through the Palladium website. Should you experience any issues lodging an application online please contact inovasi.recruitment@thepalladiumgroup.com stating the position in the subject line.

Company Overview:

About Palladium - Palladium is a global leader in the design, development and delivery of Positive Impact – the intentional creation of enduring social and economic value. We work with governments, businesses, and investors to solve the worlds most pressing challenges. With a team of more than 3,000 employees operating in 90 plus countries and a global network of over 35,000 experts, we help improve economies, societies and, most importantly, peoples lives.

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