Designated safeguarding lead jobs

Job Title:​ Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning Adviser 

Location​: London or Nairobi, with occasional international travel and flexible working required to overlap with South-East Asian/Pacific time zones

Contract:  Two-year fixed-term contract

Reporting to:​ Head of MEL   

Responsible for: Occasional consultants and volunteers

Salary & Benefits:

        UK: GBP47,029 gross per annum, and 9% employer pension contribution

        Nairobi: Kes 6,803,160 gross per annum, including 9% employer pension contribution and staff medical insurance cover

Deadline: 17:00 UK time, Monday 25th August 2025

Conciliation Resources 

Conciliation Resources is an independent international organisation working with people in conflict to prevent violence, resolve conflicts and promote peaceful societies. We believe that building sustainable peace takes time. We provide practical support to help people affected by violent conflict achieve lasting peace. We draw on our shared experiences to improve peacebuilding policies and practice worldwide.We currently have over 80 full and part-time staff members, working mainly out of the UK, Australia, Kenya and Ethiopia offices. We work with over 70 locally-based and international partners worldwide.

Research, Advisory and Policy Department

The Research, Advisory and Policy (RAP) Department facilitates learning and provides guidance to improve peace policy and practice inside and outside Conciliation Resources. The team:

• Translate experiences of peace practice into innovative learning and thought leadership
• Evaluate impact of peace practice and build evidence of what’s working and what’s not
• Advance knowledge and methods for gender inclusive peace practice
• Mobilise policy change to facilitate and coordinate transformative peace practice

RAP is responsible for the Accord publication series and cross-organisational research programmes, thematic policy advocacy, and the organisational approach and technical support to Programme Departments on gender and monitoring, evaluation, and learning (MEL). The RAP Department includes the CR EU team based in Brussels. 

Our approach to Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning (MEL)

Conciliation Resources’ approach to project design and MEL is rooted in a culture of evaluative thinking and knowledge-building. We use evidence and systematic reflective spaces to improve the relevance, efficiency, effectiveness, impact, and sustainability of our work. We apply a gender perspective in our conflict analysis and evaluation methods. Our plans for MEL are contained within our Operational Plan under Goal 5: to develop evidence, learning and creativity, which is part of our Strategic Plan 2020-2025. 

Job Purpose 

We are looking for an experienced and creative Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning (MEL) Advisor to fill a vacancy emerging in our global MEL team. This is an exciting time to join the organisation as the successful candidate will play an important role in developing and rolling out a new MEL Strategy to align with Conciliation Resources’ forthcoming Strategic Plan 2026-2030.

The MEL Advisor will be responsible for providing technical advice in applying gender-sensitive and complexity-aware MEL approaches to develop CR’s peace practice, and in supporting organisation-wide Outcome Harvesting. The role would be well-suited to a versatile and creative thinker with a curiosity to adapt standard MEL approaches for the challenges associated with peacebuilding and mediation.

We want MEL to be useful for staff and partners. The MEL Adviser will draw lessons from evidence of achievements and challenges in our work to inform programme adaptation and support organisational strategy. Occasionally they may represent our experience and approach to external audiences.

As the post is a global role, the post-holder will be expected to provide remote and face-to-face technical support to Programme teams, MEL Focal Points and partners in different geographies, and to the RAP team in the development and implementation of their MEL plans. 

The MEL Adviser supports the Head of MEL in the delivery of Operational Goal 5 in Conciliation Resources’ Strategic Plan 2020-2025 and will continue to do so under the forthcoming Strategic Plan 2026-2030 and MEL strategy. The MEL Adviser will help to develop and maintain the systems, skills and approach required to deliver on this, and to embed these in organisational practice. 

Scope and Accountability 

The MEL Adviser is directly accountable to, and line-managed by, the Head of MEL and is a member of the RAP Department. 

They are accountable for maintaining systems to record and analyse data and for organising processes to capture and analyse change. 

They ensure the smooth running of organisation-wide evaluation processes, including CR’s Outcome Harvesting process, and evidence informed strategic donor reporting. 

They are responsible for providing specialist, technical advice and support to teams and partners on the design, development and implementation of their project MEL plans. 

They have a comprehensive understanding of our Strategic Plan, organisational results framework and Theory of Change, and of the nature of peacebuilding work and change. 

Person specification 

Essential knowledge, skills and experience

• Knowledge and considerable experience applying a range of complexity-aware design, monitoring, evaluation and learning concepts, tools, and approaches.
• Understanding of and experience in supporting adaptive programming, including approaches for how to monitor and evaluate adaptations. Experience of Outcome Harvesting or other participatory monitoring approaches an advantage.
• Experience designing Theories of Change for complexity-aware programmes, including monitoring frameworks and the critical analysis of data to inform adaptations. Experience of designing Theories of Change for social cohesion, mediation and/or peacebuilding programmes is an advantage.
• Ability to collect, manage and analyse quantitative and qualitative data in a manner that is sensitive to conflict-affected contexts.
• Knowledge of organisational practices such as partnership working, value for money and organisational learning.
• Knowledge of and demonstrated commitment to participatory, gender-responsive and conflict-sensitive approaches.
• Appreciation of issues of confidentiality, cross cultural working, and political sensitivity.
• Experience of working with databases, handling diverse sources of information, and maintaining accessible and secure filing systems.
• Experience of group facilitation and training support on monitoring, evaluation and learning issues.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills in English.
• Ability to listen actively to and work with and support people from varying backgrounds and with a range of political, cultural, and value orientations.
• Experience of working across an organisation to influence others. 

Desirable knowledge, skills and experience 

• Experience designing and facilitating online and hybrid workshops, including using tools such as Mentimeter, Miro and/or Lucid.
• Data visualisation software such as Zoho Analytics and Microsoft PowerBI.
• Experience in the peacebuilding sector or fragile contexts.
• Experience using MEL data for advancing research, communication and advocacy purposes.
• Other language skills, in particular French or Russian.