The IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature) is a membership Union composed of both government and civil society organisations. IUCN’s mission is to influence, encourage and assist societies throughout the world to conserve the integrity and diversity of nature, and to ensure that any use of natural resources is equitable and ecologically sustainable. With over 75 years of experience, it harnesses the experience, resources and reach of its more than 1,400 Member organisations and the input of more than 15,000 experts. IUCN is the global authority on the status of the natural world and the measures needed to safeguard it. The IUCN Secretariat has offices located all around the world and is headquartered in Gland, Switzerland.
Every four years, the IUCN membership adopts a quadrennial Programme that guides the work of the Union, especially that of the IUCN Secretariat. The Secretariat implements the IUCN Programme through a growing portfolio of over 400 projects across the world that are designed to respond to country, donor, and IUCN priorities.
The MERL officer to support the implementation of Nature-based Solutions (NbS) programme under the Kiwa Initiative and the Promoting Pacific Islands Nature-based Solutions (PPIN) projects. These initiatives aim to enhance coastal resilience and biodiversity conservation in the Pacific Islands through innovative and sustainable NbS approaches. Note: MERL work will require field work, biodiversity monitoring, socio-economic monitoring or other work in 19 regional island countries.

This position supports the design and implementation of the following IUCN standards for Performance and Accountability within projects in which IUCN is the executing agency/entity:

• The design and implementation of planning, monitoring and evaluation approaches and instruments at proposal stage and in accordance with IUCN’s requirements (e.g., situation analysis, risk analysis, theory of change (ToC), logical framework, indicator selection, performance measurement framework, monitoring evaluation and learning plan, baselines, surveys, etc.).
• The implementation of monitoring, evaluation and learning activities, in coordination with the project team.
• Input and analysis to aspects of project reporting to donors, namely against project results framework and indicators. Project donor reporting is the responsibility of the Project Manager.
• Input to the project(s) contributions to institutional reporting against IUCN indicators. Institutional reporting is the responsibility of the Country Office / Programme Manager.
• The facilitation of adaptive management and learning throughout the project(s) based on monitoring and evaluation data and findings.
• The facilitation of risk analysis processes on a quarterly basis, based on the project´s risk register defined for the project.
• Support the project manager to monitor and update the project´s data and status in the IUCN Project Portal.
• Input to the finalisation and closure of projects according to IUCN requirements.
• The management of required independent project evaluations, including contribution to ToRs development, review of evaluation deliverables, facilitation of preparation of management response, and overall support on evaluation management when required.

Working under the direct supervision of the NbS Coordinator, with guidance from the Kiwa Coordinator. The Project MERL Officer is responsible for the design and implementation of planning, monitoring, evaluation, and learning processes that ensure adequate measure of the project’s/projects’ performance against donor and IUCN performance standards. This includes developing, managing, and implementing the project’s planning, monitoring, and evaluation components, contributing to the development of respective workplans and budgets to ensure sufficient resourcing for performance and accountability related activities, and facilitating learning processes with the project team(s).

Project MERL Officer is also responsible for the management and implementation of the project performance management and accountability efforts, coordinating the activities and inputs of project team members including with partners and IUCN Members. She/he/they will ensure quality assurance and alignment with institutional policies, practices, standards, and systems, including the Project Guidelines and Standards (PGS), the Project Appraisal and Approval System (PAAS), and other donor specific contractual requirements.

She/he also supports the Regional NbS Coordinator and Regional Programme Manager in ensuring that project risk management and environmental and social safeguards under the IUCN Enterprise Risk Management Policy and the IUCN Environmental and Social Management System (ESMS) are embedded in the design of the intervention and effectively implemented.

As a subject matter expert on performance, planning, monitoring, evaluation, and learning, she/he/they provides technical support and capacity development to project managers and project team members.

SPECIFIC DUTIES Design and planning – ORO, Kiwa and PPIN programmes

1. Through technical expertise and operational guidance, support the Project Manager’s and Regional Programme Manager in designing and planning the project(s), playing a strong supporting role on the theory of change, results framework, and monitoring and evaluation plan.
2. Ensure alignment of the intervention results and indicators with IUCN strategic goals and priorities (global, regional, national, and thematic) and with the principles laid out in the One Programme Charter.1
3. Lead the design and development of monitoring tools, including quantitative and qualitative indicators, and MEAL processes.
4. Provide input on the level of effort and resources required to support all planned performance and accountability activities.
5. Support the formulation of baseline measures and targets during proposal writing, project inception, and throughout project implementation.
6. Design specific MEAL process and plan for Kiwa Initiative to ensure the AFD and donor requirements are adhered to and overall programme deliverables are achieved according to outlined standards.
Implementation, monitoring, and reporting – ORO, Kiwa and PPIN programmes
7. Manage and coordinate the conduct of performance and accountability activities in a timely and efficient manner for ORO, Kiwa and PPIN programmes.
8.Support the implementation of monitoring tools and processes to ensure that activities are on-track and contributing to the achievement of stated performance objectives, results, the IUCN Programme, and contractual obligations.
9. Ensure that the performance measurement framework enables accurate and effective quantitative and qualitative measurement of progress and delivery of the project, through the development of baseline measurements, time bound milestones and targets, and clear indicators for measuring progress and results.
10. Coordinate across the members of the project team(s) to collect, analyse, and synthesize data and information to monitor and assess performance to support reporting and decision making. This can include coordinating with partners and IUCN Members.
11. Provide technical advisory, operational guidance and capacity building to the project team(s) and project manager(s) on performance and accountability to support implementation and adaptive management, including on appropriate monitoring and data collection methods and tools.
12. Advocate for and facilitate the proactive use of performance and results information in decision-making and adaptive management across the project through the preparation of technical inputs from monitoring data and as a subject-matter expert on performance dashboards.
13. Prepare technical inputs and/or contribute to drafting reports, and other evidence-based communications on progress internally and to the donor, by coordinating, controlling quality and synthesizing monitoring and reporting data.
14. Identify and contribute to mitigation of risks, supporting the Project Manager(s) in the development of risk management tools and ensure project risk register is regularly monitored and updated.
15. Support the project manager(s) to maintain accurate project data in the IUCN Programme and Project Portal.
16. Support the Project Manager(s) in meeting IUCN requirements for formal project finalisation and closure (standards for documenting outcomes and lessons learned). Evaluation and learning – ORO, Kiwa and PPIN programmes
17. Manage independent evaluations2 of the project in coordination with the Regional or Centre MEL Coordinator (who plays an assurance role): draft evaluation ToRs, provide technical inputs, provide quality assurance on evaluation deliverables, contribute to facilitation or drafting of management responses and ensure projects comply with the IUCN Evaluation Policy3 requirements for evaluation at midterm and end of the project.
18. Support and provide inputs to supervision missions, including providing analyses or reports of progress against indicators. May be occasionally requested to participate in supervision missions of other projects.
19. Advocate for and facilitate the proactive use of monitoring and evaluation information to support data-driven project management at all stages of the project cycle (promoting adaptive management and learning).
20. Promote project, programme and institutional learning through the design and facilitation of internal evaluative work, learning events or other mechanisms that capture, synthesize and share lessons and best-practices.
21. Contribute to communications with information stemming from the monitoring, evaluation and learning system.
Other duties
22. Build capacity of project team staff, partners and Members on MEL through ongoing training and coaching.
23. Share lessons, provide advice, raise issues, and identify current or emerging risks to the implementation of the policies and controls – with both direct and functional line managers.
24. Carry out other relevant tasks assigned by, and mutually agreed with, the direct and functional line managers.

Please Note: The above TORs contain the main responsibilities and duties of this position. However, in an ever-evolving organisation such as IUCN
staff members are expected to show flexibility in their approach to work and be willing to undertake other tasks that are reasonably allocated to them, but which are not part of their regular TORs. Where any task becomes a regular part of staff member’s responsibilities, the TORs should be changed in consultation between the manager, the staff member, and the HR Unit. Any one of the three may initiate the consultation.