Job Opportunity for MEL Officer at The Nature Conservancy in Pune

WHO WE ARE

This is an exciting time at The Nature Conservancy (TNC) as we are shifting our strategy for greater impact in the world seeking to address some of the most complex challenges facing people and nature—issues such as climate change, conserving lands, waters, and oceans at unprecedented scale, providing food and water sustainably and helping make cities more resilient and sustainable.  

Our Mission

TNC’s mission is to conserve the lands and waters on which all life depends. Rather than viewing development – including economic growth – and conservation as contradictory goals, the Company works to demonstrate how nature has value for people and development and how nature can provide enormous economic benefit. TNC envision a future where people and nature can flourish together.

Our Vision: A world where the diversity of life thrives, and people act to conserve nature for its own sake and its ability to fulfil our needs and enrich our lives. 

The Conservancy Team: We achieve this through the dedicated efforts of our 3,800 diverse staff, including more than 600 scientists, all of whom support conservation in 70 countries and all 50 United States. We are striving to develop a workforce as diverse as the places where we work, and we have a deep commitment to diversity.

Organizational History

Established in 1951, TNC is the largest conservation organization in the world, working in all 50 states in the United States and more than 75 countries including Brazil, Kenya, and Indonesia. It was incorporated as a non-profit organization in the District of Columbia on October 22. TNC is science-based and in every place, it works, and partner with governments, businesses, and local communities. It has $6 billion total assets and roughly $1 billion that is generated annually and allows TNC to have a meaningful impact on the greatest challenges’ countries may face. TNC is advancing its mission by protecting and restoring rivers, landscapes and oceans for people and their development at an unprecedented scale; it is transforming the way humanity uses the Earth’s natural resources to sustain ourselves.

WHAT WE CAN ACHIEVE TOGETHER

Nature Conservancy India Solutions Private Limited (NCIS) is a private limited company incorporated under the Companies Act 2013, having it registered office in Delhi, India. It is a wholly owned Indian subsidiary of The Nature Conservancy. The company currently provides technical consultancy, monitoring & evaluation and other relate services in the domain of conservation and environment to it various clients. The company under Indian laws can also provide fee-based service to clients (development organisations, Corporates and Govt. Agencies) within and outside India. The company has all the required registrations under the relevant laws to provide such fee-based services in India.

The MEL Officer will be responsible for designing, implementing, and maintaining a comprehensive Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning (MEL) program for project. This person will lead the design of the project’s MEL framework, manage and maintain a project monitoring database, provide support to Conservancy staff and partners on monitoring data collection, manage contractors engaged for conducting MEL activities, produce periodic monitoring reports, and foster learning to inform strategy reviews, work planning and adaptive management of the project. The MEL Officer will also support periodic project evaluations. The position will be based in Pune, Maharashtra, India. The MEL Officer will report to the Water Fund Manager.

ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS

The MEL Officer leads the monitoring efforts for the project. The position develops Project’s MEL framework, organizes and supervises the data collection of project indicators, where required inputs data into the monitoring database, analyses monitoring data, finds explanations for variations in data, produces quarterly monitoring reports, documents lessons learned and success stories, draws out strategy and work plan-level implications, and reports back to the project leadership. The MEL Officer also manages contractors engaged in Project’s MEL activities and helps organize and supports data collection for project evaluations.

They establish the Conservancy as a major conservation partner within the area of responsibility, define conservation priorities in the area of responsibility, lead and manage team(s) which supports and improves conservation efforts, and builds strategic, scientific, and technical capacity in the field. They engage local community support for local conservation efforts, negotiate complex and innovative solutions with government agencies and landowners to conserve and protect natural resources, and develop and implement conservation strategies, while safeguarding the interests of local communities.

RESPONSIBILITIES & SCOPE

• Design and develop, through consultation, a research, M&E and learning strategy for project.
• Develop and manage monitoring work plans and the monitoring budget.
• Define indicators, dashboards, tools and templates required for collection and strategic use of Information to inform decision-making and evaluate results. 
• Ensure that all data collection is high quality, develop and apply standards to maintain overall technical quality, and maintain M&E databases, including input of data, where required, and analysing monitoring data.
• Ensure integrity of both data collection and data management relating to project progress reporting. 
• Supervise M&E partners and contractors.
• Provides training on field data collection to Project staff.
• Provides training on field data collection to Project staff.
• Collaborate with geospatial science colleagues to integrate spatial technology for MEL; drive development of local-to-global GIS and other enterprise-scale spatial and relational databases.
• Track project outputs on a quarterly basis, provides summary reports on progress towards targets, and updates progress in the organization’s central progress tracking system called the Hub.
• Document success stories and lessons learned, and share these with the project team, donors and partners.
• Inform strategy reviews, work planning and adaptive management of the project at critical intervals; provide recommendations for changes that should be made to project activities based on evidence collected.
• Support third-party project evaluations.
• Act as a technical liaison for Project MEL program within and outside of the organization.
• Under limited supervision, acts independently, resolves complex issues within the program area and acts as a resource to others.
• Any other task assigned by the Water Fund Lead 
• May be required to work in variable weather conditions, at remote locations, on difficult and hazardous terrain, and under physically demanding circumstances when safe to do so.
• May require frequent travel domestically. 

WHAT YOU’LL BRING

• Master’s Degree in science related field and 2-5 year of experience or equivalent combination of education and experience.
• Experience collecting, manipulating, analyzing and interpreting scientific data.
• Experience preparing reports of findings.

DESIRED QUALIFICATIONS

• Multi- lingual and multi-cultural or cross-cultural experience appreciated.
• Master level degree and 8-12 years’ experience in water conservation practice or equivalent combination of education and experience.
• Developing practical applications of scientific concepts and technical innovations for conservation purposes.
• Knowledge of methods and standards of biodiversity information systems and initiatives and experience conceiving and implementing strategic initiatives.
• Communicating clearly via written, spoken, and graphical means in English and other relevant languages.
• Politically savvy.
• Demonstrated experience and expertise in designing and operationalizing a comprehensive monitoring and evaluation plan and operationalizing routine monitoring system designed to track both output and outcome indicators from project design to implementation.
• Experienced in data collection & developing data quality assurance strategies, data management and data visualization, including proficiency in database development/management through SPSS, Stata, EPI-Info, Access, Excel. and skills in analysing, interpreting and communicating information to various stakeholders.

ADDITIONAL JOB INFORMATION

Nature Conservancy India Solutions Private Limited (NCIS) is a private limited company incorporated under the Companies Act 2013, having it registered office in Delhi, India. It is a wholly owned Indian subsidiary of The Nature Conservancy.  The company currently provides technical consultancy, monitoring & evaluation and other relate services in the domain of conservation and environment to it various clients.  The company under Indian laws can also provide fee-based service to clients (development organizations, Corporates and Govt. Agencies) within and outside India.  The company has all the required registrations under the relevant laws to provide such fee-based services in India.