Orbis is an international nonprofit delivering sight‑saving programs in over 200 countries and territories worldwide so that individuals, families, and communities can thrive. Currently, around 1 billion people across the globe live with completely avoidable blindness and vision loss. For over four decades, orbis has been tackling this challenge by building strong and sustainable eye care systems that leave a lasting legacy of vision. Orbis runs dedicated country programs in africa, asia, the caribbean, and latin america; develops and implements innovative training and technology, including an award‑winning telemedicine and e‑learning platform, cybersight; and operates the world’s first and only flying eye hospital, a fully accredited ophthalmic teaching hospital on board an md‑10 aircraft.
job summary
the global mel officer will take the lead in designing, implementing, and integrating monitoring, evaluation, and learning (mel) systems for countries without dedicated m&e staff, ensuring alignment with orbis’s global standards and objectives. The role involves providing strategic guidance in adapting mel frameworks to local contexts, incorporating global projects, and ensuring effective data collection, monitoring, and evaluation processes. Additionally, the role includes addressing data quality challenges, ensuring alignment with global mel priorities, mentoring country mel managers, building mel capacity across regions, and contributing to global mel initiatives to drive continuous improvement in systems, tools, and organizational impact.
location
working remotely (preferred location would be in one of the countries where orbis has long‑term projects: bangladesh, india, china, mongolia, peru, vietnam, ethiopia, ghana, south africa, zambia).
reporting & working relationships
the global mel officer reports to the technical advisor, mel and collaborates closely with the global mel team and country m&e managers and their equivalents; as well as country program/project managers in africa, asia, latin american and the caribbean.
essential job functions / key areas of responsibility
1. Leadership in m&e system design and integration for countries without dedicated m&e staff
* lead the design, setup, and implementation of monitoring, evaluation, and learning (mel) frameworks for countries that do not have dedicated m&e staff (e.g., vietnam, mongolia, china), ensuring alignment with orbis’s global mel system, spectrum, and organizational goals.
* provide strategic leadership in the operationalization of mel frameworks, guiding teams in adapting strategies to local contexts while ensuring alignment with global standards.
* ensure the incorporation of global projects into these country portfolios, aligning with donor requirements and global standards for mel, and driving integration across regional projects.
* develop and tailor data collection and monitoring tools for these portfolios, ensuring effective measurement of progress and impact.
* support the implementation of portfolio‑level mel strategies and ensure integration of mel processes into spectrum and global reporting systems.
* lead the development of comprehensive evaluation strategies, ensuring that projects are evaluated in a way that supports learning, accountability, and continuous improvement.
2. Cross‑regional collaboration and capacity building
* mentor and support country mel managers, equivalents, and program staff, enhancing mel capacity across regions and promoting cross‑regional learning.
* facilitate knowledge‑sharing opportunities, ensuring that lessons learned are incorporated into the design and implementation of mel frameworks across regions.
* provide technical assistance and training to strengthen mel skills, tools, and processes in regional teams, ensuring that mel systems are integrated into program management effectively.
3. Contribution to global mel initiatives and reporting
* actively participate in global mel initiatives, including value for money assessments, annual program impact reports, and global outcomes tracking.
* support the development and refinement of global mel tools, frameworks, and methodologies to ensure consistency and quality across all projects.
* collaborate with global mel teams on cross‑regional learning and knowledge sharing, contributing to the continuous improvement of mel practices and organizational impact.
* provide technical support to country teams in the use of the orbis spectrum system to ensure timely and consistent updating of project information and reports.
qualifications & experience
* master’s degree or equivalent in public health, statistics, economics, international affairs, social science, or international development.
* minimum 5 years of experience in coordinating, developing and managing m&e systems for ingos. Preference will be given to a candidate experienced in public health, health systems and eye health care.
* knowledge and demonstrated proficiency in quantitative and qualitative methods, m&e planning, m&e system improvement, evaluation methods and processes, data use and data visualization.
* knowledge of the international eye health care sector and experience working in africa or asia, or latin america and the caribbean is advantageous.
* working knowledge of basic excel and statistical analysis software (epi info, spss, stata, etc.) is desirable.
* strong in the development of simple project databases (e.g., excel, access) and data management.
* proven experience in coordinating or leading project evaluations or surveys.
* proficiency in mel methodologies and tools, including both quantitative and qualitative data collection and analysis techniques.
* strong analytical skills including quantitative data analysis and visualization skills to interpret complex data, and generate actionable insights.
* ability to communicate complex data in a simple and actionable way.
* excellent organizational skills: ability to manage multiple assignments and competing priorities.
* excellent oral communication and training skills to present information and respond to questions effectively.
* exceptional writing skills to effectively create clear and concise reports, strategies and/or guidelines.
* flexible, proactive, and open‑minded work style: the ability to work productively both independently and in a team‑based environment, in‑office and remotely.
* understanding and respecting cultural differences to effectively work with diverse teams and stakeholders. Multilingual is a plus.
* ability to travel internationally 20% of the time for extended periods.
skills & abilities
* proficiency in mel methodologies and tools, including both quantitative and qualitative data collection and analysis techniques.
* strong analytical skills including quantitative data analysis and visualization skills to interpret complex data, and generate actionable insights.
* ability to communicate complex data in a simple and actionable way.
* excellent organizational skills: ability to manage multiple assignments and competing priorities.
* excellent oral communication and training skills to present information and respond to questions effectively.
* exceptional writing skills to effectively create clear and concise reports, strategies and/or guidelines.
* flexible, proactive, and open‑minded work style: the ability to work productively both independently and in a team‑based environment, in‑office and remotely.
* understanding and respecting cultural differences to effectively work with diverse teams and stakeholders. Multilingual is a plus.
* ability to travel internationally 20% of the time for extended periods.
orbis is an equal opportunity employer.
as a global organization, we welcome qualified applicants from diverse backgrounds, cultures, and marginalized communities who are underrepresented in the international ngo sector and who reflect the five orbis values of accountability, commitment, innovation, integrity and equity.
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