Monitoring and Evaluation Specialist

Monitoring and Evaluation Specialist

Functional role: Senior Assessment Specialist

Project / Assignment: Baseline assessment of civil society organizations using CBO-CRA and OD 10-standard assessment frameworks
Location: Baghdad, Erbil, Basra, and/or Mosul/Ninawa, Iraq
Reports to: Team Leader / Lead Consultant
Contract type: Short-term consultancy or fixed-term project assignment

 

Position Purpose

The Monitoring and Evaluation Specialist will serve as a senior field assessor responsible for conducting structured institutional capacity and organizational development assessments with civil society organizations. The role combines participatory assessment facilitation, evidence-based document review, digital data collection, quality reporting, and practical action-planning support.

The Specialist will assess assigned organizations using CBO-CRA and OD 10-standard frameworks, document maturity-band results, identify capacity and document gaps, and support the co-creation of realistic Institutional Improvement Plans and OD Action Plans.

Key Responsibilities

Assessment preparation

• Review assessment tools, scoring rubrics, CSO profiles, and governorate-level field plans.
• Participate in calibration and pilot assessment activities to ensure consistent scoring.
• Coordinate with the Team Leader and MEAL/Data Manager on schedules, document submission, and field logistics.

Field assessment

• Conduct full primary assessment visits with assigned CSOs.
• Facilitate participatory CBO-CRA self-assessment sessions with CSO leadership, board members, staff, and volunteers.
• Apply category-sensitive scoring for established NGOs, growing CBOs, and emerging CBOs.
• Maintain a conflict-sensitive, gender-responsive, disability-inclusive, and Do No Harm approach.

OD 10-standard review

• Assess governance, finance, risk and compliance, M&E, community centricity, HR, project management, assets and procurement, grants management, and communication/reporting.
• Review Tier 1 and Tier 2 organizational documents.
• Record whether documents are missing, existing but not operationalized, or existing and operationalized.
• Prepare document gap summaries with practical priority recommendations.

Data and reporting

• Enter assessment data into Kobo Toolbox, ODK, or another approved digital platform.
• Maintain field notes, attendance records, consent forms, document inventories, scoring rationales, and evidence references.
• Prepare individual assessment reports, scorecards, OD gap summaries, and narrative findings.
• Ensure reports are organization-specific and avoid generic or copy-paste language.

Validation and action planning

• Conduct remote validation calls with CSO leadership.
• Present findings clearly and receive CSO feedback.
• Support participatory priority-setting.
• Co-create Institutional Improvement Plans and OD Action Plans that reflect the CSO’s own priorities and capacity level.

Please send your CV to careers@smithson.co

Kindly write the position title in the subject line.