Colombia Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning

**OFFICE LOCATION**:
Bogotá, Colombia
LA119

**WHO WE ARE**:
The mission of The Nature Conservancy (TNC) is to conserve the lands and waters upon which all life depends. As a science-based organization, we develop innovative, on-the-ground solutions to the world’s toughest environmental challenges so that people and nature can thrive. Our work is guided by our values, which include a commitment to diversity and respect for people, communities, and cultures. From a rewarding mission to career development and flexible schedules, there are many reasons to love life #insideTNC. Want to know more? Check out our TNC Talent playlist on YouTube to hear stories from staff or visit Glassdoor.

**WHAT WE CAN ACHIEVE TOGETHER**:
Science staff at The Nature Conservancy help ensure that the organization’s actions are evidence-based. The Colombia Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning (MEL) Specialist will work closely with staff within the Colombia Business Unit to conduct research and publish findings that advance the evidence base for existing and emerging conservation strategies in support of the Conservancy’s organizational goals. Research responsibilities include quantitative data analysis, sampling design, and leading peer-reviewed publications that present the findings from TNC’s monitoring and evaluation work. They will build capacity within TNC through doing these tasks in partnership with TNC staff. Publishing the results of our monitoring and evaluation work increases its credibility, makes the learning accessible to the broader conservation community outside of TNC, and provides important products that can be shared to highlight our work. They must work in variable weather conditions, at remote locations, in hazardous terrain and under physically demanding circumstances. This position reports to Colombia Science Coordinator and is located in Colombia.

**WE'RE LOOKING FOR YOU**:
The MEL Specialist supports rigorous design and implementation of monitoring and evaluation work within the Colombia Business Unit. To do this they require strong quantitative analytical skills that can be applied to analyses across many different environments (e.g. grasslands, forests, basins) and conservation strategies. The essential functions are to advance TNC’s overall Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning systems, standards and capacity; support the assessment and measurement of conservation project progress and impacts; and contribute to the body of knowledge on measuring conservation outcomes and the impacts of project interventions.

In fulfilling these functions, they will support the design of conservation projects and specific research and data collection activities designed to determine the impact and effectiveness of the conservation work of TNC and partners in Colombia. They also advise on and help with appropriate analysis of existing data already collected by TNC teams and partners. They support, and in some cases lead, the timely development of peer reviewed publications that report on these analyses. They support regional and global MEL related processes and build TNC staff capacity by doing these activities in close partnership with TNC staff in Colombia. They help connect TNC teams to external expertise (e.g. collaborators at universities) as necessary and beneficial. They support the inclusion of monitoring and evaluation plans within project and fundraising proposals.
- Responsibilities and scope of this position include:
- Support TNC-Colombia to implement a MEL system.
- Supports the capacity of project implementors to contribute lessons to the evidence base.
- Confronts questions of conservation impact and effectiveness with quantitative analysis of empirical data.
- Timely development and follow up of manuscripts for publication in peer reviewed journals.
- Documents and publishes lessons to add to the global body of knowledge about conservation.
- Fosters internal and external collaborations with other researchers.
- Acts as the Colombia focal point to coordinate with TNC global MEL team and LAR MEL Leader.
- Participate and/or lead a cross functional team.
- Self-motivated training and learning so that skills remain current.
- May manage a grant, contract or write a request for proposal.

**WHAT YOU'LL BRING**:

- Master's Degree in science related field and 1 year of experience or equivalent combination of education and experience.
- Experience collecting, manipulating, analyzing and interpreting data using a variety of statistical methods.
- Experience preparing different types of reports of findings including scientific publications.
- Record of peer reviewed publications in scientific journals.
- Experience working and communicating with a wide range of people.
- Written and oral communication skills in Spanish and English.
- Experience using a variety of GIS, both proprietary (e.g., ArcGIS Pro, Google Earth Engine) and open source (e.g., QGIS, Python, R, Julia, PostGIS, GRASS) to maintain data