MEL Developer, Designer and Producer

At Climate-KIC, we are wholeheartedly committed to building a diverse and representative team and an inclusive workplace that values different life experiences and perspectives, and we encourage personal development, learning and growth.

When recruiting, we look to achieve diversity in the candidate pool. We actively encourage applications from underrepresented groups and are happy to consider reasonable adjustments that will foster success in potential employees from diverse backgrounds and life situations. And because our team has differing needs and personal circumstances, we offer a high degree of flexibility to accommodate all working patterns. We’re happy to discuss your situation during the interview and see how best we can support you.

Don’t let Imposter Syndrome stop you from applying!

Climate-KIC (Knowledge and Innovation Community) is Europe’s foremost climate innovation initiative, entrusted by the European Commission to catalyse transformation through innovation. Headquartered in Amsterdam, with circa 160 people distributed all over the EU, Climate-KIC leads and orchestrates innovation with a community of more than 400. Together we conduct activities in 39 countries. We partner with cities, regions, governments and communities with the highest climate action ambition; providing the framework and expert support to holistically manage the complexity of climate change and deliver accelerated climate action.

Climate-KIC operates as a not-for-profit platform working through public-private partnership, wielding both public and private funding. We consist of 3 Legal entities: a Dutch BV Holding company (for profit) with 14 branches in European jurisdictions, providing grant management, innovation orchestration services, and impact investment advisory owned by a Dutch-based foundation with charity status – Climate-KIC International Foundation. Historically, we have been funded by our founder and core funder, the European Institute for Innovation and Technology (EIT), but we are currently transitioning to a multi-funder model.

The Monitoring Evaluation and Learning (MEL) Developer, Designer and Producer will work within the Climate Resilient Regions (CRR) Team, which is nested within Resilient and Climate Neutral Regions (RCNR) cluster.  The CRR focuses on supporting regions and communities that wish to transition to climate resilience through a transformational adaptation approach. Moving beyond reactive and incremental adaptation of existing systems, our approach seeks to bring about systems change where this is needed, to close the adaptation gap and deliver long-term prosperity in the face of climate change. Our goal is to empower local stakeholders to proactively embrace transformational change towards climate resilience, foster shared learning and encourage partnerships, and develop customised strategies. This commitment unfolds through a strategic roadmap designed to further strengthen our European-level role, develop interventions in engaged regions, deepen efforts in selected regions. The CRR Team is involved in a diverse portfolio of projects related to the Mission Adaptation, including Pathways2Resilience, Arcadia, NBRACER and DESIRMED and others to follow.

Key Responsibilities

Overall, the Monitoring Evaluation and Learning (MEL) Developer, Designer and Producer will be expected to develop and deliver MEL related activities within an EU Mission Adaptation project environment. This might entail providing leadership to work packages and/or specific tasks as well as contributing to cross-cutting taskforces and collaborative efforts within and beyond consortia.

Some of the activities will entail:

·       Lead on the design and implementation of project specific MEL frameworks and learning plans, including Theory of Change, indicators, evaluations or learning reviews, data collection and analysis tools to support decision-making, strategy and reporting of impact at project level etc.

·       Facilitating workshops to support regions and related stakeholders:

o   (Co)design context-adequate MEL Frameworks, including Theory of Change and Measurement and Learning tools, with diverse current and potential partners.

o   Sense make and distil quantitative and qualitative data with diverse groups of stakeholders.

·       Gathering and analysing qualitative and quantitative data as well as synthesising it into reports to produce actionable internal and external intelligence reports.

·       Support the development of a systems innovation MEL approach as a service and support embedding this service within fundraising efforts at the adaptation theme and RCNR cluster levels.

·       Implement and operationalise key elements of the project relevant MEL Frameworks as needed.

·       Support monitoring, evaluation, learning and portfolio management processes across Climate-KIC as needed and appropriate, including information flows with the central MEL team

·       Engage proactively with internal and external stakeholders to communicate and market our service and collect feedback for improvement

·       Advise, coach and/or train colleagues and partners on MEL as relevant

·       - Position the robust MEL practice of and within the RCNR Cluster as an asset within Climate-KIC and beyond

Key Working Relationships

Sitting in the RCNR cluster, your main point of focus will be with the Project Leads where your work is assigned. You will also collaborate closely with other delivery teams, across a MEL taskforce and other functions as needed.

To be successful in this role you must be able to build relationships, trust, and credibility with diverse groups of stakeholders.

Education/Qualifications

Master's in Social Sciences, Evaluation or related disciplines is helpful, but not necessary.

Experience

·       Experience in having developed and implemented MEL frameworks and learning approaches, preferably in the field of Regional Climate Adaptation, within a European context. We’re especially interested in candidates that have developed/tested MEL approaches to transformative adaptation.

·       Experience of developing and implementing MEL frameworks and approaches, including

o   Theories of Change and Transformation

o   Mixed-methods measurement and evaluation

·       Interest in systems and complexity-sensitive MEL approaches, particularly:

o   Social network analysis

o   Developmental and Blue Marble evaluation

·       Approaches to capturing and assessing hard-to-measure outcomes

o   Knowledge of Innovation frameworks and processes is desirable.

·       Strong analytical, systematising and communication skills and experience with:

o   Analysing large qualitative datasets

o   Reviewing and synthesising of technical reports

·       Designing and developing MEL outputs – including both formal reporting as well as more creative formats – that meet user needs Excellent ability and experience in facilitating workshops with diverse groups of stakeholders in different stages of a project/portfolio cycle:

o   As part of designing appropriate and relevant MEL frameworks, the collection, analysis and synthesis of data

o   As part of sensemaking findings and lessons learned for adaptive management

o   As part of validating and disseminating findings and lessons learned

·       Experience writing funding applications and reports for funders particularly on MEL

·       Experience engaging funders in conversations on utilisation and learning-focussed MEL is a plus

Skills

·       Fluent in English, fluency in other European languages is a plus.

·       Experience or willingness to work with collaborative IT applications (we use Office365 and Microsoft Teams, as well as Miro, Zoom, Mentimeter etc.)

·       Interest in and experience of using AI tools for data collection and synthesis is a plus

Qualities, Personal Style, and Approach

·       Aware and sympathetic to the EU Mission on Climate Adaptation and purpose of addressing climate change related risks.

·       Excellent team player, but also comfortable being lead facilitator for larger groups 

·       Problem solver, bringing creative solutions to complicated problems

·       Confidence to encourage creativity in others

·       Ability to develop effective relationships with internal and external stakeholders.

·       Customer service ethos and commitment to continuous improvement

·       Solutions focused, with a “can do” attitude

·       Lives the Climate-KIC community values: Dynamic, Passionate, Engaging, Open, Inspiring, Excellent and Empowering