Short-Term Summer Hire, Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability And Learning – (Meal)

NOTE: This is a US based telecommuter position; The position can be based anywhere in the United States. US work authorization required at the time of application.

The focus of this summer hire is on knowledge management of CRS’s university engagement and research activities, by redesigning and updating both the internal and external university engagement and research website pages and finding and analyzing up to date and pertinent research resources.

Background

CRS’s university engagement and research sub-unit is based in CRS’s Monitoring Evaluation Accountability and Learning (MEAL) unit which offers opportunities to strengthen the quality of our programs and accountability to the people we serve, sharpen skills, deepen experience, innovate and lead sustainable development work. CRS has been extensively involved in operational and evidence-building research working with universities and research institutes around the world. Our engagement with researchers has enabled us to design research projects that have allowed us to deliver more effective programs, by establishing a stronger evidence base about what works and find innovative solutions to seemingly intractable problems. And our research projects have helped us to deliver better services with greater efficiency in a more sustainable fashion. Our experiences partnering with universities and research institutes to conduct high quality applied research have led us to test game-changing new approaches that can be scaled up to bring about transformation in the lives of the poor.

The summer hire will be expected to find research tools to highlight on internal website for the use of CRS staff (i.e. guides for research methods training, literature review, and research design for international development practitioners); and pull together and organize information about CRS’s research and other collaborations with university partners to update and build the university engagement and research SharePoint page (CRS’s internal website) and the MEAL pages of the CRS external facing website, as well as prepare information for a larger knowledge management database system which is in the early stages of being constructed. The summer hire will have a chance to contribute to the development of a new knowledge management and data system for the whole organization, as well as bring to the attention cutting edge resources in the humanitarian and development sector to sharpen CRS staff’s research design and research methods skills.

Key Job Responsibilities:

• Weekly check-in meetings with Senior Advisor for University Engagement and Research
• Self-directed remote work based on weekly activity plan, adhering to agreed upon deadlines

Research Tools

• Communicate closely with the Senior Advisor for University Engagement and Research as to progress and seek clarifications and input on process and progress.

• Analysis of and short write-ups on these research tools regarding the benefits of use
• Website design – research resource section
• Internet searches for research tools for CRS staff research capacity training

Knowledge Management of CRS’s collaborations with university partners

• Searches within CRS’s Gateway and SharePoint pages to gather information on research projects and other university partner collaborations
• Website design for both internal and external sites – university partner activities
• Liaise with CP and HQ staff, researchers, university partners to gather information
• Writing short executive summaries of research projects and choosing key words
• Communicate and coordinate with the KML team and other MEAL staff as relevant to solicit input on SharePoint site design and organization and MEAL team members for external website

It is expected that the summer hire will complete:

1. Two redesigned and updated sections of the university engagement and research SharePoint page (see above)

2. Content and design for the university engagement and research section of the MEAL external website page