About ESDO

Our vision is for a healthier, safer & more equal planet.

The European Sustainable Development Organisation (ESDO) was established to provide specialist evidence and behavioural change strategies to tackle the most complex development issues of our time.

Role: M&E Consulting Manager – Ireland or UK

Deadline: 23 May 2023

Summary

This is an exciting role to lead a team that helps ESDO achieve impact on some of the most challenging issues in the humanitarian aid and development sector. You will be leading a team of technical and thematic experts to implement research, monitoring, evaluation and learning (MEAL) projects across ESDO’s six missions on behalf of donors and clients.

We are looking for an inspiring and social impact orientated leader of this team capable of leading business development and technical MEAL/research. This is an exciting role for an ambitious technical professional with experience leading consulting teams. The role will attract, develop and retain a highly motivated core team, supplemented in projects with external expertise where needed.

This is a full time position for an Ireland-based or UK-based professional. International travel will be required.  

The Role

This is a hands-on senior leadership role with P&L responsibility for ESDO’s Small Project’s Team (SPT) within ESDO’s Evidence Unit. The SPT delivers a large number of small MEAL, research and strategy projects to high technical quality standards. We help our clients navigate complexity, gain insights and increase their impact in mostly developing and conflict affected countries.

You will be working on issues such as conflict, refugees, climate change, intersectionality and equality. The role requires someone with an outstanding mix of business development, leadership, ambition and knowledge of technical MEAL approaches. You will be confident networking with partners and colleagues and have a strong orientation towards systemising your team’s work. 

The role requires someone with a mixed skillset. The successful candidate will be able to:

⇒ write tailored, high quality winning proposals rapidly;

⇒ technically lead mixed methods research and MEAL projects;

⇒ develop long-term client relationships; and

⇒ attract, inspire, develop and retain a high performing team empowered to do all the above to increasing quality standards.

The role also has full P&L responsibility for the SPT. This responsibility includes ensuring targets and budgets are achieved. As a result, this responsibility will appeal to someone who is partly motivated by performance-based incentives.  

This is a senior role at ESDO. The responsibilities of the role will include but not be limited to:

Project Implementation (35% of time)

• Overall responsibility for the implementation of all projects within the SPT.
• Ensuring all projects in the SPT are delivered to time, quality and budget.
• Act as the primary contact point for client relationships in the SPT.
• Ensure all ESDO systems are used consistently.
• Onboarding personnel, orientating them and ensuring all HR and Finance processes are completed.
• Ensuring all elements of project financial management including budgeting, scheduling consultant payments and milestones
• Ensuring internal project reporting is completed
• Supporting and guiding project managers and team leaders
• Ensure high quality technical research and MEAL approaches are developed and deployed 
• Ensure all project marketing activity is completed, including blog posts, website updates and press releases

Fundraising (50% of time)

• Overall management of fundraising for the SPT, including supervising the development of proposals by Fundraising Officers AND writing and developing your own proposals
• Ensuring proposal quality increases and becomes more efficient
• Ensure internal fundraising targets are achieved  
• Developing and managing an engaged network of consultant advisers
• Developing data collection teams and partnerships in key implementation countries
• Managing all client compliance requirements from proposal to project conclusion
• Contract management for clients, partners and consultants

Leadership & Corporate Development (15% of time)

• Internal budgeting for the SPT
• Identifying, recruiting, developing, motivating and retaining talented personnel
• Participate in ESDO strategy development processes 
• Lead a workplan of systemisation of processes to make the ESDO Small Project’s Team more efficient at winning projects and delivering for our clients and communities
• Content writing for online properties including website and social media
• Assist with a range of administrative tasks including but not limited to recruitment processes, software selection, expenses and corporate service development
• Participating in continuous professional development processes

Requirement

This is a role for someone experienced in the consulting side of our industry who wants to take a leadership role of a business unit managing 50+ small projects per year. You need to be ambitious to grow and systemise, but humble enough to be ‘hands-on’ in proposal writing and project management. 

A successful candidate will meet the following requirements:

• Complete native fluency in written and spoken English with very high calibre writing skills.
• Based in either Ireland or the UK.
• Extensive experience managing research, monitoring, learning and/or evaluation projects with strong working knowledge of relevant technical approaches.
• Previous leadership experience of small teams.
• Evidence of successful business development and proposal writing.

In addition, experience consulting on DKK/Danida assignments and/or French fluency is highly valued.

Engagement Terms

We are looking for someone to join us on a permanent basis in Ireland or the UK.

The salary is EUR 59,400 plus performance based incentives through profit sharing (‘bonuses’) in accordance with the ESDO Policy: Profit Sharing. 

We support flexible working arrangements.

This position is vacant now.