United States of America: Design, Monitoring & Evaluation Spring 2015 Internship

Organization: Search for Common Ground
Country: United States of America
Closing date: 16 Jan 2015

Search for Common Ground

Search for Common Ground is one of the largest international NGOs working on peacebuilding and conflict transformation. We have over 30 offices around the world with over 400 staff. At the HQ in Washington there is approximately 40 full-time staff. There is always a very healthy intern community, with up to 20-25 interns at any one time.

Search is full of committed, enthusiastic and talented individuals. It is a fun place to work and an exciting place to learn. Search offers a rich range of opportunities from Brown Bag lunches, fascinating projects to get involved in, coaching and mentoring, and Happy Hours where you can get to know your colleagues in a more relaxed setting.

The Institutional Learning Team

The Institutional Learning Team (ILT) sits at the heart of the organization. The Team comprises the VP of Programs, Senior DM&E Manager, DME for Peace Manager, and Research Assistant, all of whom are based in DC. It additionally includes five DM&E Specialists based in Nepal, Tunisia, Cote d’Ivoire, Burundi, and Washington DC.

ILT is a fun and dynamic team to be part of; ILT undertakes projects that span the full spectrum of Search’s work. ILT works across every program at Search for Common Ground (SFCG) either on Design, Monitoring & Evaluation (DM&E) related issues or on learning and cross-fertilization related themes.

Job Descriptions

Supervised by the Senior DM&E Manager or the DM&E Specialist, SFCG seeks a total of two (2) Design Monitoring and Evaluation Research interns for the Institutional Learning Team.

If you are a student and would like to earn course credit from your internship, we are willing to work with you to develop a rigorous workload that is relevant to your field of study and professional interests.

We want our interns to have as rich of an experience as possible. Towards this end we ask every intern to develop a set of strategic learning objectives at the beginning of their internship, outlining their key learning and professional development needs. ILT staff will work with you to ensure assignments are relevant to these learning objectives and that you continue to grow throughout your internship.

General Responsibilities

• Organizing meetings, taking notes, and providing logistical support for the DM&E team;
• Assist with the development and maintenance of the DME for Peace website (dmeforpeace.org), including writing original blog posts on relevant topics;
• Organize and support ILT-sponsored brownbag lunch events, trainings and other informational presentations to SFCG staff;
• Provide occasional support and back-up to the Front Desk of SFCG (USG minimum hourly wage applicable);
• Provide support to the Regional DM&E Specialists as needed.

DM&E Research Intern Responsibilities

• Support SFCG’s research on cutting edge issues in research and evaluation methodology, thematic issues, best practices, and lessons learned.
• Conduct research of best practices for DM&E methodologies and tool development for our M&E systems.
• Support field-team in analysis of raw data in baseline studies.
• Support the development of learning materials from SFCG programming, including best and emerging practices, lessons learned, key evaluation findings etc.
• Maintain the internal ILT website with up to date content and tools.
• Conduct research on key Education and Peacebuilding (M&E) documents.
• Contribute to content management for the DME for Peace website and its communities of practice.

Requirements:

• Interest, education or experience in Monitoring and Evaluation, peacebuilding, international development, or other related fields.
• Senior undergraduate or graduate level preferred.
• French language skills and translation ability an advantage.
• Experience in information gathering and research - book, journal and internet.
• Excellent written and oral English communication skills and the ability to draft, edit, and proofread.
• Good computer skills (including Word, Excel, various Web 2.0 tools).
• Require 3 days per week commitment.

Preferred Attributes:

• Proactive attitude and ability to work independently and in a team.
• Attention to detail and strong organizational skills.
• Creative and thorough approach to work.
• Interest in evaluation of conflict resolution interventions.

How to apply:

The intern should be able to commit to working for SFCG for a minimum of 3 days per week in the office for at least a 3-month initial period. The ideal starting period for this internship would be in**January 2015**, though there may be some flexibility.

To apply please submit your (1) Cover Letter, (2) Resume, and (3) a two to three-page writing sample to**as soon as possible** through our application system at**:** https://sfcg.bamboohr.com/jobs/view.php?id=179. Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis.

In your cover letter, please clearly state which position you are applying to, why the position is of interest, what you can bring to it and what you hope to gain from it. If applicable, please list any other divisions you have applied to within SFCG. Please clearly state if you are seeking course credit from this internship and any requirements your University may have for such work. Also, please include the date you can start work, the length of your availability (in months), and the number of hours per week to which you can commit.

Please note this is an unpaid internship.