Collaborating, Learning, and Adapting Specialist

Location

Silver Spring, MD | United States

Job description

Panagora Group is a woman and employee-owned small business (WOSB) providing novel and integrated solutions in global health and international development. Our goal is to provide innovative solutions that build national capacity and promote sustainability through robust local participation and capacity building, utilizing highly integrated and private sector solutions. Throughout our work, we embrace a virtuous circle of knowledge stewardship, collaborative learning, and application of evidence to heighten and accelerate positive health and development outcomes. In 2023, Panagora was awarded a Great Place to Work certification based on employee feedback.

We are seeking an experienced CLA Specialist who will provide overall leadership, technical expertise, and guidance on Panagora’s signature CLA approach for our monitoring, evaluation, and learning platforms and continuously improve our approach to learning and development effectiveness. The CLA Specialist will be adept in USAID’s CLA framework with the ability to provide catalytic leadership and facilitation, form and support peer groups and/or expert networks focused on excellence in coordination, collaboration, continuous learning, and adaptive management. The Specialist will provide technical support to home office and activity office teams in Panagora’s CLA approach ensuring integration of CLA from the start of an activity -- during the proposal stage and in proposal budgets, and with recruitment of CLA staff through the implementation stage -- advising, providing technical assistance, and coaching or mentoring. The Specialist will also lead the global community of practice (CoP), contribute to new business development, and undertake short-term technical assignments.

Responsibilities

• Lead Panagora’s CLA practice to ensure branded approaches to collaboration, learning, and adaptive management practices are integrated in current and future activities including technical and cost proposals
• Champion a learning culture which enhances program effectiveness, collaboration, and iterative learning
•   Enhance brand recognition by generating and sharing ever better solutions to use evidence for learning and adaptation, identify ways to improve, and create plans for achieving improvements
• Steward branded CLA systems and processes working closely with technical teams to integrate methodologies that provide high quality results for evidence-based learning and adaptation
• Work closely with members of the innovation and organizational learning (IOL) practice to integrate CLA practices and provide technical support to knowledge management, organizational capacity strengthening, and private sector engagement
• Support technical billable assignments, serving as CLA lead/advisor, supporting activity teams in work planning, strategy development and implementation, CLA training, CLA self-assessments and action plans, facilitation, and internalization of CLA practices
• Participate and support capacity building activities and knowledge capture, synthesize findings from evaluations, assessments, special studies, and other sources to produce useful evidence
• Coordinate, plan, and facilitate learning activities such as pause and reflect, after action reviews, briefings, workshops to accommodate diverse audiences, and systematize strategies to promote learning, strategic collaboration, and knowledge exchange
• Lead the global CLA community of practice coordinating knowledge capture and strategic learning to promote engagement, knowledge sharing, and innovation
• Support new business by providing leadership in technical conceptualization and writing CLA approaches, recruitment of high-quality personnel, and contributing to other sections
• Keep abreast of CLA technical area, best practices, and USAID initiatives, policies, and guidance, understanding their impact, and adapting CLA approaches as needed
• Mentor staff in CLA signature approaches to ensure high level of understanding and effective adaptation
  

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree required and masters degree preferred in organizational learning, knowledge management, monitoring and evaluation, human development, or relevant fields
  
• Minimum of eight (8) years’ demonstrated experience in the design and facilitation of learning strategies or in the design of participatory methodologies in evaluation or research contexts
  
• Minimum of five (5) years’ experience in compiling and preparing learning materials and presentations using both quantitative and qualitative data
  
• Knowledge of and practical experience working with USAID CLA framework desired
  
• Must have conceptual knowledge of monitoring, evaluation, and learning
  
• Proven ability in successfully implement CLA methodologies and approaches; monitor progress towards learning agenda objectives
  
• Excellent skills in facilitation and workshop design using collaborative methodologies aimed at various diverse audiences
  
• Impeccable interpersonal and management skills; and prioritization skills with good attention to details
  
• Excellent verbal, written, and presentation skills
  
• Strong analytical skills and ability to present technical data to diverse audiences
  
• Proficiency in Microsoft Office including Word, Excel, and PowerPoint required
  
• Ability to meet deadlines under pressure, build consensus and work with diverse groups
• Willingness to travel internationally, primarily to developing countries
  
• English required and foreign language skills preferred
  

Reports to:   Director, PSE/Innovation and Organizational Learning

No telephone inquiries, please. Finalists will be contacted. Only applicants who include the required application components will be considered.

Panagora Group is an equal opportunity employer and prohibits discrimination and harassment of any type without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, national origin, disability status, genetics, protected veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state or local laws.

Panagora Group is currently working a hybrid work schedule, and employees are encouraged to come into the office at least once a week  to foster engagement, collaboration, belonging and professional development. Departments/teams will hold in-person meetings that involve a high degree of collaboration, where ideas are generated quickly and often feed off each other, e.g., brainstorming, storyboarding, proposal development, strategic planning, and performance discussions. Staff who reside in the DC/MD/VA area are strongly encouraged to work from the office on those days.

Benefits

Panagora Group, Inc. offers competitive salaries including regular performance reviews and merit increases with an excellent insurance program (health, dental and vision) paid leave, holidays, bonuses, employee assistance program, training and development assistance, commuter allowance, phone allowance, Society for International Development and Humentum Memberships, as well as employee stock ownership (ESOP) and 401K programs.

*Note: Panagora does not offer visa sponsorship at this time.

Job tags

Salary