Senior Monitoring & Evaluation Specialist; ME IV) DRL

Location:

Washington, DC, U.S. Department of State Offices

Clearance:
Must hold and maintain a Secret or higher security clearance.

Contracting Resources Group, Inc. (CRG) is a mid-sized, woman-owned business supporting federal mission priorities through program execution, performance measurement, strategic communications, acquisition support, and digital transformation. Since 2002, CRG has provided high-quality solutions with a focus on reliability, agility, and operational excellence.

We offer a collaborative work environment, competitive compensation, and have been recognized for our strong workplace culture through awards such as Best Places to Work and the Department of Labor's Hire Vets Platinum Medallion.

CRG is seeking an experienced Monitoring and Evaluation Specialist IV to support the U.S. Department of State's Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor (DRL), specifically its Applied Learning and Evaluation (ALE) activities.

The Monitoring and Evaluation Specialist IV will provide senior-level technical expertise and strategic guidance in applied research, performance monitoring, program evaluation, and organizational learning for programs supported by the Human Rights and Democracy Fund (HRDF) and other DRL funding sources.

The successful candidate will collaborate with DRL leadership, program officers, Grants Officer Representatives (GORs), technical officers, grantees, and external evaluators to strengthen program effectiveness, improve performance measurement, and promote evidence-based decision-making across international human rights and democracy assistance programs.

This position supports the development and implementation of evaluation strategies, performance frameworks, learning agendas, and research initiatives. The specialist will also assist in managing DRL-commissioned evaluations, strengthening monitoring and evaluation practices, and incorporating lessons learned into future foreign assistance programming.

The ideal candidate will bring extensive experience in monitoring, evaluation, and learning (MEL), applied research, federal foreign assistance, and international democracy, human rights, and governance programming.

• Support the development and implementation of DRL's applied research and evaluation strategy, including the bureau evaluation plan and learning agenda.
• Provide technical direction and guidance on monitoring, evaluation, and learning approaches for DRL-funded programs.
• Design, oversee, and implement qualitative and quantitative research, performance monitoring, and evaluation activities.
• Develop and refine short- and long-term performance measures, results frameworks, indicators, and data collection methodologies.
• Coordinate and manage external evaluations, including collaboration with evaluators, researchers, and implementing partners.
• Conduct literature reviews, desk reviews, applied research, and internal evaluations as needed.
• Analyze program performance data and synthesize evaluation findings to identify trends, lessons learned, and opportunities for program improvement.
• Promote innovative, ethical, and participatory approaches to monitoring and evaluation, incorporating perspectives from communities affected by democracy, human rights, and governance programming.

• Contribute to DRL's strategic planning activities, including the bureau's Functional Bureau Strategy, evaluation priorities, and relevant Department-wide strategic initiatives.
• Support the development of portfolio-wide results frameworks and learning agendas to strengthen evidence-based programming.
• Assist in preparing and updating performance planning and reporting documents required by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), Department leadership, and other federal stakeholders.
• Contribute to the Bureau Strategic Resource Plan, Congressional Budget Justification, Operational Plan, Performance Plan and Report (PPR), and other required performance documents.
• Support strategic planning and oversight of the ALE team's spending plan, including funding for applied research and evaluation activities.
• Assist in developing program goals, objectives, performance indicators, and evaluation requirements for DRL funding.
• Develop strategies to communicate and disseminate evaluation findings, policy updates,…