The Ugandan Jobline

 

Job Title:    Monitoring, Evaluation and
Learning Coordinator

Organisation: Farm
Africa

Duty Station: 
Kampala, Uganda

Reports to: Programme
Manager – Uganda (line management); Regional Monitoring Evaluation and Learning
Advisor (technical leadership)

 

About US:

Farm Africa, founded
in 1985, is an international non-governmental organization working in Uganda,
Ethiopia, Kenya and Tanzania. We drive agricultural and environmental change to
improve lives. Our strategy has three pillars: agricultural expertise,
management and preservation of ecosystems, and the power of business to drive
prosperity. We believe Africa has the power to feed itself and are helping make
this happen by establishing and spreading the best farming and forestry
techniques so that poor farmers and herders have more food to feed their
families and to sell. We help smallholders manage their natural resources
sustainably so that they can withstand climate change challenges and shocks and
ensure their families have enough food in the future as well as now. Farm
Africa works in partnership with communities, government, local and
international organizations, and the private sector to innovate, learn and
share best practices for maximum impact of our projects.

 

Job Summary:  The Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning
Coordinator (MELC) will be a key member of the Uganda Country Office Team.
Reporting the Programme Manager, he/she will provide direct support to project
teams to deliver against their MEL objectives, as well as supporting with
programme design, and the start-up phase of new projects. The MELC will use
their strong analytical and communication skills to support field teams to
effectively monitor, evaluate and learn from their projects; ensuring timely
collection, analysis and use of robust project monitoring data, effective
evaluations and clear reporting of findings, both internally and externally. Working
in close collaboration with the Regional Programme Quality Team, the MELC will
also be responsible for ensuring that the Farm Africa Uganda team are operating
in line with the Organisational MEL minimum standards, and positively
contributing to the organisational-wide MEL strategy and learning ambitions.

 

Key Duties and Responsibilities: 

Provide direct
support to project teams in Uganda, and ensure that they achieve the required
organisational MEL standards:

·       Ensure that project teams have in place
appropriate data collection tools that align with ongoing data collection and
reporting requirements, and a suitable digital system for recording and
analysing the data they are collecting

·       Ensure that project teams are maintaining an
accurate, up-to-date, hard-copy MEL filing system, and regularly updating their
digital database.

·       In particular, work directly with field-based
staff to ensure that meaningful beneficiary feedback is routinely being
obtained, recorded and acted upon

·       Ensure that field teams and implementing
partners are familiar with, and making effective use of, Farm Africa’s
standardised MEL approaches, indicators, tools and templates.

·       Support field teams with keeping the
Monitoring & Learning Plan (MLP) for their respective projects up-to-date,
and ensuring that they deliver against it

·       Regularly review existing project MEL systems
and provide practical recommendations to strengthen the quality and use of
evidence

·       Provide technical guidance, as well as
capacity building support, to project staff

·       Support field teams with preparing for the
annual, and mid-year project performance review process (PPRs), and in
particular ensure that:

·       Weaknesses in data quality are identified,
understood by respective teams, and acted upon Learnings from ongoing data
collection are identified and acted upon in order to improve project delivery

Coordinate external
evaluations (including baseline/endline surveys) for all projects in Uganda

·       With input from project delivery teams, draft
Terms of Reference for external evaluations in line with organisational
templates and processes

·       Leading the procurement process, including
technical and financial evaluation, to identify suitable consultants who will
deliver high-quality MEL services on our behalf that represent good value for
money

·       With support from the central MEL team,
ensure that external evaluators are deploying high-quality, appropriate, data
collection methodologies, and making use of existing organisation tools where
appropriate

·       Lead each stage of the technical review
process for external evaluations, seeking input from colleagues across the
organisation as appropriate

·       Ensure that all external evaluations meet
minimum organisational standards, and are aligned with donor requirements

·       Maintain a simple database of external
consultants and their track record of working with Farm Africa Uganda

·       Support the delivery of donor-led post
project evaluation performance reviews where required

Support with
programme design and start-up of new projects in Uganda

·       Support the business development team,
technical teams and SMT with project design, with a particular focus on
developing the results framework, and ensuring MEL activities and requirements
are appropriate resourced and planned for

·       Ensure that data and evidence generated from
existing and previous projects is being effectively used to guide future
programming

·       With support from the Regional Programme
Quality Team and Programme Manager, develop the Monitoring and Learning Plan
(MLP) for new projects as and when they are secured, and ensure that it fully
understood by all relevant members of the implementing team

·       Work with the implementing teams to develop
data collection tools and data management systems that meet the ongoing data
collection requirements of projects and align to the MLP

·       Lead on delivery of pre-start up MEL
activities on new projects

Work in close
collaboration with the Regional Programme Quality Team to ensure that data,
learning and evidence generated in Uganda is contributing to the wider
organisational results measurement framework and learning agenda

·       Ensure that project-level MEL plans, data
collection tools and skills are in place, to gather and use results data for
effective results-based programming and wider organisational learning

·       Coordinate the bi-annual Project Performance
Review (PPR) process, ensuring all teams successfully complete PPRs, generating
and disseminating project learning amongst the wider country office and Head
Office teams.

·       Ensure that project learnings are
disseminated to the Farm Africa Uganda team and the wider organisation.

·       Conduct ad-hoc analysis of project monitoring
data and communicate key findings both internally and externally, as required.

·       In collaboration with the Regional Programme
Quality Team, ensure that all new programme delivery staff are trained on, and
utilise, Farm Africa’s MEL systems and tools

·       Contribute to the development and review of
Farm Africa’s strategic plan

 

These essential
functions are not to be interpreted as a complete statement of all duties
performed. Employees will be required to perform other job related duties as
required. All work responsibilities are subject to having performance goals and/or
targets established.

 

Qualifications, Skills and Experience:

·       The ideal candidate for the Farm Africa job
opportunity should hold a graduate degree in a numerate discipline (e.g.
agri-economics, statistics, applied social sciences)

·       Demonstrable understanding of monitoring and
evaluation tools, principles and best practices

·       Significant experience of working in a
specialist MEL role within a NGO

·       Experience of recruiting and managing
external consultants carrying out evaluations such as baseline surveys or
endline evaluations.

·       Experience of conducting quantitative and
qualitative field research and analysis

·       Significant experience in drafting clear
written reports/ briefings for both internal and external audiences

·       Experience of developing monitoring and
learning plans, and supporting teams to deliver against them

·       Experience of designing qualitative and
quantitative data collection tools, and supporting other team members to
effectively use them

·       Experience of designing databases and/or data
storage systems appropriate for ongoing data storage and management at a
project level.

·       Experience of designing and deploying a wide
range of beneficiary feedback mechanisms

·       Experience of coaching and capacity building
others

·       Fluency in Microsoft Office tools,
particularly MS Excel and MS Word

·       Highly numerate, confident in synthesising
and interrogating data (both quantitative and qualitative) to draw and explain
evidence-based conclusions

·       Strong written and verbal communications
skills, particularly ability to communicate technical information clearly to a
wide range of audiences

·       Sets ambitious and challenging goals for
themselves.

·       Willingness to learn on the job and take
strategic direction

 

Desired:

·       Academic training in statistical analysis or
monitoring & evaluation

·       Experience of working at a country office
level, providing direct and/or technical MEL support to multiple projects at
the same time

·       Experience of working on projects focused on
livelihoods or rural development issues

·       Experience of using complex tools to measure
attitudinal or behaviour changes such as women’s empowerment

·       Confident, flexible and initiative-taking,
with the ability to be proactive in working with others

·       Ability to multi-task and work well under
pressure, with a methodical approach and attention to detail. Highly driven and
able to work with minimal supervision

·       Future orientated, thinks strategically.

 

How to Apply:

To apply, please
send a CV, salary history and a two-page supporting statement detailing how you
meet the person specification to ugandarecruitment@farmafrica.org including
‘MEL Coordinator ’ in the subject line.

 

NB: Please DO NOT
send additional documents such as certificates and references with your
application. Successful candidates ONLY will be required to provide these
documents during the referencing process.It is anticipated that first round
interviews will take place over Skype w/c 22nd February 2021. Only shortlisted
candidates will be contacted.

 

Deadline: Tuesday, 16th February 2021 by 5:00pm

 

For more of the
latest jobs, please visit https://www.theugandanjobline.com or find us on our facebook page https://www.facebook.com/UgandanJobline

 

Related Jobs