Vacancy title:
Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning Manager

Jobs at:
Land O'Lakes International Development

Deadline of this Job:
July 11th, 2018

Duty Station:
Kigali, Rwanda

JOB DETAILS:
Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning Manager
Cooperative Development Program
Kigali, Rwanda
Background:
Land O'Lakes International Development is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit helping communities around the world build economies by strengthening agriculture from farm-to-fork, helping businesses grow, and linking farmers to markets. Since our start in 1981, we have been leveraging nearly 100 years of expertise in dairy, animal nutrition, crop inputs and agricultural insights from our close affiliate, Land O'Lakes, Inc., a farmer-owned agribusiness committed to fulfilling its purpose of feeding human progress.
Our team is made up of nearly 350 employees who are committed to market-led approaches, and passionate about collaborating locally to create lasting inclusive economic growth. By unlocking the potential of agriculture for the last 36 years, the lives of more than 3 million people have been transformed through nearly 300 programs in more than 80 countries.
Project Description:

Land O'Lakes International Development is seeking candidates for the Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning (MEL) Manager position for an anticipated 5-year Cooperative Development Program (CDP) funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). The project will advance dairy and maize cooperatives in Rwanda and horticulture and dairy cooperatives in Malawi so they have improved capacity, enabling environment and resources to meet the evolving needs of their members.
Please note that this position is contingent upon USAID award and approval. Qualified applicants are requested to submit CVs as soon as possible.

Job Summary:
The Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning (MEL) Manager will lead MEL activities for CDP in both Rwanda and Malawi. S/he will make operational decisions and facilitate the creation of the entire MEL system. Responsibilities will include: recruiting and managing enumerators, overseeing routine and major data collection efforts, maintaining and validating data quality, coordinating and negotiating MEL standards for all project partners, interfacing with USAID to discuss the MEL system, producing semi-annual and ad-hoc reports to USAID, and ensuring the MEL system and results reporting meet the USAID and Land O'Lakes MEL requirements.

The MEL Manager will also train project staff on a mobile data collection system that will assist in tracking indicators. S/he will lead the development, coordination and implementation of the Performance Monitoring Plan (PMP) as well as the dissemination of data findings to facilitate adaptive management and learning. S/he will assist with leading the development, coordination and implementation of the Learning Agenda for CDP as well as the dissemination of findings.
In adherence with USAID MEL requirements, s/he will lead the hiring, management and oversight of any potential external evaluation partners, and demonstrate an ability to take critical inputs, feedback and assessments from evaluation partners to inform changes in program approaches and scale-up. S/he will work collaboratively with the technical team to ensure usability of the MEL system, troubleshoot any major MEL related issues, and discuss opportunities for learning and adaptation. This individual will have a major focus on achieving results in all areas assuring that the CDP team members are poised to deliver services on schedule.
Reporting:
The MEL Manager will report to the HQ based Program Manager in the US.

Responsibilities:
Lead the development of the PMP and update as necessary throughout the life of the project;

• Implement appropriate mechanisms for monitoring and tracking of program activities and results;
• Responsible for coordinating ongoing data collection for the project;
• Facilitate the creation of the program learning agenda in collaboration with other program staff;
• Manage a mobile data collection platform including training staff and ensuring timely data entry;
• Monitor the quality and completeness of project data for documenting project performance, and solve data problems when they arise;
• Regularly review data collection processes, perform data quality assessments, and adjust data collection processes as needed;
• Provide project reports to the Program Manager for inclusion in donor reports, which highlights achievements against targets, bottlenecks and makes recommendations for process improvement;
• Undertake regular visits to the field to support implementation of MEL and to identify where adaptations and improvements might be needed;
• Train all project staff in project monitoring and learning;
• Assist project staff to use project data to report and disseminate evidence of project work to the wider community, USAID, Land O'Lakes, Host Government, and other external stakeholders;
• Lead the regular sharing and support learning from the outputs of MEL findings with program staff and implementing partners;
•  Demonstrate the highest degree of integrity throughout all activities, and raise any concerns with implementation quality immediately with the Program Manager;
• Participate in Project Management Team Meetings;
• Select and manage appropriate consultants for required evaluations and monitor these activities, including the following:
• Review survey design and tools in consultation with Global MEL Team and/or appropriate consultant
• Assist with selection of consultant with skills appropriate to conduct study,
• Oversee quality control/monitor progress of the consultant’s work, and
• Review and comment on content of evaluation reports.
• Utilize established SharePoint system to store key documents and share key project and country related information with other staff; and
• Other duties as requested.

Required Skills and Qualifications:

• Master’s Degree or equivalent in applied economics, statistics, sociology or related area of study and at least five (5) years of progressively responsible work experience in managing complex M&E activities on project(s) of similar size; (specialized training in M&E is required);
• Or Bachelor’s degree or equivalent in applied economics, statistics, sociology or related area of study and at least 9 years of progressively responsible work experience in managing complex M&E activities on project(s) of similar size; (specialized training in M&E is required);
• Experience designing and overseeing M&E data collection and reporting for agriculture/food security and/or cooperative development projects (Feed the Future reporting experience preferred);
• Experience conducting learning events and facilitating conversations with project leadership to encourage adaptive management;
• Experience managing a MEL system for a USAID-funded or other international donor project preferred;
• Demonstrated ability to implement, operationalize and manage information collection and assessment systems;
• Demonstrated ability in developing, managing and trouble-shooting a large-scale tablet-based data and storage collection system, or other similar information databases using appropriate software applications, for data entry, analysis and storage of quantitative data;
• Experience facilitating training and mentorship of enumerators and field-based agricultural staff tasked with data collection;
• Ability to work in a team environment and work with and train non-direct reports to implement M&E tasks;
• Familiarity with gender issues in monitoring and evaluation and an understanding of the Women’s Empowerment in Agriculture Index (WEAI) would be a plus;
• Strong writing, reporting, and presentational skills;
• Ability to establish priorities and to plan, coordinate and monitor tasks;
• Highly developed conceptual, analytical and innovative problem-solving ability;
• Computer literacy and competency in the use of Microsoft Office software;
• Competency in quantitative data analysis software (preferably SPSS or Stata);
• Good time management and willingness to work occasional long hours and travel to the field in both Rwanda and Malawi as required, potentially semi-annually;
• Ability to independently and proactively work as a team member with minimum day-to-day oversight;
• Strong interpersonal skills, self-motivated and result-driven, with ability to effectively build and manage networks and relationships for program promotion and issue-resolution preferred;
• Professional proficiency in English and a local language required.

Job application procedure
Interested candidates should apply through the link: https://lol.avature.net/Careers/JobDetail/Kigali-Rwanda-Monitoring-Evaluation-and-Learning-Manager-Rwanda/1211
Applications will be accepted through July 11th, 2018
Local and female candidates are strongly encouraged to apply.
Please note only finalists will be contacted. No phone calls, please.