The M&E and Research Manager is part of the country management team and thus plays a vital leadership role in the overall programmes team and the country office.

You lead and guide a team of M&E and Research staff and oversee and coordinate their activities. You work closely with the programme team in country and at global office.

You work with M&E and Research staff and Ministry of Education (MoE) officials at national and province levels to ensure learning activities are implemented effectively according to agreed work plans, budgets and VVOB principles, and delivered with quality.

The M&E and Research Manager reports to the Country Programmes Manager.

 Result areas of this position:   

• Lead the M&E and Research team to ensure strong M&E and research systems and activities for all VVOB programmes in Zambia, in collaboration with the Education Manager, Project Coordinators and Strategic Advisors. You will also contribute to the overall management of the VVOB Zambia country programme.
• Easily navigate between M&E, research, planning and strategic operations, ensuring that we collect and use qualitative and quantitative data to inform decisions about the programmes, while establishing effective feedback and learning mechanism within the organization.
• Provide expert leadership and guidance on how and when M&E and research activities (including impact evaluations) should take place to strengthen the programmes.
• Support the M&E and Research team to plan, allocate and prioritise tasks to execute data collection, analysis and dissemination for cross-cutting learning and projects on specific topics of interest, both through regular programme monitoring and evaluation as well as rigorous research. Guide the team to deliver research activities with high quality, while ensuring IRB compliance and adhering to research ethics protocols.
• You provide strong leadership (on-the-job mentoring, work-planning coaching, capacity development, change management) for your direct reports, supporting a positive organisational culture. You mobilise the M&E and Research team and keep them on track to meet deliverables with high quality.
• You foster good relationships with a range of stakeholders (other VVOB teams, in the Ministry, in donor and partner organizations, and in survey firms) to ensure that their needs and limitations are fully understood and incorporated into learning activities as far as possible, securing their cooperation and support. You promote VVOB as a reliable partner and you represent our organization towards external stakeholders in the field.

If you’re our M&E and Research Manager, your workweek at the office will include the following highlights:

o  In the regular data review meetings, you take stock of the ongoing activities in all provinces, reflect with the programmes and M&E teams to identify any bottlenecks, challenges and potential delays and work with the team to solve them.

 o  In a regular management meeting, you provide your input to support decisions on the strategic direction of the country office.

 o  Lunch! A perfect time to nurture relationships with colleagues and have an informal exchange on best practices

 o   You go to the field to visit Catch Up schools in different provinces to learn more on the latest innovations and research projects to ensure integrity in data collection.

 o  In a virtual meeting, you bring together technical education and research experts from TaRL Africa and VVOB to brainstorm and design the next learning activity. You are well prepared with ideas based on your work in the field.

 o  You support drafting of a research proposal describing the methodology, budget, tools, and timelines for potential and upcoming learning opportunities.

 o  You have regular one on one and team meetings with the M&E and Research team to ensure their deliverables are on track and to support their professional development.

o  You have a meeting with the officials in the Ministry of Education headquarters to discuss the findings of a recent research project.

. Does this look like your dream job?

Then read on and check whether your profile matches the job requirements!

Who are you?

This is a national position, open to Zambian nationals.

Required expertise and experience

• Master’s degree in Social Sciences, Demography, International Development, Research, or Policy related field or equivalent experience.
• At least 10 years of demonstrable experience in M&E and Research (including designing studies for monitoring and evaluation, budgeting and coordinating to implement them, analysing and disseminating results), preferably working on projects which strengthen government systems and structures. Experience with RCTs is an added advantage.
• At least 5 years of experience in leading multicultural and effective M&E and Research teams in international development and projects of different donors.
• Experience with project cycle management and institutional capacity development.
• Technical skills in a range of data collection, cleaning and analysis software such as  KoboCollect / SurveyCTO / ODK, MS Excel, Stata, PowerBI / Tableau, NVivo
• Language skills: Fluent in English (English CEFR Level C1). Knowledge of local languages is an advantage.
• Good understanding of the education landscape in Zambia.
• Ability and willingness to travel frequently within the provinces.
• Ability to inspire and motivate the M&E team, VVOB provincial staff and MoE staff to put in their very best!

• Lead the M&E and Research team to ensure strong M&E and research systems
• Easily navigate between M&E, research, planning, and strategic operations
• Provide expert leadership and guidance on M&E and research activities
• Support the M&E and Research team to plan, allocate, and prioritize tasks
• Foster good relationships with stakeholders

• Strong leadership skills
• Expertise in M&E and research
• Project cycle management
• Technical skills in data collection and analysis software
• Fluent in English

• Master's degree in Social Sciences or related field
• At least 10 years of M&E and Research experience
• Experience in leading multicultural teams
• Technical skills in data collection and analysis software
• Fluent in English