Director of MEL/CLA – ACDI/VOCA

Since 1963 and in 148 countries, ACDI/VOCA has empowered people in developing and transitional nations to succeed in the global economy. Based in Washington, D.C., ACDI/VOCA is a nonprofit international development organization that designs and delivers technical and management solutions in agriculture, economic growth, and resilience to promote economic prosperity and social inclusion.

Director of Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning (MEL)/Collaborating, Learning and Adapting (CLA), Ethiopia

ACDI/VOCA is seeking a Director of MEL and CLA for an anticipated program in Ethiopia funded by USAID. The Director of MEL and CLA will co-develop and facilitate learning workshops with M&E and technical leads, engaging partners in identifying evidence-based ways to adapt and scale interventions. S/he will design and manage the M&E and CLA plan and learning agenda on technical and management processes. They will supervise the M&E, KM, and reporting functions to systematically generate, synthesize, share, and apply learning, effective, and adaptive management. In close collaboration with the internal communications team and with the USAID communications office, they will better portray the joint impact of the cross-cutting gender line in the portfolio. The program is anticipated to start in early 2022 and this position is envisioned to be based in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

Responsibilities

• Provide strategic leadership for MEL learning and knowledge exchange,.
• Create, share, and manage relevant knowledge assets that support program outcomes.
• Ensure that programmatic learning and results are fully documented, shared, and used to drive adaptive management processes.
• Lead the collection, analysis, documentation, dissemination, and use of best practices and lessons learned.
• Design and implement internal and external knowledge exchange and learning events to improve peer-to-peer learning, knowledge sharing and application.
• Develop and/or maintain strategic relationships with relevant stakeholders to promote effective coordination, collaboration, and dissemination of program learning.
• Support the design of and manage the M&E framework and plan that incorporates CLA principles and components.
• Lead the baseline data collection process, develop the MEL plan, and perform other related monitoring and evaluation efforts for the Activity, including leading the MEL team.
• Ensure effective reporting, data collection, and monitoring systems are in place.
• Provide technical assistance to ACDI/VOCA staff members and partner organization staff in the utilization and management of monitoring and impact assessment tools.
• Develop and test instruments for data collection; collect, analyze, and summarize field visit reports from program technical staff and implementing partners.
• Evaluate the integration of project design with the program strategy and the impact of business and technical processes to the program.
• Conduct qualitative and quantitative program impact surveys to ensure that project goals are met and that the team constantly improves program implementation quality.
• Conduct data quality reviews to ensure that all information required for submission to donor is collected in a valid, reliable, and timely manner.
• Complete impact assessment, baseline, midline, and end line surveys to assess the impact of the project on livelihoods.
• Design learning approaches that enable analysis of data, context, and emerging experience, as well as iterative adaptive management for the Activity’s technical approaches.

Qualifications

• Master’s degree in agriculture, economics, business administration, or relevant field.
• Familiarity with the concept of learning, adaptive management/CLA, and demonstrated experience using a mix of informational sources and research methods to analyze project progress, communicate findings to a range of external and internal stakeholders, and apply learning to work planning.
• 5 – 8 years of experience in designing and implementing knowledge management and sharing/learning, using CLA principles and approaches.
• 8 years of experience in linking and utilizing M&E Data, Learnings and success stories to Communication.
• Demonstrated ability to provide technical assistance and advisory services to a range of financial service providers.
• Proven leadership in supervising staff, managing multiple complex project components, and convening people across technical teams to build consensus and achieve an outcome.
• Experience working in Ethiopia preferred.
• Fluency in English required, Amharic preferred.

Ethiopian nationals are highly encouraged to apply.