Feed the Future/Rwanda Hinga Wunguke Activity
MEL Manager
About Cultivating New Frontiers in Agriculture (CNFA)
CNFA is a not-for-profit organization based in Washington, D.C., dedicated to stimulating economic growth in the agricultural sector by nurturing entrepreneurship, private enterprise, and market linkages. CNFA specializes in fostering private sector investments in training, new technologies and marketing as a means to increase the overall competitiveness of agricultural value chains and rural development, to increase people’s incomes, to develop skills in the rural workforce, and to facilitate exports.
Program Description
The purpose of the Feed the Future Rwanda Hinga Wunguke Activity is to support increased agriculture productivity and income, access to finance and markets, and access and consumption of nutritious food products in Rwanda, while increasing the resilience of the agriculture and food systems to the changing climate. To achieve this goal, the Activity will sustainably increase agricultural productivity, increase access to finance for farmers and agribusinesses, improve producers’ market outcomes, and strengthen the enabling environment to foster market-driven outcomes in agriculture.
Position Description
The Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning (MEL) Manager will report to the Director of Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning unit and work in supporting and creating an environment in which data and evidence are systematically produced, analyzed, interpreted; and establish how knowledge is institutionalized and is utilized for program growth. This includes ensuring quality reporting and timely information for accountability to ensure that the program interventions are of high quality and adhere to USAID reporting guidance and global best practices. This role will also provide data analytics from project monitoring, needs assessments and research to inform timely progress, achievement of deliverables against intended results and establish trends, patterns, and learnings for programs and collaborate with the Hinga Wunguke Advisor for Collaboration, Learning and Adaptation (CLA) to support the development and implementation of CLA & MEL strategies.
The MEL manager is based in Kigali and will provide MEL expertise across the four Hinga Wunguke Activity objectives (Sustainably Increase Agricultural Productivity, Access to Finance for Farmers & Agribusinesses Increased, Improve Producers’ Market Outcomes, and Strengthen the Enabling Environment to Foster Market-Driven Agriculture) to ensure smooth implementation, monitoring and evaluation of the Activity, and learning at both district and Zone Of Influence levels.
Duties and Responsibilities:
- Support the MEL Director to develop and implement the MEL system as aligned with market system development approach.
- Support the implementation of the MEL Plan, including coordinating and supervising the diverse work of members of the MEL Team.
- Collaborate with MSA Team to develop Activity Results Chains to inform expected activity specific results.
- Support the MEL Director to integrate MEL data collection and reporting requirements into Scopes of Work (SOWs) for new partners, grants, and subcontractor task orders, ensuring they are incorporated into deliverables or milestones.
- Provide oversight and coordination of data collection, analysis, reporting and dissemination of results and findings.
- Support the MEL Director for the overall data quality control and timeliness, conducting data verification and other quality assurance activities, including spot-checks, data quality assessments (DQAs), etc. to ensure accuracy of MEL data and reporting documents.
- Responsible for maintaining and updating a Performance Results Indicator Table and CNFA’s Management for Results platform.
- Support the MSA team in developing and facilitating CLA tools and activities to help in the identification, analysis, and synthesis of lessons learned from activity implementation; facilitate incorporation of lessons into the life of project cycle.
- Supporting the MEL Director on the baseline, quarterly, and annual performance reviews
- Supporting the MSA team on the systems baseline and other subsequent evaluations
- Participate/ facilitate sharing and learning from the findings of quantitative and qualitative data with staff and partners about results and findings.
- Conduct/facilitate internal surveys and support project evaluations, partner site visits, and research missions as required.
- Participate in the process of selecting and managing appropriate consultants and firms to complete surveys, studies, and required evaluations; oversee MEL consultants to deliver quality work products.
- Lead and provide mentorship to provincial MEL staff to ensure high levels of performance, motivation, and continuous professional development, including the introduction of approaches, processes, and new systems to the team.
- Support the writing of the Activity quarterly and annual progress reports.
- Collaborate with the Gender and Social Inclusion Advisor to ensure CLA and MEL are inclusive of women, youth, people with disabilities, and other groups.
- Undertake other assignments or tasks at the request of MEL Director or designee.
Required Skills and Qualifications:
- Bachelor’s Degree in related disciplines: Statistics, Economics, Applied Mathematics, Data Science, Monitoring and Evaluation.
- At least five (7) years of relevant and progressive professional experience in designing and implementing MEL systems.
- Evidence of specialized training in MEL systems and experience designing and overseeing rigorous evaluation methods, applying analyses tools, and reporting results for agriculture, food security, and / or livelihoods promotion development projects.
- Experience working with private sector, civil society, and government sectors on MEL, and demonstrated ability to coordinate with multiple stakeholders for data collection, data verification, reporting and dissemination.
- Demonstrated ability to implement, operationalize, and manage information collection and assessment systems, and experience using, managing, and trouble-shooting databases using appropriate software applications for data entry, analysis, and storage of quantitative data.
- Professional proficiency in programming skills using data collection tools, track progress and assess impact (preferably KoboTool Box, Survey CTO, or CommCare)
- High-levelof competency in the use of MS Office software and skilled competency in quantitative data analysis software (preferably Stata, Python, or R), and qualitative data analysis software (preferably NVivo).
- Demonstrated ability to proactively establish priorities and to plan, coordinate, collaborate, and monitor tasks completion and achievements.
- Proven ability to establish and maintain interpersonal and professional relationships internally and externally with USAID, partners, and other key stakeholders.
- Professional proficiency in excellent writing, communications and data management skills and attention to detail.
Preferred Qualifications:
- Experience managing MEL systems for USAID Feed the Future-funded programs, in the areas of agriculture, market systems or private sector engagement.
- Proven experience in market system development project implementation and in measuring systemic change.
- Fluent Kinyarwanda and English language skills are required (written and spoken) with French skills an advantage.
How to Apply
Interested applicants fulfilling the above-mentioned criteria are invited to submit their application documents through Job in Rwanda by “ filling out the application form carefully ” including detailed Curriculum Vitae (max 5 pages), a motivation letter, and a copy of a university degree(s). Past and current service certificates also need to be attached to the application (unproven experience will not be considered during the shortlisting). Submit the full file no later than 13th April 2023.
Only candidates selected for interview will be notified.
The MEL Manager will be based in Kigali, Rwanda.
