Monitoring, Evaluation & Learning (MEL) Specialist, IGNITE Program at TechnoServe Nigeria

TechnoServe works with enterprising people in the developing world to build competitive farms, businesses, and industries. We are a non-profit organization that develops business solutions to poverty by linking people to information, capital, and markets. Our work is rooted in the idea that given the opportunity, hardworking men and women in even the poorest places can generate income, jobs, and wealth for their families and communities. With more than four decades of proven results, we believe in the power of private enterprise to transform lives.

We are recruiting suitable candidates to fill the position below:

Job Title: Monitoring, Evaluation & Learning (MEL) Specialist, Inspiring Good Nutrition Initiatives Through Enterprise (IGNITE) Program

Requisition Number: MELSP003761
Location: Lagos
Employment Type: Full Time
Job Category: Programs
Reports to: Senior Program Manager (IGNITE)
Grade: 7

Job Summary

• Under the overall guidance of the Hub Country (Nigeria) Senior Program Manager, the MEL Specialist will plan and implement the proper systems and procedures that generate timely, high quality data and analysis that enables adaptive management within the IGNITE program.
• S/he will perform the technical activities related to monitoring & evaluation and serve as the primary point of contact for data collection and aggregation that supports project reporting and will provide inputs to inform project decision-making.

Program / Practice / Department Overview

• The Inspiring Good Nutrition Initiatives Through Enterprise (IGNITE) will build on the foundations of the Technical Assistance Accelerator Prelude (TAAP) program to achieve increased motivation and fortification capability of millers leading to increased proportion of fortified staple foods and conversion of a critical mass of millers to improved FF practices across at least eight countries.
• IGNITE will facilitate the activation and expansion of a catalytic collective impact initiative - the Millers 4 Nutrition (M4N) coalition - to globally coordinate and locally implement an ultimately sustainable model for delivery of technical assistance (TA) and other services to millers.
• These TA services, and associated engagement platforms, will establish business cases and motivate and develop capabilities of food processors to improve their performance in the fortification of selected staple foods and condiments, and thereby to achieve large-scale and relevant (contributing to the diets of large proportions of populations in countries where staple FF has been identified as part of national nutrition strategies) coverage on a sustained basis.
• The IGNITE program will be implemented in eight priority countries namely Bangladesh, Ethiopia, India, Indonesia, Kenya, Nigeria, Pakistan and Tanzania with Nigeria, Kenya, and India serving as the operational hubs.

Primary Functions & Responsibilities
Establish the MEL approach for the project, including:

• Develop and execute a work plan for data capture and reporting against project performance indicators and emergent project information needs.
• Identify and implement the appropriate information-gathering approach to inform emergent knowledge gaps that are relevant for project decision-making such as processor market share data, stakeholder engagement mapping, and tracking of Strategic Fortification Partner (SFP) collaboration objectives
• Manage the data collection and management process from primary data sources provided and validated by the country team for final reporting to ensure quality
• Design additional input forms, feedback surveys, and data gathering mechanism that may be required to enhance the centralized database- Relationship Management and Activity Tracking Tool (RMATT).
• Develop and manage regular data quality assessments, data cleaning and data analysis to produce data visualization sets for reporting and presentations
• Provide technical assistance and training to responsible staff on their role in performing data collection, analysis, review, and use.
• Working closely with the global MEL Manager and Advocacy, Knowledge Management, and Learning Manager to review, analyze, and present findings from monitoring reports and other collected data to identify insights that can inform project implementation strategy
• Contribute to the building and maintenance of dynamic country level dashboard of the project.

Contribute to the Adaptive Management Approach:

• Provide leadership to relevant program team members to ensure comprehensive understanding of the role of MEL in adaptive management.
• In collaboration with the Senior Program Manager, regularly review and revise the project’s logical framework, ensuring it’s updated in accordance with knowledge gained during implementation.
• Ensure information flows across the program country team through the sharing and analysis of new information.
• Actively engage with global leadership team on areas for course correction, serving as an embedded evaluator to source opportunities for improvement and lessons learned.
• Coordinate data collection and reporting on project learning agenda under the leadership of the Senior Program Manager and Global MEL Manager.

Collaborate With the Broader M&E Ecosystem at TechnoServe:

• Participate in capacity building meetings and other relevant events related to MEL
• Through an indirect reporting line to the Global MEL Manager, provide access and insight into the project’s M&E approach to facilitate the MEL Manager’s assessment of the project against organizational standards and annual impact reporting
• Support the Global MEL Manager in the execution of the project’s evaluation, including management of the external evaluation team.
• Contribute to sharing lessons learned with the broader TechnoServe community

Basic Qualifications

• A Bachelor’s Degree in a relevant field, such as Economics or other Social Science, Business Administration, Agronomy or relevant field and a minimum of 3 years of experience in program management or implementing multidisciplinary and results-based M&E systems OR a Master's Degree and 1 years of similar experience.
• Experience utilizing M&E methods and methodologies (including qualitative, quantitative, and participatory methods as well as the use of causal logic in designing, planning, implementing, and evaluating projects).

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities:

• Strong written and oral communication skills and experience producing clear and concise reports. Capacity to translate research, methodologies, and data into accessible formats for colleagues with non-technical backgrounds
• Knowledge of and capacity to learn data collection and analytical software (e.g. Commcare, Excel, NVivo, SPSS, or others)
• Expertise in data management, analysis, and interpretation, skilled at data visualization.
• Takes an inquisitive and creative approach to problem-solving.
• Management skills, such as project management, personnel management, work plan management, and/or financial management.

Required Languages:

• Proficiency in English.

Travel:

• Willingness and availability to undertake field visits.

Application Closing Date
Not Specified.

Method of Application
Interested and qualified candidates should:
Click here to apply online

Note

• We encourage all qualified individuals who share TechnoServe's vision of improving the lives of others through proven business solutions to apply.
• With our commitment to diversity, we are proud to be an equal opportunity employer and affirmative action employer and do not discriminate on the basis of gender, race, color, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, HIV/AIDS status, protected veteran status, disability and all other protected classes.
• We are also proud of our commitment to protecting staff, partners, and beneficiaries from abuse and exploitation and thoroughly vet all final candidates through rigorous background and reference checks.