Vacancy Announcement from Abt Associates
Position: Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning (MEL) Director – Nepal AIMS
Job Identification : 101101
Job Category : Program Delivery
Locations : Abt Associates, Kathmandu, NP
Posting Date : 11/25/2021, 06:20 AM
Job Schedule : Full time
Abt Associates is currently seeking a qualified Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning (MEL) Director for the upcoming Agricultural Input Market Systems (AIMS) activity. This activity focuses on improving the productivity, competitiveness, inclusivity, and resilience of Nepal’s agriculture sector by increasing the availability and accessibility of four critical inputs – improved seed, fertilizer, irrigation, and agricultural equipment. The Agricultural Input Market Systems activity will result in the stabilization of Nepal’s agricultural input market system and reduce the specific barriers faced by women, youth, and marginalized farmers to accessing, utilizing, and benefiting from improved inputs.
Under the supervision of the Chief of Party, the MEL Director is responsible for overseeing the Activity’s performance monitoring system, conducting or overseeing related assessments and research, and providing capacity strengthening for partner organization in monitoring, data analysis, and data use.
The position will be based in Kathmandu, Nepal and is contingent upon project award to Abt Associates.
Responsibilities:
- Lead the design, development, and implementation of the project Activity Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning Plan (AMELP) and learning agenda, including identifying and adapting relevant indicators.
- Work closely with project technical staff and management to ensure appropriate and adequate MEL efforts are in place to provide each team with data needed to inform their program design and implementation decisions.
- Manage a rigorous approach to MEL and research to measure performance toward specific goals and objectives, including quantitative, qualitative, and participatory methodologies.
- Design data collection tools, schedules, analysis methods, and applied learning approaches for stakeholder training.
- Develop mechanisms to establish feedback loops between activity implementation, data collection, and communications and learning.
- Oversee and lead qualitative and quantitative data collection processes and strategies.
- Synthesize monitoring and evaluation findings needed for quarterly and annual reports for USAID.
- Drive the project’s overall learning agenda to derive lessons learned and best practices from project activities and contribute to quarterly program reviews.
Qualifications:
- Master’s degree in statistics, development economics, business administration, or relevant area of study and at least 10 years of professional experience in data management and analysis for monitoring and evaluation, adaptive management and/or learning
- Demonstrated experience designing and implementing MEL systems for complex donor-funded development projects, preferably USAID-funded.
- Experience in market systems monitoring and/or the Donor Committee for Enterprise Development (DCED) Standard preferred.
- Expertise in adaptive management, organizational learning/development, systems mapping, and development and use of collaborating, learning and adapting (CLA)-related tools.
- Demonstrated leadership skills and ability to work collaboratively and independently.
- Excellent written and oral communication skills in English required.
- Nepali nationals are strongly encouraged to apply.
Minimum Qualifications
- Bachelor’s Degree + Twelve years of relevant experience, or Master’s Degree + Ten years of relevant experience, or PhD+ Eight years of relevant experience
Abt Associates is an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity employer committed to fostering a diverse workforce. Abt Associates provides market-competitive salaries and comprehensive employee benefits. Local candidates strongly encouraged to apply.
Disclaimer: Abt Associates will never ask candidates for money in exchange for an offer of employment.
About Us
The International Development Division focuses on improving the lives and economic well-being of people in lower and middle-income countries. We command technical expertise in health, agriculture, climate change, food security and governance—as well as in international evaluation. Our multi-layered health portfolio includes policy, health promotion and disease prevention, health finance, and health systems management. In partnership with government clients and local experts, our high-quality programs in Africa, Asia, Latin America, and the Middle East are known for impact and innovation.
At Abt Associates, we are committed to creating a lasting culture of equity, diversity and inclusion and recognize that in order to achieve full participation, our practices must be free of prejudice, discrimination, and bias that result in inequitable outcomes. We are actively working to advance equity for everyone, and while we still have much work to do, we know that racial and cultural diversity are an asset to our business and the communities where we live and serve. Our ongoing commitment is focused on creating business practices that advance racial and social equity, investments in community impact programs for the benefit of Black, Indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC), and expand upon project work related to racial equity and social justice.
Application deadline: 13th January, 2022