MEL Specialist at TechnoServe: (Deadline 12 February 2024)

MEL Specialist

Locations

Job details

Description

TechnoServe Background:

Everyone deserves the opportunity to build a better future. This simple idea has been at the heart of TechnoServe’s work around the world for over 50 years. TechnoServe is a pioneer in leveraging the power of business and markets to create sustainable pathways out of poverty.

The low-income communities in which we work are full of enterprising people. Their small-scale farms and businesses are the keys to economic development. But they face many challenges: low literacy, lack of access to jobs and markets, unpredictable political dynamics, and, increasingly, the effects of climate change. For many women and young people, the challenges are even more daunting. Working with TechnoServe staff, people around the world are lifting themselves out of poverty. The results are amazing…when incomes increase and living conditions for families get better, they are able to access health care and education previously out of reach. Communities and even whole countries are better off.

Program Description: 

TechnoServe is working with a major bilateral donor to design and implement a multi-year program that aims to break the cycle of vulnerability, poverty, and gender inequality in some of Rwanda’s poorest and environmentally fragile districts in the Western and Southern Provinces. The program will use a market systems approach to catalyze systemic changes that result in sustainable, increased incomes for tens of thousands of poor people, particularly women, living in Western and Southwestern Rwanda. ReGenerate Rwanda will apply an environmentally sustainable/regenerative business lens to reduce economic, environmental, and social barriers that keep poor women, youth, and men trapped in poverty and unlock opportunities for their full engagement in and benefit from economic opportunities.

To achieve its objective, ReGenerate Rwanda will work in close partnership with a diverse range of market actors to support a portfolio of interventions within priority sectors or cross-cutting market functions. The focus of these portfolios will be identified over the course of a six-month Inception Phase, expected to begin in early 2023.

Position Description:

TechnoServe seeks a qualified Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning (MEL) Specialist and support implementation of all aspects of MEL activities, including initiatives that foster a culture of ongoing learning and adaptive management.  Based in Rusizi with frequent travel to Western and Southern Rwanda, s/he will be responsible for timely and progressive implementation of the program’s MEL Plan and systems, in close collaboration with the MEL Manager, program team as well as partners. S/he will also be responsible for providing the necessary data and information to improve performance and effectiveness and inform planning and management decisions. The MEL Specialist will support regular and ad hoc reviews and analyses of program data and learnings that will inform program adaptations and preparation of donor reporting and other program communications.

Key roles and responsibility 

• Support execution of MEL activities for the program including, tracking implementation and performance monitoring through quality data collection, analysis and reporting to inform ongoing program progress and support decision making.
• Liaise regularly with the MEL Manager and the program team to ensure that the program is consistently collecting and analyzing sex-disaggregated data, and tracking rights-based power dynamics to generate insights for gender and youth interventions.
• Support fostering a culture of learning amongst the program team and partners whereby sharing failure and/or success in achievement of results and communicating learning from implementation challenges is not only encouraged but expected.
• Undertake regular visits to the field to support the implementation of MEL activities.
• Ensure that lessons learned in one area of operation are applied elsewhere, as appropriate.
• Work closely with the program MEL Manager to help ensure that program work plans are on target to meet deliverables in a timely and effective manner.
• Collect feedback from partners in order to identify challenges encountered during the implementation of program interventions and maintain a database of program partners and ensure it is updated on a regular basis.
• Maintain a strong working relationships with program partners and ensure their effectiveness is monitored as appropriate.

Basic Qualifications and Competencies: 

• Bachelor’s Degree in business, economics, statistics or international development-related studies required.
• At least 3 years of experience with MEL methods and approaches, planning, and implementing M&E systems, analyzing and reporting using a logical framework, results chain and other strategic planning approaches;
• Excellent oral and written communication skills and project reporting skills a must;
• Prior experience conducting baseline, mid-term and/or final program assessments/ evaluations and research protocols.
• Demonstrated understanding of – and commitment to challenging – barriers that disadvantage the vulnerable, women and youth and exclude them from economic opportunities.
• Demonstrated experience monitoring the progress of interventions and using field observations and results management data to update program assumptions.
• Analytical skills; ability to synthesize information and distill insights and conclusions.
• Demonstrated strong problem solving skills.
• Ability to develop well written, clearly structured, cohesive analyses and reports in English.
• Learning mindset and a passion for learning.
• Strong planning skills and experience working to strict time-guidelines;
• Excellent oral and written communication and presentation skills and good computer skills in business software (Excel, MS Project, and PowerPoint).
• Rwanda experience strongly preferred. Local candidates are strongly encouraged to apply.
• Fluency in in both Kinyarwanda and English.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Experience using statistical analysis software.
• Familiarity with Monitoring and Results Management (MRM) system.
• Familiarity with the Donor Committee for Enterprise Development (DCED) standards for results measurement.
• Proficiency in French preferred.

Required Languages:

• Fluency in both Kinyarwanda and English with excellent oral and written communication skills required.

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities:

• Detail orientation, including strong organizational, analytical and quantitative skills.
• Results-oriented, with demonstrated experience achieving program targets.
• Proven team player with strong interpersonal and cross-cultural skills.
• Excellent computer skills in Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and other administrative applications.

Supervisory Responsibilities 

• Supervise data enumerators/data collectors.
• Coordinate input from a range of program staff and partners. Experience working with multi-disciplinary teams desired.

Success Factors 

Competency is a combination of knowledge, skills and abilities (KSAs) directly related to successful performance on the job.

Core Competencies include:

• Integrity and honesty: Is widely trusted; seen as a direct, truthful individual; presents truthful information in an appropriate and helpful manner; keeps confidences; admits mistakes; does not misrepresent himself or herself for personal gain.
• Team Work/ Relationships: Works co-operatively and flexibly with other members of the team with a full understanding of the role to be played as a team member and/or leader, to achieve a common goal.  Ability to build and maintain effective relationships and networks.
• Learning attitude: Proactively takes advantage of opportunities to learn. Actively identifies new areas for learning; applies and shares new knowledge and skill appropriately.
• Diversity/Inclusiveness: Demonstrates an understanding and appreciation for diversity and supports diversity efforts. Interacts effectively with and inclusively with people of all races, cultures, ethnicities, backgrounds, religions, ages, and genders.
• Communication: Expresses ideas effectively in individual and group situations. Listens effectively; shares information, ideas and arguments; adjusts terminology, language and communication modes to the needs of the audience; ensures accurate understanding; acts in a way that facilitates open exchange of ideas and information; uses appropriate non-verbal communication.
• Decision making/Problem Solving: Is able to analyse situations, diagnose problems, identify the key issues, establish and evaluate alternative courses of action and produce a logical, practical and acceptable solution.  Is able to make effective decisions on a day-to-day basis, taking ownership of decisions, demonstrating sound judgement in escalating issues where necessary.
• Results Oriented/ High Quality Deliverables: Stays focused on the efforts necessary to achieve quality results consistent with programmatic or departmental goals. Demonstrates the ability to achieve effective results; works persistently to overcome obstacles to goal achievement. Accomplishes tasks by considering all areas involved, no matter how small; showing concern for all aspects of the job; accurately checking processes and tasks.
• Planning & Time Management: Establishes a course of action for self and/or others to accomplish a specific goal. Effectively plans, schedules, prioritizes and controls activities; identifies, integrates and orchestrates resources (people, material, information, budget, and/or time) to accomplish goals. Prioritizes work according to the program or department’s goals, not just own job responsibilities; manages own time effectively.
• Business Acumen: The ability to use information, ask the right questions and take decisions that make an impact on the overall business performance. 

Job Specific/Technical Competencies include:

• Financial & Resource Management: The ability to estimate, justify, and manage appropriate funding levels to support goal accomplishment. Managing Resources is about understanding human, financial, and operational resource issues to make decisions aimed at building and planning efficient project workflows, and at improving overall organizational performance.
• Donor/Partnership Management: Identifying opportunities and taking action to build strategic relationships between one’s area and other areas, teams, departments, or organizations to help achieve business goals.
• Analysis, Research, Report Writing: Experience in business planning and analysis, modeling for feasibility and execution. Able to analyze and express oneself clearly in business writing.
• Innovative Mindset: Curious inquiries, asks questions and seeks out information from multiple sources, learns from mistakes, sees change as an opportunity.

We encourage all qualified individuals who share TechnoServe’s vision of improving the lives of others through proven business solutions to apply here no later than 12th February 2024.

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.

If you have a disability that affects your ability to use our online system to apply for a position at TechnoServe please contact the Human Resources at recruitment@tns.org or call +1 202 785 4515.