Monitoring and Evaluation Advisor Non-profit Careers – GOAL International
Job Title: Monitoring and Evaluation Advisor
Organization: GOAL International
Duty Station: Lira, Uganda
Reports to: MEAL Coordinator
About US:
GOAL International is an international non-profit organization that was founded in 1977 and works to promote the realization of the fundamental rights of the poor, the vulnerable, and those affected by humanitarian crisis. GOAL currently works in 16 countries, with our head office in Dublin, Ireland.
About DYNAMIC Programme:
Working in consortia with Mercy Corps, VSO and Restless Development, the Driving Youth-led New Agribusiness and Microenterprise (DYNAMIC) programme will strengthen systems and facilitate the creation of sustainable economic opportunities for disadvantaged Ugandan youth. DYNAMIC’s overall goal is to increase the number of young people who are in secure employment or self-employment and to promote effective and efficient agricultural market systems for youth. Through a market-driven and holistic approach, DYNAMIC will engage an array of public and private sector actors to increase access to goods, services, markets, information and productive and social assets to increase productivity of Ugandan agribusinesses and non-farm enterprises.
DYNAMIC will reach 125,000 out-of-school youth aged 15 – 24 living in peri-urban and rural areas within eight districts of northern Uganda over five years. Through an innovative, market facilitation approach, DYNAMIC will promote long-term efficiency in existing agricultural systems. Youth already engaged in on-farm activities will move from subsistence to more productive and profitable farming. DYNAMIC will increase the employability of Ugandan youth by facilitating access to demand driven technical skills, knowledge and market information that directly respond to business opportunities in the agricultural sector. In parallel, DYNAMIC will link agribusinesses and microenterprises to market opportunities and diverse stakeholders, and ensure they can utilize appropriate (formal and informal) financial services. DYNAMIC’s design recognizes that youth are a diverse age group requiring tailored interventions to fit their stage in life and transition into the workforce. In particular, DYNAMIC will ensure that participating youth, particularly young women, are engaging in appropriate, safe, and productive economic opportunities.
GOAL is the prime grantee and along with Mercy Corps, will directly implement the programme across eight districts. VSO is the technical lead for skills and learning and Restless Development is the technical lead for youth engagement. Mercy Corps is the technical lead for market development and financial services and GOAL is the technical lead for M&E. Overseas Development Institute (ODI) will provide technical back stopping to overall M&E systems on behalf of MasterCard Foundation.
Job Summary: The Monitoring and Evaluation Advisor is directly line managed by the Deputy Program Director (DPD) in the Programme Management Unit (PMU). They also have a dotted line functional management to the relevant GOAL Office senior manager in their base location. S/he is responsible for providing overall oversight and leadership to the implementation teams in two assigned districts (comprising eight team members) of the MasterCard Foundation funded DYNAMIC programme. S/he also works closely with an extended team from GOAL and all consortia partners to research, design, implement and measure the district level programme outputs/outcomes. The role is ultimately about the Programme Manager being the key focal person for drawing all elements of the program together at a district level, while at the same time ensuring compliance to GOAL systems, effective people management; ensuring that programme staff are given clear direction, support supervision and remain productive and accountable.
Key Duties and Responsibilities:
Design of MEAL system
- Work closely with the GOAL MEL Coordinator and ODI on the MEAL systems design and measurement of outcome; and advise on design of consortia-specific outcome evaluations to maximize their contribution to program-wide learning. Establishing common outcome indicators at the outset will help to ensure that all consortia are measuring key outcomes in the same way.
- Provide leadership and technical support for the development of detail DYNAMIC MEAL plan in line with the Donor Committee for Enterprise Development (DCED) standards.
- Work with ODI and the MasterCard Foundation to design overall strategic results chain and / or Theory of Change (ToC) and identify the assumptions that underpin the expected pathways of change, and subsequently direct data collection efforts to test those assumptions. To be adapted throughout the program period to interpret and structure findings.
Management and Implementation of the MEAL system
- Through regular liaison with and support to the programme director, deputy programme director, MEL Coordinator, Assistant Country Director Programmes and Country Director, ensure that the MEAL Plan is implemented as much as is practically possible and
- Manage all operations related to the M&E according to the MEAL plan, budget and implementation strategy.
- Monitor programme implementation, measure impact and calibrate programme strategy and implementation accordingly.
- Ensure that achievements and best practices are captured and disseminated including the continual re-evaluation of programme activities and information, with resulting activity adjustments.
- Coordinate the design and implementation of the partner evaluations as required under the Partnership Strategy
- Support the development of an evaluation system that will provide information for measuring the outcomes and impact of DYNAMIC programme, designing and carrying out or supervising Outcome Evaluations of the programmes.
- Design and carry out or supervise Project Evaluations, Mid Term Reviews. Together with MEL Coordinator, design and carry out or supervise surveys, assessment, research exercises, etc as appropriate and possible to support programme development, monitoring, evaluation and/or learning;
- As part of the Learning function, seek to identify learning points across the range of work carried out, and identify opportunities to share this learning through meetings, workshops, reports
- Together with ODI, implement a robust research design to assess the impact of the program on youth’s economic and non-economic outcomes over time. Tracking of outcomes and impact will be conducted via outcomes surveys for both youth and market actors.
- Initiate or conduct applied research to inform program implementation by answering targeted thematic questions; in agriculture and construction sectors, policy and regulatory issues. The research should facilitate program-wide evidence-based learning that can inform implementation practice and youth development policy.
- Together with a statistician and ODI, design a model for MasterCard Foundation (MCF) programme and ensure that the model developed is implemented including 3 follow ups (18 month) and analysis.
Team Management
- Directly responsible for the performance management of the M&E Team which includes consortium partners’ staff.
- Manage the MEL team including consultants to meet M&E objectives, carrying out evaluations, surveys etc. as required by the priorities of the plan and the available capacities of the team
- Manage the recruitment and training of the MEL staff to ensure staff are of the quality and capacity to ensure the successful implementation of activities. Facilitate capacity building and technical assistance for Implementing Partners to improve the quality of monitoring data and maximize program-wide learning from consortia-specific evaluations.
- Monitor and advise on M&E staffing needs throughout the programme. Ensure evaluations and disciplinary measures are made, as necessary according to GOAL policy.
- Provide direct and ongoing supervision and managerial support to all staff in the MEL unit.
Representation
- Ensure accountability to project participants and to international standards guiding development work. This includes understanding and following established international guidelines and actively engaging participating communities as equal partners in the design, monitoring and evaluation of programmes.
- Work closely in partnership with the GOAL Uganda Programme Director and MEL Coordinator to represent the programme to the MasterCard Foundation, the Uganda government at national and district levels. As well as the programme Steering Committee, Consortium Coordination Group, National Advisory Committee and the National Youth Working Group.
- Ensure good relations and accountability with the MasterCard Foundation, ODI, Ugandan government counterparts and private sector partners.
- Ensure establishment and maintenance of relationships with target communities, and local government structures.
- Whenever appropriate, represent DYNAMIC at external conferences (Global Youth Economic Opportunities Conference, SEEP conference, etc.) and relevant thought leadership events as needed
Qualifications, Skills and Experience:
- The ideal candidate for the GOAL International Monitoring and Evaluation Advisor job placement should hold a Master’s Degree social sciences, statistics, development studies or other relevant field is essential.
- Seven years of relevant experience including three years in a senior management position
- Wide experience in design and execution of monitoring and evaluation systems is essential, preferably M&E of consortium-led programmes.
- Proven technical experience in monitoring and evaluation of market facilitation, youth development, livelihoods and/or agriculture and value chain programming.
- Complex program management and demonstrated success in building, managing and leading a team of professionals.
- Experience in building and maintaining effective partnerships with implementing and strategic partner agencies, and government authorities and counterparts.
- Strong computer literacy with a full knowledge of statistical packages for data analysis.
- Strong writing, communication, organization, prioritization and negotiating skills.
- Excellent (English) verbal and written communication skills with proven financial management skills.
- Previous experience in Uganda or East Africa
- The successful candidate will possess strong leadership skills with the ability to maintain a broad perspective.
- S/he will undertake innovative approaches, be agile in the conceptualization of new programme ideas and will be well versed in strategic thinking and planning.
- S/he will also have ability to juggle multiple priorities under tight deadlines, and to calmly and diplomatically deal with unexpected events impacting programme operations.
- The ideal candidate is familiar with M&E of market based agricultural programmes targeting youth, and demonstrates cultural knowledge and sensitivity, while also demonstrating skills and ability to build and maintain partnerships with international organizations and private sector partners.
- Must have strong interpersonal skills and an ability to communicate and manage expectations of many stakeholders.
- The ability and desire to grow a cohesive and professional team from across multiple partners is essential.
How to Apply:
All suitably qualified and interested candidates should send their applications which must include at least 4 reference contacts (2 professional, 2 character references, including your supervisor and the most recent/previous employer), and daytime contact number to; The Human Resource Manager, GOAL Uganda on the email: recruitment@ug.goal.ie. Please do not attach certificates, indicate the job title in the subject line.
Deadline: 10th August 2018
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