Monitoring, Evaluation & Learning Manager

POSITION TITLE: Monitoring, Evaluation & Learning Manager LOCATION: Lilongwe, Malawi REPORTS TO: Chief of Party PROJECT SUMMARY: The Market Transitions to Enable New Growth Opportunities (MTENGO) project is a five year, USDA-funded project implemented by Winrock International in the Northern and Central regions of Malawi. MTENGO uses a farmer-first approach grounded in market incentives to increase resource-efficient, reliable production from Malawian agriculture in the face of climate unpredictability. MTENGO’s approach will enable farmers to: Diversify and achieve stable returns from their farming portfolio through climate smart farming by responding to market demands with diversified production; Increase access to water for productive purposes through improved water management practices; Make ecosystem services work for farmers by improving farmer access to, and collective management of, water, soil, and forest products; and Increase access to markets and finance so farmers can make climate smart investments. MTENGO seeks a highly motivated and technically strong MEL Manager to oversee all monitoring, evaluation, and learning (MEL) activities for the project and directly manage a team of two MEL Officers. ESSENTIAL RESPONSIBILITIES: MEL System Management/Oversight - Provide overall leadership, training, mentoring, and coaching to the MEL team (consisting of two MEL Data Officers). In collaboration with the COP, Technical Director, and HO MEL support unit (AGILE), manage the project’s MEL plan and systems, ensuring compliance with USDA requirements and Winrock’s MEL standards; developing and maintaining systems to collect and analyze data on inputs, outputs, outcomes, and impacts; and reporting accurate results to USDA in a timely manner. In coordination with the COP, liaise with Winrock’s HO MEL support unit to ensure donor requirements are met, and guide sub-contracted evaluation and survey firms to ensure evaluations and annual survey efforts meet USDA standards and deadlines. Design and manage monitoring and evaluation tools and processes, including ongoing (routine) monitoring and (annual) survey instruments. Supervise timely and accurate reporting of quantitative and qualitative data by MTENGO partners and grantees and in cooperation with program staff to ensure timely data analysis and reporting. Develop the capacity of partners and grantees to collect relevant indicator data within their respective organization in accordance with the MEL Plan and MTENGO targets. Management Information System (MIS) - Provide MEL Data Officers with technical guidance and oversight of the project’s in-house Management Information System (i.e., Winrock MIS) including uploading data and tracking of progress and trends to generate donor reports and dashboards. Oversee data quality checks including field visits and spot checks to ensure consistency with the project’s MIS. Ensure all indicator data and associated disaggregates are populated in the MIS, accurately reflect indicator tracking tables and are available for timely reporting to USDA. Validate MIS data from partners and staff through field monitoring visits. Collaborating, Learning & Adapting – Oversee MTENGO’s Learning Agenda and Collaborating, Learning, and Adapting (CLA) activities including the project’s Learning Agenda. Work with the Communications Team, COP, and AGILE to develop learning briefs, success stories, and other tools to evaluate project impact, trends, and highlight key learnings. Provide comprehensive analysis of learning outcomes to inform project interventions. Support the technical team to ensure planned interventions deliver far-reaching results and impact in line with donor expectations and MTENGO’s performance indicator targets. Develop decision-support tools and performance feedback mechanisms for project managers, partners, and beneficiaries. QUALIFICATIONS AND REQUIREMENTS: Education: Bachelor’s Degree in statistics, international development, agribusiness, or related field. Masters degree preferred. Experience: Minimum 8-10 years of experience managing and implementing complex MEL systems for international development projects, preferably with USDA and/or USAID. Proven record of designing and implementing data collection tools including surveys using mobile data collection tools (e.g., KoboToolbox, Survey123, etc.) and providing technical input into the design of Management Information Systems (MIS) for data management and visualization. Experience managing large MEL databases, conducting timely data analysis, and developing high-quality reports. Proven record of managing MEL staff, consultants, and sub-contracted MEL evaluation and survey firms. Excellent staff management, motivational, and organizational skills are required. Strong computer skills (word-processing, spreadsheets, and databases) are required. Proven data analysis (e.g., Excel, Stata, SPSS, etc.), data management, and data visualization (e.g., Power BI, etc.) skills are required. Strong communication skills, both oral and written, with fluency in English. Experience on agriculture and/or food security projects preferred