Monitoring, Evaluation, Learning and Action (MELA) Officer at the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA)

The International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) is one of the world’s leading research partners in finding solutions for hunger, malnutrition, and poverty. Its award-winning research-for-development (R4D) approach addresses the development needs of tropical countries. IITA works with partners to enhance crop quality and productivity, reduce producer and consumer risks, and generate wealth from agriculture. IITA is a non-profit organization founded in 1967 in Nigeria and governed by a Board of Trustees. IITA works on the following crops: cowpea, soybean, banana/plantain, yam, cassava, and maize. It is a member of CGIAR, a global agriculture research partnership for a food secure future.

The International Institute of Tropical Agriculture on behalf of HarvestPlus seeks suitable Nigerian for the position below at its country office in Ibadan.

Job Title: Monitoring, Evaluation, Learning and Action (MELA) Officer

Ref: IITA-HR-NRS2019-0014
Location: Ibadan, Oyo
Recruitment Type: National (1-year renewable contract)

Duties
Successful candidate will among other things perform the following duties:

Contribute to setting the overall programme direction by prioritising and organising actions and resources to achieve set objectives, in close coordination with the Country Manager
Contribute to the development of annual business plans, strategic work-plans for the country programme
Provide support functions in monitoring adherence to contractual agreement, HarvestPlus policies and procedures and relevant external rules and regulations
Provide support functions in ensuring programme activities align with donor and HarvestPlus standard policies and procedures
Support the finance teams to ensure proper financial management, procurement, administration, human resources and logistics for programme activities
Provide support functions in coordinating information sharing with contractual and collaborating partners, and other implementers
Represent HarvestPlus when required at meetings – government, donors, national and international workshops and other relevant events

M&E System Design and Calibration:

Design and implement a gender sensitive and results based MELA system and strategy
Develop and regularly review country programme’s Theory of Change (ToC) to ensure alignment with programme delivery strategy and changing realities
Develop country specific MELA system instruments including MELA operational manual, MELA plan, monitoring survey protocol, data quality assessment guidelines, reporting templates, technical data collection tools
Work with programme specialists and unit Heads to align M&E with programme objectives, develop monitoring tools and integrate M&E in work plans and across all programme components
Develop guidance materials that clearly indicate staff responsible for specific M&E products, orienting programme staff to their M&E roles and responsibilities as necessary
Coordinate the design, development and operationalisation of the country programme databases and mobile data collection applications

Programme Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning:

Coordinate the implementation of M&E activities across programme life cycle and ensure minimum standards are adhered to
Conduct baseline studies to establish baseline values for selected indicators
Coordinate the design and implementation of outcome monitoring sample surveys
Facilitate the execution of impact assessments and evaluations; oversee the scope of work, deliverables and overall quality of work of other external led operational research and studies
Coordinate data collection activities across the various functions and implementing partners, analyse and share results within the country programme to increase learning and for global reporting
Organize M&E technical meetings to ensure regular programme planning across consortium partners, review progress, and document lessons/address challenges encountered
Undertake regular field visits to all project sites to support implementation of M&E and to identify where adaptations might be needed
Document processes and achievements to ensure best practices are captured and disseminated; this will contribute to continual re-evaluation of programme activities and information, with resulting activity adjustments in keeping with new insights
Adapt and implement global M&E data quality guidelines to ensure that data generated in-country meets the required data quality criteria
Ensure programme data and analysis is used for learning by facilitating progress review and lesson learning reflection platforms with programme partners

Management Information Systems and Reporting:

Advance the use of innovative ICT tools to simplify data collection and transmission to HARVESTAT and global programme database;
Create a programme beneficiary tracking database, allowing for monitoring of stakeholders;
Prepare consolidated progress and periodic reports to meet management and donor reporting requirements in accordance with approved reporting formats and timelines;
Document achievements/impact of innovative programme components, produce written reports on activities, capturing the impacts of activities;
Work with team members to generate practical information that can be used for ongoing analysis and decision-making while also capturing results at the impact level

Capacity and Team Building:

Strengthen staff and partners capacity in the use of data collection and office/work tools through comprehensive and continuous training and coaching;
Provide on-going guidance to team members and partners in the implementation and review of their reports and statistics
Adapt and implement global M&E capacity building strategy at country staff and implementing partner level
Promote a work environment of mutual respect where team members strive to achieve excellence;
Support the recruitment, orientation, professional development and ongoing training of staff to ensure the successful implementation of activities;
Perform other duties as assigned by the Country Manager.

Qualification and Experience

Master’s degree in Agricultural Economics, Economics, Statistics or Social Sciences with minimum of 4 years working experience in monitoring and evaluation.

Competencies
The ideal candidate must have:

The ability to manage multiple priorities/tasks effectively;
Good knowledge of monitoring and evaluation systems development
The ability to work with little or no supervision under pressure in agricultural working environment;
Good interpersonal and communication skills;
Have strong computer skills;

Remuneration