Since 1963 and in 148 countries, ACDI/VOCA has empowered people in developing and transitional nations to succeed in the global economy. Based in Washington, D.C., ACDI/VOCA is a nonprofit international development organization that designs and delivers technical and management solutions in agriculture, economic growth, and resilience to promote economic prosperity and social inclusion.

Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning (MEL) and Collaborating, Learning, and Adapting (CLA) Lead, Zambia

ACDI/VOCA is seeking an MEL/CLA Lead for an Agricultural Diversification Activity in Zambia funded by USAID. The anticipated program will transform Zambia’s agricultural sector into an efficient, equitable, and sustainable producer of high quality and nutritious food for consumption, sale, and trade.

The MEL/CLA Lead will lead learning workshops, engaging partners in identifying evidence-based ways to adapt and scale interventions. They will also design and manage the CLA and MEL plan and learning agenda on technical and management processes. The program is anticipated to start in 2024 and this position will be based in Zambia.

Responsibilities

• Provide strategic leadership for the program MEL learning and knowledge exchange.
• Lead the design of and manage the MEL framework and plan that incorporates CLA principles and components for the program.
• Ensure effective reporting, data collection, and monitoring systems are in place.
• Lead the baseline data collection process, develop the MEL plan, and perform other related monitoring and evaluation efforts for the program.
• Develop and test instruments for data collection; collect, analyze, and summarize field visit reports from program technical staff and implementing partners.
• Evaluate the integration of project design with the program strategy and the impact of business and technical processes to the program.
• Design and implement internal and external knowledge exchange and learning events to improve peer-to-peer learning, knowledge sharing and application.
• Ensure that programmatic learning and results are fully documented, shared, and used to drive adaptive management processes.
• Lead the collection, analysis, documentation, dissemination, and use of best practices and lessons learned.
• Develop and/or maintain strategic relationships with relevant stakeholders to promote effective coordination, collaboration, and dissemination of program learning.
• Provide technical assistance to ACDI/VOCA staff members and partner organization staff in the utilization and management of monitoring and impact assessment tools.
• Conduct qualitative and quantitative program impact surveys to ensure that program goals are met and that the team constantly improves program implementation quality.
• Conduct data quality reviews to ensure that all information required for submission to donor is collected in a valid, reliable, and timely manner.
• Complete impact assessment, baseline, midline, and end line surveys to assess the program’s impact.
• Design learning approaches that enable analysis of data, context, and emerging experience, and iterative adaptive management for the program’s technical approaches.
• Provide necessary support to the program external evaluators and donor’s data quality assessment team.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in evaluation, development studies, economics, statistics, or relevant field is required; master’s degree is preferred.
• Minimum 7 years of experience managing the M&E component of a donor-funded project, USAID preferred.
• Proven experience in quantitative and qualitative research methods, survey design and implementation, and statistical data analysis is required.
• Familiarity with applying the CLA approach to management is desired.
• Excellent written communication skills required, with a demonstrated ability to write reports in a clear, concise manner.
• Fluency in English is required.

Zambian nationals are strongly encouraged to apply.