DAI
Scope of Work
USAID MALAWI GOVERNANCE FOR SOLUTIONS (GfS)
Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning (MEL) Manager
POSITION
MEL Manager
P ER I O D OF P E RFORM ANCE
August 2022
August 2027
B A SE OF O P ERATIO NS
Lilongwe, Malawi
GRADE
12
POSITION REPORTS TO
Senior PDIA Advisor
Project Background
Through the Malawi Governance for Solutions (GfS) Activity, USAID seeks to build on the incremental gains in decentralization and associated service delivery improvements, with the understanding that to make the significant leaps now required for Malawi to meet its own development goals—in the face of a fast-growing, young population—a bold, adaptive, and sustainable approach is required. To successfully remove critical bottlenecks and diffuse effective governance practices, DAI will deploy a locally driven approach—Facilitate, Catalyze, and Scale—drawing on Problem Driven Iterative Adaptation (PDIA) as a core methodology. Through the Facilitate, Catalyze, and Scale approach, DAI will help local stakeholders to tackle the root causes of service delivery failures through best-fit solutions and offer demonstrative models based on positive deviance. Through both process-oriented facilitation and the provisions of technical support and grants, GfS will foster stable, resilient, and more self-reliant partnerships that best position local communities to address their own challenges and contribute to the trajectory of Malawi Vision 2063.
Objectives of the assignment
The MEL Manager w ill design a nd ma nage s y stems f or data c ollection, m on itoring and e valuation ( M &E), and k nowledge man a geme nt (KM). S he will en s ure t hat the P r oject team generates data a nd lear ns fr om Project act i v ities on an on g oi ng basis to id e ntify the h i gh est retu rn o pp ortu nities, en sure effective K M, in form t he Project’s a d a ptive man a geme nt ap pr oach, a nd impro ve Pr oject accou ntability and effecti veness.
Tasks & Responsibilities
Responsibilities
In order to achieve the results identified in the SOW, the MEL Manager will work in collaboration with other Component Leads, technical staff, Resource Partners, and STTAs to carry out a variety of activities under the MEL component, and have the following specific responsibilities
Oversee development of the Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning (MEL) Plan and M&E system.
Develop and oversee the Program knowledge management strategy, including development and dissemination of materials.
Design evidence ‐ based approach to test new approaches, assess best practices and capture learning to enable scale-up.
Develop learning agenda, including answering and assessing learning questions.
Design and lead rigorous baseline and specialized assessments of technical activities to determine efficacy of proposed interventions and measure Project impact.
Support M&E and technical teams to develop activity indicators, with regard to USAID earmark requirements, and targets and gather quantitative and qualitative data related to those indicators and targets.
Ensure the disaggregation of data as required and the appropriate measurement of the GfS gender, equity and youth goals.
Work with technical teams to develop appropriate M&E plans for each activity during implementation.
Conduct participatory M&E of technical field activities to measure quantitative as well as qualitative impact.
Lead M&E and performance management reporting.
Contribute, as needed to the work of other Components in designing appropriate sector monitoring systems and integrating data for decision-making.
Contribute to, and participate in, project reporting, events, and learning activities – particularly the Annual Pause and Reflect sessions
Directly supervise the MEL Officer, Data Management Officer, and Communications Specialist.
Qualifications
At least 5 years of experience in monitoring, evaluation and learning of donor funded development activities, including implementation of baseline and midline surveys and managing large M&E databases.
Advanced degree in statistics, sociology, demographics, or other field related to monitoring and evaluation of governance activities.
Demonstrated knowledge of USAID MEL requirements and reporting protocols.
Experience in development and implementation of learning agendas, including knowledge management and documentation learning,