Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning Director - Secondary Success Activity

Education Development Center (EDC) is a global nonprofit that advances lasting solutions to improve education, promote health, and expand economic opportunity. Since 1958, we have been a leader in designing, implementing, and evaluating powerful and innovative programs in more than 80 countries around the world.  

EDC promotes equity and access to high quality education and health services and products that contribute to thriving communities where people from diverse backgrounds learn, live, and work together. We support an inclusive workplace culture that embraces many perspectives and broadens our understanding of the communities we serve, enhancing and enriching our work.   

The Secondary Success Activity (SSA) will build on existing structures to increase the availability, access, and quality of education, including remedial skills, lifeskills, health and leadership, mentorship, and financial inclusion. This is a five-year activity.

The Monitoring Evaluation and Learning (MEL) Director, determined as Key Personnel, will provide leadership and technical guidance to the SSA team on all MEL-related issues and has primary responsibility for establishing and managing a data processing environment responsive to USAID reporting and learning requirements. The MEL Director will report to the Chief of Party. This is a full-time position based in Lilongwe, Malawi.

The MEL Director will undertake, but not be limited to, the following essential functions:

• Lead the development, implementation, refinement and harmonization of SSA’s MEL system, including developing and operationalizing indicators, setting targets, monitoring SSA’s implementation progress, ensuring timely data collection; and
• Determine and implement a learning agenda and a Collaborating, Learning and Adapting (CLA) process across all the technical components of SSA, including learning and health outcomes, life skills development, and financial inclusion.

The candidate for the position of Monitoring and Evaluation Director shall have at a minimum the following qualifications:

• Education: Master’s degree in education administration, development studies or a related social science discipline. In circumstances where a candidate possesses exceptional relevant experience but lacks a graduate degree, relevant post-education experience will be considered in lieu of a Master’s degree.
• Skills and Experience:
  • At least 10 years of experience designing and implementing MEL activities for complex programs in Malawi or in the region;
  • Firm command of quality improvement and quality assurance with respect to integrated service and support programs;
  • Demonstrated experience in setting up and managing MEL systems that track performance as per the objectives of this activity (e.g., skills development);
  • Experience in evaluation and measurement of education activities and indicators at the secondary school level; additional experience in youth empowerment ideal;
  • Demonstrated analytical skills to measure the outcomes of activities, including skills development and graduation rates;
  • Experience in qualitative research design, data collection, and analysis;
  • Competency in descriptive and inferential statistics, including experience with statistical software (e.g., SPSS or Stata, as well as Excel);
  • Experience with electronic data collection, and basic familiarity with SQL databases;
  • Strong writing and organizational skills for monitoring and reporting on program outcomes and impacts;
  • Familiarity with USAID MEL systems including M&E for adaptive management and Collaborative Learning and Adaptation (CLA)
  • Experience managing staff, consultants and/or partners.

Language:

Fluency in English (reading and speaking) is required.