Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning Associate

The Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning Associate will support MEL activities for the UK Government-funded Research and Innovation Systems in Africa (RISA) Fund. The position will report to the MEL Manager, and will support him/her in designing, implementing, and overseeing monitoring and evaluation of the multi-country RISA Fund programme. This position will be based in Nairobi, Kenya and will cover all RISA Fund programme countries outlined below.
The FCDO/Research and Information Systems in Africa (RISA) Fund programme is a multi-country project focusing on strengthening research and innovation systems in target.
countries, combining the fund manager requirements of two current funds under the RISA umbrella: Strengthening Research Institutions in Africa (SRIA) and African Technology
and Innovation Partnerships (ATIP). RISA seeks to strengthen research and innovation systems by developing a portfolio of well-designed, evidence-based grants in Kenya, Nigeria,
Ghana, South Africa, Rwanda, and Ethiopia.
RISA focuses on identifying Research and/or Innovation system strengthening priorities in each of the focus African countries; engaging appropriate partner to deliver Research and Innovation system strengthening projects; and managing the overall Research and Innovation systems strengthening fund portfolio. The project is a funds management programme, to issue grants and funding awards to local institutions and partners in Africa.
The MEL Associate will work with the MEL Manager, UK based MEL team and Country Technical Leads (CTLs) to provide services designed to monitor and evaluate the project objectives, as well as to support learning from success and failure to support scale-up of successful innovations.
Principal duties and responsibilities
• Support in implementing the programmatic MEL Framework.
• Contribute to the implementation of the MEL approach and plans, including data collection, storage, analysis, validation, and use.
• Help develop tools and guidance necessary to implement the monitoring and evaluation plan.
• Work with partners and CTLs to help facilitate effective implementation of monitoring and evaluation plans and coordination of key activities.
• Work closely with MEL manager and CTLs to identify and address capacity gaps where needed.
• Support the MEL Manager in planning and delivering staff and grantee training on MEL system operations, collection methods, and tools to ensure a high level of data quality.
• Work in partnership with the UK MEL team to support data upload into the Aktek iO IMS platform to contribute to reporting requirements and project communications products.
• Support the MEL Manager with planning and conducting intermittent light-touch evaluations, identifying stories of change, collection and dissemination of lessons learned, and sharing of successes during project implementation.
• Work collaboratively with the MEL team and CTLs to support the development and use of theories of change and theories of action for the RISA programme and for grantees.
• Support, as needed, the periodic review and revision of the MEL framework and associated MEL plans, theories of change, and capacity building plan for the programme and grantees.
• Assist with the design and delivery of workshops for various stakeholders, covering: Useful Theories of Change, LogFrame reviews, Sense-making, as well as broader reflection, learning, and ‘what works’ discussions.
• Other related duties as assigned by MEL Manager.
Qualifications:
• A degree in social sciences or a related field, or comparable experience
• A minimum of 5 years’ experience in implementing MEL frameworks, including familiarity with adaptive and qualitative MEL methods.
• Experience with developing and drafting case studies and/or stories of change.
• Experience with theory of change design and use.
• Experience with drafting MEL analysis and reporting in client-facing documents.
• Demonstrated experience supporting learning identification and use.
• Experience in building MEL capacity of staff and/or partner organisations.
• Experience working in a culturally diverse environment with multi-disciplined projects teams.
• Familiarity with donor reporting and data quality requirements preferred.
• Fluency in English (speaking, writing, and reading).
• Necessary computer, database, statistical software, and analytical skills, particularly in issues related to monitoring and evaluation.