Monitoring Evaluation and Learning (MEL) Specialist at the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO-UN)

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO-UN) - An intergovernmental organization, FAO has 194 Member Nations, two associate members and one member organization, the European Union. Its employees come from various cultural backgrounds and are experts in the multiple fields of activity FAO engages in. FAO’s staff capacity allows it to support improved governance inter alia, generate, develop and adapt existing tools and guidelines and provide targeted governance support as a resource to country and regional level FAO offices. Headquartered in Rome, Italy, FAO is present in over 130 countries.

We are recruiting to fill the position below:

Job Title: Monitoring Evaluation and Learning (MEL) Specialist

Vacancy Announcement: 2301802
Location: Nigeria
Organizational Unit: RAF - Regional Office for Africa (Accra)
Job Type: Non-staff opportunities
Type of Requisition: NPP (National Project Personnel)
Grade Level: N/A
Primary Location: Various Locations-Various Locations
Duration: Variable (6-11 months)

Reporting Lines

• The MEL specialists located in RAF country offices will work under the overall supervision and responsibility of the FAO Representatives, the functional supervision of the Assistant FAO Representative Programme, the technical supervision of the RAF M&E Officer and in close collaboration with technical and programme leads, as well as with the relevant national counterparts.

Technical Focus 

• The MEL specialist/s will be responsible for generating quality evidence on results achieved through FAO projects and programmes implemented in the countries in the RAF region, in various areas of FAO’s mandate to inform adaptive programming and organisational learning.
• This will entail the: i) development and operationalization of frameworks, tools and processes needed to systematically collect and analyse performance-related data; ii) capacity development on MEL of internal and external actors; iii) monitoring of the quality of programme implementation; iv) implementation of the country-level learning agenda and learning roadmaps. 

Tasks and Responsibilities

• Design, develop and implement country-level MEL systems at project and programme levels (including results frameworks, theories of changes, etc.) in alignment with corporate, regional, sub-regional and country MEL and information priorities.
• Support mainstreaming of MEL in project/programme formulation stage, including theory of change development, log frame design, budgeting for MEL, MEL plans development
• Support the formulation and monitoring of the CPF indicators including baseline and target setting.
• Support management and project managers to identify priority Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) and realistic targets at project, programme and CPF levels to promote a programmatic approach to monitoring and evaluation, and to ensure their alignment with national, sub-regional and regional priorities/frameworks and/or relevant KPIs.
• Conduct periodic data collections and analyses, in line with the established data needs, learning priorities and/or KPIs.
• Compile, manage and curate relevant country-level results-based datasets.
• Contribute data for internal and external reporting.
• Facilitate the dissemination and use of monitoring data to inform programme development, adjustment or review.
• Contribute to organisational learning by developing subject-matter analytics, lessons learned compilation and briefs/reports. 
• Develop capacity of FAO staff and implementing partners in M&E methodologies and practices. 
• Perform any other duties, as requested.

Candidates will be Assessed Against the Following
Minimum Requirements

• University Degree in Social Sciences (Sociology, Anthropology, Political Sciences, International Relations, Research Methods or alike) and/or Data Sciences (Statistics, Survey Methods or alike) and/or Evaluation.
• Specific training in MEL and/or demonstrated qualified and relevant experience in setting up and operationalizing monitoring and evaluation systems in food security and livelihoods programs and/or in food security analysis/vulnerability assessments mapping in the NGO and/or IO/UN context:
  • At least two years for the Junior MEL Specialist.
  • At least five years for MEL Specialists
• Working knowledge (level C) of English and/or French, Spanish, Arabic, Chinese or Russian is required.  

FAO Core Competencies:

• Results Focus
• Teamwork
• Communication
• Building Effective Relationships
• Knowledge Sharing and Continuous Improvement

Technical / Functional Skills:

• Excellent mastery and knowledge of principles and current approaches to MEL.
• Working knowledge of one of FAO official languages (English, Spanish, French, Arabic, Russian, and Chinese) is desired. Working knowledge of Portuguese will be considered an asset.
• Demonstrated understanding of data and information needs for program management and decision-making, as well as of the project cycle management
• Demonstrated experience in quantitative and qualitative research methods.  
• Demonstrated experience in facilitating MEL-related capacity-building initiatives.
• Experience in using software (e.g. such as PowerBI, Tableau, STATA, SPSS, NVivo, CommCare, Survey Monkey, Survey CTO, Kobo, ODK, MS Dynamics 365 and Visio, Pictochart, Infogram) is highly desirable.
• Advanced use of MS Excel is highly desirable.

Application Closing Date
17th July, 2023 - 10:59:00 PM.

Method of Application
Interested and qualified candidates should:
Click here to apply online

Note

• FAO does not charge a fee at any stage of the recruitment process (application, interview meeting, processing)
• Incomplete applications will not be considered. If you need help please contact: [email protected]
• Applications received after the closing date will not be accepted
• Please note that FAO only considers higher educational qualifications obtained from an institution accredited/recognized in the World Higher Education Database (WHED), a list updated by the International Association of Universities (IAU) / United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). The list can be accessed at http://www.whed.net/  
• For additional employment opportunities visit the FAO employment website: http://www.fao.org/employment/home/en/ 
•  Appointment will be subject to certification that the candidate is medically fit for appointment, accreditation, any residency or visa requirements, and security clearances.