Organization Overview

The International Development Division focuses on improving the lives and economic well-being of people in lower and middle-income countries. We command technical expertise in health, agriculture, climate change, food security and governance—as well as in international evaluation. Our multi-layered health portfolio includes policy, health promotion and disease prevention, health finance, and health systems management. In partnership with government clients and local experts, our high-quality programs in Africa, Asia, Latin America, and the Middle East are known for impact and innovation.

Job Summary

Abt Associates is currently seeking a qualified MEL Director for the upcoming Resilience in Northern Ghana (RING) II – Systems Strengthening Activity. This Activity focuses on enhancing the ability of all stakeholders to address poor nutrition and weak resilience in northern Ghana. The RING II – Systems Strengthening activity will result in sustained improvements in the delivery of local services to achieve measurable improvements in the nutrition and resilience of an estimated 85,000 reproductive-aged women and children under five years old..

Under the supervision of the Chief of Party, the MEL Director is responsible for overseeing the Activity’s performance monitoring system, conducting or overseeing related assessments and research, and providing capacity strengthening for partner organization in monitoring, data analysis, and data use.

The position will be based in Tamale, Ghana and is contingent upon project award to Abt Associates.

Key Roles and Responsibilities

• Lead the design, development, and implementation of the project Activity Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning Plan (AMELP) and learning agenda, including identifying and adapting relevant indicators.
• Develop and lead complexity-aware monitoring and risk assessments.
• Support community, state, and private partners to break down specific problems into root causes, identify entry points, search for possible solutions, take action, reflect upon lessons learned, adapt and then act again.
• Work closely with project technical staff and program management to ensure appropriate and adequate MEL efforts are in place to provide each team with data needed to inform their program design and implementation decisions.
• Manage a rigorous approach to MEL and research to measure performance toward specific goals and objectives, including quantitative, qualitative, and participatory methodologies.
• Design data collection tools, schedules, analysis methods, and applied learning approaches for stakeholder training.
• Develop mechanisms to establish feedback loops between activity implementation, data collection, and communications and learning.
• Oversee and lead qualitative and quantitative data collection processes and strategies.
• Synthesize monitoring and evaluation findings needed for quarterly and annual reports for USAID.
• Drive the project’s overall learning agenda to derive lessons learned and best practices from project activities, and contribute to quarterly program evaluations.

Qualification Required & Experience

• Master’s degree in statistics, development economics, business administration, or relevant area of study and at least 10 years of professional experience in data management and analysis for M&E, adaptive management and/or learning.
• Experience managing MEL on USAID-funded programs required.
• Familiarity with district performance assessment tool (DPAT) highly preferred.
• Knowledge of and experience with M&E frameworks, traditional indicators as well as those specific to USAID reporting systems.
• Expertise in adaptive management, organizational learning/development, systems mapping, development of collaborating, learning and adapting (CLA)-related tools, CLA thought-leadership, and providing inputs on how CLA may lead to improved development outcomes.
• Demonstrated leadership skills and ability to work collaboratively and independently.
• Excellent written and oral communication skills in English required.
• Ghanaian nationals are strongly encouraged to apply.

Experience

• (10+) years of experience and a bachelor degree OR the equivalent combination of education and experience.