Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning Manager WeForest Zambia

Job title

WeForest Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning Manager, Zambia

WeForest

WeForest is a fast-growing international non-profit association with headquarters in Belgium and legal entities in France, USA, Ethiopia and Zambia. The organization is promoting Forest Landscape Restoration (FLR) best practices and our activities are growing..

Role

WeForest Zambia is looking for an experienced Monitoring, Evaluation & Learning (MEL) Manager to lead and create an environment in which data and evidence are systematically produced, analysed, interpreted, and operationalized across WeForest Zambia’s restoration/conservation Projects. The MEL Manager will be responsible for optimizing project monitoring plans, refining monitoring tools, improving evaluation processes, and engraining learning and subsequent adaptive management processes in project management. In collaboration with the Project Manager, the MEL Manager will provide technical support to the MEL Field team to supplement on the supervisory requirements. The MEL Manager will also act as the contact person for applied research activities conducted by external partners in WeForest Zambia project areas. The MEL Manager will also be instrumental in taking our carbon ambitions in Zambia to the next level by coordinating data collection, desk studies and consultancies. The position will report to the Country Director (or similar) and will receive technical support and mentoring from the Global M&E Manager at WeForest Belgium. The role will provide technical oversight to M&E officers at the project level (initially 3 M&E officers). For Carbon-related matters, there will be a reporting line to the Head of Project Development at HQ and will be expected to provide oversight on the data collection process and analysis.

Job Description

Job Title: MEL Manager, Zambia

Reporting to: Head of M&E and Research (WF Belgium) and Zambia Country Director

Responsible for: In-country MEL processes

Responsibilities include:

Monitoring:

1. Oversee and coordinate collection of necessary baseline project information by project teams in a standardized manner

2. Strengthen processes, KPIs, tools to monitor among others; a) CBO governance capacity, b) community livelihoods progress and c) forest restoration and d) behavioural change

3. Manage data storage of geographic, biophysical and socio-economic data, across projects in a standardized manner

4. Support field teams to implement quality GIS including spatial data collection and management of geo databases (currently in QGIS), ensuring that spatial data meets standard metadata and attribute requirements

5. Oversee data quality assurance

6. Ensure quality M&E plans are developed and implemented for every project including the Mafinga Project implemented in collaboration with WECSZ.

Evaluation:

1. Strengthen disaggregation, analysis and visualization of data (by gender, age, poverty, etc.)

2. Assist project managers to set realistic targets based on baseline information

3. Ensure effective comparison of targets with monitoring data and reference literature to critically evaluate project outputs

4. Guide and supervise Consultants who are subcontracted to implement special surveys or studies required for evaluating project effects and impacts

5. Support with/quality control for the drafting of HQ reports (Quarterly/mid-year/annual) & logframe/workplan updates

Learning:

1. Summarize best practices and lessons learned across project components (governance, forest management, and livelihoods) and M&E methods (data collection, data analysis and storage)

2. Lead the regular sharing and effective dissemination of learning outputs to project teams, to drive continuous adaptive management

3. Proactively follow up on the implementation of priority lessons learned in collaboration with project managers

4. Act as a bridge between different project teams and WeForest Zambia, to share relevant cross-project lessons

and new M&E tools or processes.

Capacity building:

1. Conduct M&E skills gap analysis for current and new M&E-related WeForest staff (including IT skills), and identify personal skill development needs in your field

2. Deliver coaching and training in various M&E technical areas including but not limited to data collection, data analysis, data storage, and geospatial data handling

3. Support training to community facilitators who take part in data collection and other local partner organizations (incl. CBOs, farmers’ associations)

4. Undertake regular visits to the field to support the implementation of M&E and to identify where adaptations and MEL support might be needed

Data Management:

Lead the Logframe development and revision for all projects of WF in collaboration with HQ Head of M&E and research
Develop the overall M&E plan (based on logframe, detailing the full measuring protocols for all data collection).
Support preparation/review & revise data collection protocols and methodologies.
Support/ review & revise data processing and analysis
Be the contact point for applied research conducted by external partners in WeForest Zambia project areas.
Initial Assignment – carbon project monitoring plan development: :

Your first assignment with WeForest will be to develop monitoring plans for a major new landscape-level carbon project under development. This will entail the design of indicators and monitoring protocols for:

– Community: income, well-being, access to basic services, household consumption

– Biodiversity: camera trap monitoring, trigger species population studies, law enforcement activity monitoring

– Climate: vegetation biomass studies

For this project, you will report to the Head of Project Development and will have the opportunity to contribute to the development of a flagship WeForest project in Zambia.

Expected Skills and Experiences:

REQUIRED SKILLS & QUALIFICATIONS

Essential

• At last M.Sc. or equivalent experience in a field requiring data collection and ecological and socio-economic data analysis.
• Experience in monitoring a Forest Landscape Project will be an added advantage.
• Minimum 5 years of relevant experience in Monitoring and Evaluation and Ecological data processing
• Familiarity with forest and landscape restoration project design, implementation, and M&E frameworks, tools, and protocol
• Excellent communication and reporting skills in English (both speaking and writing)
• Good moderation, facilitation, and training skills
• Ability to use and understand (Q)GIS and other basic natural resources monitoring software
• Basic statistical data analysis skills & familiarity with (some) the following software: KoboCollect, Excel, SPSS, R, GISCloud, and SMART.
• Flexible in terms of traveling and living conditions
• Good team player

Terms & Conditions

Position: Full-time employee, 5 or 6 days per week.

Base: Head Office, Ndola, Zambia

Start date: As soon as possible, preferably by 01/05/2024

Package: Competitive package for a small organisation, level 4b salary package