Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning Officer 46 views

 About the project

The Mastercard Foundation, in partnership with the Ministry of Innovation and Technology (MiNT) of FDRE and Iceaddis IT Consultancy PLC, and Shayashone (SYS), is launching a five-year project titled ‘Job Creation through Incubation and Acceleration Support in Ethiopia’ to enable 56,160 young women and men experiencing poverty with access to direct jobs including creating 100 e-commerce start-ups (70% of whom women-led) and 3,240 small businesses as third-party marketplace sellers which can be small farmers, SMEs, retailers, processors, associations, etc. The program will also create additional job opportunities for 77,000 young people indirectly. The incubation and acceleration process will also engage 500 start-ups each year, building their capacity through exposure to digital entrepreneurship. It will also provide seed funds to at least 100 start-ups of which 50% are under the early-stage start-ups category while the rest are growth-oriented entrepreneurs through deliberate incubation and acceleration programs that ensure growth and the greatest chance of scaling. The proposed program aims to create a digitally empowered economy accelerated by sustainable enterprise growth that increases youth employment in Ethiopia. This will be achieved through interventions that create the environment for start-ups to flourish, and growth-oriented businesses receive support to survive and grow. The program contributes to the achievement of the goals of the Mastercard Foundation Young Africa Works in Ethiopia program.

Duty station: Addis Ababa with travel to the regions from time to time

Type of employment: Project (2022 – 2027)

Duration: One Year with a possible extension for up to five years

Department: MiNT Digital Transformation/MCF_Ecom Project

Reports to: Project Manager based at Ministry of Innovation and Technology (MiNT) of FDRE

Short description of the position

The MEL Officer will have a slightly different task than the usual ‘activity monitoring’ in such a way that the activities will be undertaken through the lens of an impact rather than a process. It is expected that the impact officer will regularly and diligently ensure impact using standard techniques and report to the project manager and, by extension to the Mastercard Foundation. Furthermore, the Officer is also expected to assess the performance of the e-commerce project through a combination of data collection and analysis and assess to what extent an intervention has, or has not, met its objectives in light of the digital transformation and job creation agenda of 2025 and beyond.

Duties and Responsibilities:

MEL framework development

• In partnership with MCF, MiNT, and Iceaddis, develop the MEL plan of the project (for the project cycle and cascaded into years).
• Responsible for developing and nurturing continuous learning and result-driven thinking throughout the planning, implementation, and reporting processes of the project.
• Develop relevant Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) to track the results at different levels and ensure these are incorporated into the planning, implementation, and reporting processes of the e-learning project.
• Create/oversee the development of systems for data management and reporting that meet the MCF and partners’ requirements and incorporate data quality assurance and quality improvement.
• Responsible for devising strategies and mechanisms that enhance continuous learning and scale-up of best practices for the efficient and effective realization of project targets.

Monitoring

• Undertake and regularly monitor by conducting analysis (on the e-commerce program with Iceaddis) and deducing impact through such as:
  • Compliance monitoring
  • Context monitoring
  • Beneficiary monitoring
  • Organizational monitoring
  • Results monitoring
• Responsible for tracking project progress based on the KPIs and agreed on MEL plan, extract learning, and devise strategies to scale up and/or improve.
• Ensure accurate and timely collection, analysis, and submission of data in reports for internal and external consumption to actively manage performance.
• Act as a key resource person to the MiNT in systematizing and tracking e-commerce start-ups. Backstop Iceaddis staffs and other stakeholders utilize/leverage best approaches and tools for continuous monitoring of results, data collection, analyses, report writing and documenting best practices and learning decisions.
• Responsible for regular visits to the start-ups to monitor the project activities implementation and track performance in line with the measurement indicators.
• Engage with government and non-government entities to measure impact and ensure proper engagement of all stakeholders involved in the program,

Evaluation, Reporting and Learning

• Responsible for initiating and supervising baseline, interim and end-line evaluation report in close collaboration with the Mastercard Foundation MERL team.
• Accountable for analyses, documentation, report of results achieved, and communicating to project partners and other relevant stakeholders to stimulate learning and decision making that enhance project results.
• Play an active role in the entire project reporting (monthly, quarterly, and annually) and ensure the report captures result indicators beyond activity lines.
• Assist the project team in capturing key results as per established requirements.
• Supports the development and circulation of knowledge products to draw out lessons learned and success stories; compile and share the learning that can be used to inform digital learning policy decisions.

Additional Roles

• Undertake other related roles from MiNT and other project partners as and when needed and ensure complementarity with the e-commerce project.
• Responsible for capacity building of the relevant MiNT team and ensuring full teamwork and integration of project work within the mainstream functions of the ministry.
• Actively participate in e-commerce-related national and regional initiatives to network, learn, and harmonize.

Education, Experience and Language

• MSC or equivalent education in Digital Economy Leadership, Information System Management, Computer science, software engineering, information science, 
• Knowledge in Digital Finance and experience in digital Platform Management
• At least five years of relevant experience in monitoring, evaluation, knowledge management and learning
• Experience in Developing Digital Strategies and gridlines
• Experience in national-level ICT related projects management
• Proficiency in spoken and written English language
• Familiarity with public institutions’ work environment and operation modality
• Experience in delivering training and workshop to groups with different levels of knowledge and skills
• Experience in working with statistical and MS application software standard spreadsheet, web-based platforms, and database programs.

Competencies

Technical competencies

• Solid understanding of the concept of theory of change  and project logic with the ability to translate that into KPIs.
• Hands-on experience in research methods, applications, and data tools relevant for tracking results for e-learning projects.
• Outstanding quantitative and qualitative analytical skills with the ability to synthesize and generate decision recommendations out of data.
• Hands-on experience in devising continuous monitoring and learning-oriented ME systems.
• Competent in statistical analysis and interpretation of data for decision making
• Good knowledge of digital education for higher education institutions.
• Solid understanding of the Ethiopian higher education system (key policies, strategies, regulations)

Leadership and Management Competences

• Outstanding analytical, critical reasoning, and problem-solving.
• Excellent communication skills
• Mastery in demonstrating personal effectiveness and delivering results in teamwork
• Outstanding skills in planning, organizing, and reporting
• Value differences and diversities while demonstrating constructive assertiveness in leading people towards the result.
• Proactive mindset; able to identify, communicate and work towards addressing issues.
• Ability to perform under pressure with minimal supervision and handle multiple tasks simultaneously in a calm and organized manner.
• Ability to listen and synthesize ideas from wide-ranging perspectives and able to come up with a consolidated and implementable plan from such process.