Monitoring ,Evaluation and Learning (MEL) Lead

Lutheran World Relief, which is part of Corus International, has been present in Nepal since 2011. Corus International is the parent of a family of world-class organizations working to deliver the holistic, lasting solutions needed to end extreme poverty once and for all. We are a global leader in international development, with 150 years of combined experience across our brands. Our nonprofit and for-profit subsidiaries include IMA World Health and its fundraising brand Corus World Health, Lutheran World Relief, CGA Technologies, Ground Up Investing, and Farmers Market Brands. In Nepal, Corus operates under Lutheran World Relief. Our more than 800 employees around the globe are experts in their fields and dedicated to helping the world’s most vulnerable people break the cycle of poverty and lead healthy lives.

Position Summary: This position will be an employee of Lutheran World Relief.

The Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning (MEL) Lead is primarily responsible for leading all components of monitoring, evaluation, learning and special studies on an anticipated U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Food For Progress project in Nepal called Modernizing Aquaculture in Nepal. The project is designed to address food security through improvements in the aquaculture value chain by (1) incorporating climate smart technologies, (2) improving end market linkages and incomes for farmers, (3) increasing access to finance for farmers to expand trade of agricultural products, and (4) strengthening the public and private sector.

The MEL Lead responsibilities include developing the Evaluation Plan, Performance Monitoring Plan, and MEL Plan to incorporate project-specific indicators aligned with the project results framework. S/he will manage the collection, analysis, validation, and storage of the project’s data and all data quality assessment activities. The MEL Lead will manage the development of data collection tools, research and evaluation methodologies, and managing the online database system for managing data. S/he will oversee routine data quality assurance exercises, data collection, data entry, data analysis, validation and timely reporting and disseminate lessons learned, best practices, and other project deliverables.

The position will be based in the project office in Simara, Bara district, Nepal.

Responsibilities:

• Leads the development, review and updating of The Performance Monitoring Plan And Evaluation Plan (PMEP) to meet the donor requirement.
• Develops and refines the monitoring framework, ensuring alignment with project objectives, the Theory of Change (ToC), and donor expectations.
• Builds and strengthens the capacity of the project team, partners, grant receipients and stakeholders in monitoring, evaluation and learning activities
• Designs and develops data collection tools and methods, incorporating innovative approaches such as 3D data collection for enhanced accuracy and analysis.
• Oversees data collection, analysis, and reporting, ensuring the validity, reliability, precision, timeliness, and integrity of data across all project partners.
• Ensure validity, reliability, precision, timeliness and integrity for quality data collection across the team, inclusive of LWR team, consortium partners, grant recipients and stakeholders.
• Coordinates and supports the drafting of semi-annual and final project technical reports, ensuring compliance with USDA requirements and high-quality reporting.
• Prepare reports on project performance on indicators and targets semi-annually in project performance reports and final report.
• Provides regular updates to USDA through the COP and DCOP, including requests for target adjustments as needed.
• Responsible for drafting the Terms of Reference for evaluations, assessments and special studies carried out on the project.
• Oversees the recruitment and work of evaluation firms or consultants for baseline, midterm, and final evaluations, ensuring alignment with the PMP, Evaluation Plan, and ToC.
• Reports on implementation of evaluation, assessments and special studies findings for future follow-up actions in the project. Ensure documentation of all findings are collated in reports and shared widely with the project team and Technical Business Unit (TBU), headquarters.
• Reviews the USDA food for progress learning agenda and dissemination strategy to enhance knowledge sharing and evaluation utilization.
• engage with other USDA projects in the country for learning and sharing, as appropriate and as directed by the COP or TBU, headquarters
• Represent LWR in relevant forums to share project learnings and best practices
• Works closely with partners to enhance their MEL capacity, ensuring effective data collection, analysis, and reporting.

Supervisory:

This position will report to Chief of Party and will be managing MEL Officer and Data Analyst.

Education & Experience:

• Bachelor’s degree in statistics, monitoring and evaluation, demography, social science, mathematics, economics, or relevant discipline.
• Master’s degree in similar field is desired.
• At least 8 years relevant work experience of leading monitoring and evaluation of a complex agriculture, economic growth or trade projects, with USG projects.
• Significant study in the agricultural market field, international development and/or program monitoring and evaluation is preferred.
• Experience in the design, training, and implementation of MEL in development projects, preferably in agriculture, economic growth, trade and markets.
• In-depth understanding of and expertise in US government Food for Progress or Feed the Future standard indicators, MEL functions, performance monitoring plans and reporting.

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities

• Familiarity with software systems like (Microsoft Suite, Google Suite, statistical software, online and/or mobile applications) used in M&E for data management (data collection, storage, analysis and dissemination).
• Prior experience of working in a team and mobilizing the team is required.
• Deep commitment to LWR’s core values and ability to model those values in relationships with colleagues and partners.
• Fluency in English and Nepali is required for this position.
• Excellent interpersonal skills.

Deadline : March 1, 2025

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