Monitoring, Evaluation, Adaptation, and Learning (MEAL) Manager at DAI Kenya - Development Alternatives, Inc.

Programme Description

The Deepening Democracy Programme (DDP) is a four year (July 2016- January 2020) DFID funded programme aimed at enhancing more inclusive and accountable governance in Kenya through the electoral and non-electoral accountability work streams or pathways, as well as promoting climate change governance. The programme coordinates with other DFID programmes including Kenya Devolution Support Programme (KDSP), Strengthening Adaptation and Resilience to Climate Change in Kenya Plus (StARCK+) and Improving Community Security in Kenya (Jamii Thabiti). Four outputs or result areas that DDP intend to contribute to are:

• Electoral management agencies supported to effectively manage the 2017 elections;
• Citizens supported to engage more effectively in governance processes;
• Public oversight organisations supported to work more effectively with others
• Climate change adaptation and governance reforms promoted at community, county and national levels.

Role Description

The Monitoring & Evaluation, Adaptation, and Learning (MEAL) Manager will lead the planning, development, and delivery of all MEAL-related functions at the overall programme-level and coordinate and quality assure MEAL at the grant intervention-level. The MEAL Manager will supervise and manage all M&E-related staff and consultants, while working under the direct supervision of the Director of Programmes.

Specific Responsibilities

The MEAL Manager will be responsible for, but not necessarily limited to the following:

Programme-Focused Activities

• Support and coordinate the development (or revision) of a programme Theory of Change (ToC) by DDP’s Technical Leads and ensure that grantees’ Theories of Change align with or feed into DDP’s programme Theory of Change;
• Lead the development and revisions of the DDP programme logframe and overall M&E framework;
• Coordinate and lead on all results reporting against the DDP results framework, including tracking results against output and outcome indicators and value for money (VfM), with data collected by the MEAL team;
• Oversee implementation of DDP MEAL methodologies and protocols for data collection tools, and the provision of technical assistance to grantees in data collection and results reporting;
• Review and adapt (if need be) current DDP Monitoring Approach, and subsequently support any DDP staff to plan and carrying out monitoring of grantees;
• Lead on all learning and adaptation activities, including acting as the focal point for any STTA adaptation advisors or learning specialists, and facilitating Critical Reflection events;
• Plan and manage programme “Deep Dive” research or other evaluations throughout the life of DDP, as well as any MEAL-related consultancies;
• Lead and coordinate the development and compiling of quarterly, bi-annual and annual reports for the client, and the Annual Review and Project Completion report drafting for DFID;
• Be responsible for maintaining an effective Knowledge Management system (KMS) and strategy, which includes: Management Information System (MIS), all results framework-related data, a library and analysis of successes and failures, lessons learnt, human interest stories, and any other products that will inform decision-making for performance management, adaptation and wider learning;
• QA all logframe/results-data entered in the KMS;
• Lead, coordinate, and provide Quality Assurance on all MEAL team products and activities, including all reporting, logframe, tool/methodology templates, and capacity building plans;
• Identify needs for and coordinate any MEAL-related inputs of the partners Integrity and ODI;
• Directly supervise MEAL team staff (4 members) and support any other team members Grants Managers with any M&E activities, leading on the MEAL team’s performance management;
• Any other reasonable tasks, as directed by the Director of Programmes or the Team Leader.

Grantee-focused Activities

• Participate in the grantee performance review meetings and support DDP team in decision making regarding scale ups or scale downs;
• Provide QA and technical support to grantees regarding their M&E system development, including design and revisions of their logframes, indicators, and methodologies;
• Support MEAL staff to collect and analyse information on M&E needs and capacity gaps of grantees, on a quarterly basis;
• Plan and help coordinate the MEAL team’s capacity-building for selected grantees.

Supervision

The MEAL Manager will report on a regular basis to and be supervised by the Director of Programmes.

Location

The MEAL Manager will be based in the Nairobi office, with occasional travel to programme implementation sites in other counties in Kenya.

Position Requirements

• Must have at least 10 years of experience in managing data intensive programmes and designing M&E activities for donor-funded projects, including hands-on practical experience setting up and managing M&E systems;
• Master’s degree or its international equivalent in social science, international development or a related field;
• Proven ability to lead and manage the design M&E tools, surveys, monitoring and evaluation plans;
• Demonstrated expertise in both quantitative and qualitative research methods;
• Excellent experience and ability to developing monitoring and evaluation frameworks in large, complex donor funded programmes;
• Strong diagnostic, analytical and problem solving skills;
• Computer proficiency in word processing, databases, spreadsheets;
• Must be a strong self-starter;
• Strong interpersonal skills and communication skills, initiative, and good judgment;
• Working knowledge of the CSO sector, preferably in Kenya;
• Experience working with DFID.
• Excellent report writing, analytical and communication skills, including oral presentation skills;
• Fluency in English is essential;
• Strong interpersonal skills and managerial capacity.