DMEL Officer – THRIVE at Hivos East Africa

Role purpose

The DMEL Officer is responsible for leading the monitoring, evaluation, and learning dimension of the assigned project, operating in alignment with Hivos’ principles, policies, and guidelines, as well as donor requirements. The role ensures the effective implementation of the Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning plan, including milestone tracking, high‑quality reporting, and compliance with donor and Hivos standards. The DMEL Officer guarantees the timely generation, recording, analysis, and interpretation of project data, and promotes the use of this information for learning and continuous improvement across Hivos and partner organizations. The position also plans and monitors project workplans (POAs) together with Hivos teams and implementing partners, ensuring coherent execution and evidence‑based decision‑making throughout the project cycle.

Key responsibilites

The key responsibilities of the role include:

Monitoring and evaluation

• Lead the coordination, implementation, and operational management of the project’s DMEL component, ensuring that Hivos teams and partners apply the agreed Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning plan and meet donor‑aligned milestones.
• Develop and implement the global M&E strategy, ensuring harmonized, efficient, and high‑quality data collection across regions.
• Track global output indicators and maintain databases, dashboards, and visualization tools to demonstrate program performance.
• Prepare, review, and validate data and statistics on project execution; ensure data quality, completeness, and evidence‑based reporting from partners.
• Monitor project performance through milestone measurement and follow‑up, ensuring proper implementation of baseline and endline studies and robust measurement of efficiency, effectiveness, and programmatic impact.
• Conduct or advise field visits to validate data, oversee data collection, assess data quality, and document lessons learned for scaling best practices.
• Implement M&E methodologies that capture social transformations, including Outcome Harvesting and/or other qualitative approaches.
• Consolidate quantitative and qualitative information into global program reports and annual donor reports.
• Request, review, and clarify technical reports from partners, ensuring accuracy and consistency before producing consolidated versions.
• Support mid‑term and final evaluations by designing ToRs, defining evaluation questions, coordinating regional inputs, supervising deliverables, and ensuring implementation of recommendations.
• Analyze outcome data from all regions to identify trends, critical topics, and strategic insights that inform program strategy and adaptive management.
• Generate data and insights that support global advocacy strategies and key positioning efforts.
• Ensure alignment with Hivos’ M&E and DMEL frameworks, tools, and methods.
• Document and share adaptive management lessons to promote cross‑regional learning.
• Provide periodic reports to Regional and Global offices to ensure compliance with key outcomes, outreaches, and outputs.

Planning and coordination

• Support regional and global teams in developing annual workplans that integrate M&E, linking and learning, advocacy, and communication strategies.
• Design the annual M&E planning component and ensure alignment with the approved Theory of Change and donor‑agreed monitoring framework.
• Provide technical assistance to regional teams and partners in planning, monitoring, and evaluating activities.
• Coordinate closely with Project Manager, Program Officers, and specialists to ensure coherent implementation and timely follow‑
• Respond to additional support needs identified by the global team.

Linking, learning, and knowledge management

• Coordinate the development of the Linking and Learning / Knowledge Management Strategy with regional teams.
• Support regional teams in implementing the learning cycle and designing context‑specific learning questions.
• Assist in developing regional learning agendas aligned with the global program strategy.
• Facilitate a global learning community for partners and staff through regular online sessions and occasional in‑person events.
• Coordinate the production and dissemination of high‑quality learning products, including research, in collaboration with regional counterparts.
• Engage external audiences (donors, peer networks, platforms) in learning processes and outputs and collaborate with the Hivos DMEL Manager.
• Consolidate good practices, including social learning and scaling opportunities, and support knowledge products that strengthen program thought leadership.
• Ensure alignment with Hivos’ learning strategy, tools, and methods.
• Support the Communications Officer in developing and implementing a global communication strategy that reflects the program’s theory of change and highlights key learning and advocacy messages.
• Promote methodological innovation and contribute to the co‑creation of DMEL intelligence within Hivos.
• Ensure participatory and capacity‑building spaces for data analysis at regional and national levels.

Personal specifications

Qualifications/Experience

• Bachelor’s degree in Development Studies, Social Sciences, International Development, Public Policy, Program Management, Political Science, International Relations or another relevant discipline.
• Relevant work experience of more than 5 years of setting up and coordinating M&E, learning, in national and global programs.
• Demonstrable knowledge and experience of quantitative and qualitative M&E systems, tools, and methods, and how to integrate these in support of adaptive management
• Experience designing and facilitating learning activities, including participatory and inclusive facilitation, online (through learning communities) and offline (through occasional in-person events).
• Proven ability and experience to work effectively with a diverse range of people in a multicultural environment and across a decentralized global team, building impact with hybrid and blended methodologies and tools.
• Experience with data visualization tools.
• Proven ability to effectively document, share, and profile lessons learnt.
• Experience positioning views at influential international forums and in diverse media channels.
• Knowledge of civic space, civil society strengthening, governance, human rights, gender equality, diversity, inclusion and safeguarding principles.
• Experience working with multiple stakeholders and partner organizations.
• High professional proficiency in English with excellent written and verbal skills; proficiency in another widely spoken language would be a strong asset (e.g. Spanish, Arabic, French, Swahili, etc.).

Key Skills /Attributes

• Analytical thinking and problem-solving.
• Communication and presentation skills.
• Facilitation and report writing.
• Cooperation, influence, leadership, and collaboration.
• Teamwork and collaboration.