Vacancy Title: Monitoring & Evaluation Officer (1 post) – MESPT

REF. HR/09/2022

ABOUT MESPT

Micro Enterprises Support Programme Trust (MESPT) was established in 2002 by the Government of Kenya and European Union. EU later relinquished their position to the Royal Danish Embassy in Kenya, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark (DANIDA) through a Trust Deed of 2013.

The Trust is a development organization with a purpose to grow small holder farmers and Agri SMEs to increase productivity, incomes and enhance competitiveness for job creation especially for youth and women. This is achieved through capacity building which includes skills development, technical support, business advisory, financial and market linkages.

Our focus is to facilitate support and provision of integrated financial and business development services for small holder farmers and Agri SMEs in Kenya. This is aimed at enabling beneficiaries to access finance, increase agricultural productivity, agro-processing, and access markets/ trade opportunities. For over a decade, MESPT has partnered with development agencies, donors, and investors to build the capacity of the business services sector and the agricultural sector in Kenya through a unique tripartite business model that links Farmers, Agri- SMEs, and Financial Institutions – creating linkages along value chains.

We pride ourselves for successfully implementing 12 agriculture-based Programmes that have seen us facilitate creation of 70,000 decent jobs at various levels of the agriculture market systems. We have also cumulatively disbursed KES 6.4 billion to financial institutions and over 250,000 end users have accessed finance.

For further information kindly visit our website www.mespt.org

VACANT POSITION

As part of its development programme, MESPT is seeking to engage a highly committed, results-oriented, self-driven professional with excellent monitoring & evaluation skills to ensure the successful delivery of the programme towards achieving its objectives and targets.

Position Reports to: MEAL Manager

Duty Station: Nairobi, Westlands

Salary: Grade 4

Benefits: 25 days annual leave, Medical Insurance, 20% Gratuity and 7.5% leave allowance

Restrictions: 3-Month probation period, Contract up to 31st December 2025 and 1-month notice period

Expected Travel: Significant travel

Job Purpose

The job holder will primarily be responsible for the design and implementation of a functional MEAL system that is integral to achieving GEAP Programme objectives. The job involves ensuring proper planning, monitoring and evaluation, results to better information for management decisions, and strategic planning, accountability and learning at programme and institutional level.

Key Responsibilities

Project Management

• In liaison with MEAL Manager, develop a robust MEAL system for the programme in line with existing institutional MEAL system and donor requirements.
• Provide statistics, information, and necessary inputs for quarterly, annual Programme reporting on the performance and results achieved in line with all donor-reporting requirements.
• Undertake quality control and final editing of programme level reports and documents to ensure they reflect sound MEAL practice.
• Maintain an up-to-date performance indicator tracking table for programme performance review and reporting.
• Support Programme manager in quarterly and annual programme reviews and planning workshops.
• Work closely with program team and provide support to enable them to achieve their set targets for the program.
• Conduct regular reviews of achievements against planned targets and share identified performance and budget utilization gaps to programme and MEAL managers.
• In liaison with the MEAL Manager develop quarterly and annual institutional performance reports
• Prepare and submit progress reports in line with reporting requirements to MEAL and programme manager.
• Build capacity of programme staff and relevant stakeholder in MEAL from time to time.

Monitoring and Evaluation

• In liaison with the MEAL Manager, design and implement a robust MEAL result based management framework that will ensure tracking of programme results at all levels.
• Take lead in developing and review of MEAL processes and requisite tools needed to progressively measure programme performances.
• In consultation with MEAL Manager facilitate baseline, annual assessments, Mid-term Reviews, end of programme evaluations and any research studies on timely manner.
• Monitor the programme implementation process to assess quality of the activities’, results, and progress towards achieving desired results.
• Conduct regular monitoring visits to programme areas to check on effectiveness and relevance of activities implementation. Train staff, partners, and volunteers on guidelines, surveys, and other data collection tools as per donor indicators and requirements

Accountability and Learning

• Create and maintain integrated databases of all programmes data, information and reports accessible through a central repository.
• Undertake regular data audits and provide data updates to the programme team on necessary action on identified data quality gaps.
• Coordinate and enforce data quality compliance of staff and external M&E resource persons in line with existing institutional policies and procedures.
• Develop and maintain an up-to-date programme MEAL risk register and provide risk alerts to team on interventions that may be unsuccessful
• On quarterly basis, support the Programme manager in facilitating learning and review sessions on performance reviews and improvement.
• Facilitate documentation of learnings papers, case studies documentaries, publications, and dissemination to wider audience
• Develop and maintain an up-to-date MEAL recommendation tracker and follow-up on actions by the team
• Update the internal program dashboard based on approved progress reports

Programme Development

• Help in identifying funding opportunities for MESPT to apply in relation to its program thematic areas.
• Participate in proposal development and fund-raising opportunities.
• Take a lead role in the programme continuous quality improvement (CQI) team

Any other duties as assigned by the Supervisor from time to time

Key Relationships

Internal

• Programme Manager
• Head of Programmes
• Programme Accountant
• ICT Officers
• Communication Officer
• Administration Officer
• Programme Officers
• Programme Assistant

External

• Partner organizations & County Government Officials.
• Stakeholders including farmer groups, co-operatives, donors, and private companies.

Knowledge, Experience and Skills

• At least 5 years of experience in the design and implementation of MEAL process and tools in development projects
• Demonstrable experience in designing and implementation of monitoring systems, survey techniques incl. qualitative investigation, and statistical analysis for community development programmes.
• Strong experience in conducting baseline, evaluations, and research studies for programmes.
• Extensive experience in managing database for large scale / complex programmes. Demonstrated experience/ expertise in data analysis using statistical packages and/ or software for large volumes of data.
• In depth understanding of principles and current approaches and changes into MEAL systems and standards
• High level skills and experience in training & capacity building in MEAL
• Must be willing to travel in‐country and provide on‐site leadership
• Self‐motivated and able to work with minimal supervision
• Good critical thinking skills, with a proven capability to provide gainful insight, practical and pragmatic solutions to programme challenges with a bias towards action and resolving issues quickly
• Excellent communication and report writing skills.
• Highly organized individual in planning activities and tracking activity implementation.

Qualifications/Other Requirements:

• A minimum of a bachelor’s degree in Monitoring and Evaluation, Project Management, Agricultural Economics, Agri-business, Agricultural Education and Extension, Development studies and Social sciences or Related Field
• Professional Certification in Monitoring and Evaluation qualification is mandatory.
• Certification in Project management will be added advantage.
• Proficiency in Microsoft Office applications (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, Access,) and statistical related packages

Behaviour

• Holds self-accountable to deliver on their responsibilities.
• Sets ambitious and challenging goals for themselves.
• Future orientated, thinks strategically.
• Develops new and innovative solutions.
• Willing to take disciplined risks.
• Has integrity.
• Builds and maintains effective relationships, with their team, colleagues, external partners, and stakeholders