Director, Monitoring and Evaluation – Millennium Challenge Account (MCA) Lesotho II
About MCA
The Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) is a U.S. government corporation focused on assisting countries dedicated to good governance, economic freedom, and investing in people. In May 2022, MCC signed a five-year agreement (“compact”) with the government of Lesotho (GoL) aimed at poverty reduction through inclusive and sustainable economic growth in the country.
The Millennium Challenge Account (MCA- Lesotho II), is an entity established by the Government to act as the accountable entity to implement the Compact, with the authority to bind the Government with regard to all Program activities.
Lesotho Compact
The Lesotho Health and Horticulture Compact aims to benefit 2.5 million people by growing, strengthening, and organizing the private sector in Lesotho and improving the government’s coordination to deliver critical services necessary to support private sector development.
It will achieve this goal through investments in Health System Strengthening, strengthening of the business environment and Market Driven Irrigated Horticulture, providing sustainable income for smallholders and increasing climate resilience by replacing rain-fed subsistence farming with irrigated commercial horticulture in select locations.
The GoL is committed to passing several key reforms that will help make this compact successful, including reforms that address gender equality, working conditions and worker safety, as well as land and water rights. All of the compact’s projects focus on overcoming barriers to the economic inclusion of women, youth, and the rural poor.
Objective of this position
The Director, Monitoring and Evaluation leads the Monitoring & Evaluation (M&E) Unit, under the guidance of the Deputy Chief Executive Officer. The goal of the M&E Unit is to produce timely, relevant, and reliable data and assessments related to the progress and quality of project implementation and the achievement of targeted results by the Lesotho Compact. The M&E Director is responsible for leading the monitoring and reporting of progress toward compact targets, which includes liaising closely with implementing contractors to ensure accurate and timely data, supporting the independent evaluations of the compact program, and managing the compact M&E budget and M&E staff. The MCC counterparts to this position with whom the M&E Director will liaise are the M&E Lead(s) and Results Reporting Analysts.
Primary responsibilities
- Lead the development and periodic updates of the Lesotho Compact M&E Plan, in accordance with MCC policies and guidelines and in coordination with MCC and relevant stakeholders.
- Lead the implementation of the monitoring component of the Lesotho Compact M&E Plan to provide timely and relevant input to project management and external reporting, including:
- Define the performance indicators to be monitored along with their baselines and targets in collaboration with project teams.
- Identify critical data gaps or data quality issues related to the M&E Plan indicators and design and implement a plan to resolve these issues and build capacity with the party that produces the data (e.g., government entities or project implementers).
- Work with implementers and Implementing Entities to ensure M&E requirements are appropriately incorporated in their contracts and Implementing Entity Agreements, respectively, and that there is a shared understanding of relevant indicators and other requirements.
- Assess capacity of implementers and Implementing Entities’ ability to report accurate and timely data, and conduct capacity building workshops and/or meeting series (as needed) to improve data quality of reports.
- Produce the quarterly Indicator Tracking Table (ITT). This should include reviewing the ITT data on a quarterly basis, checking inconsistent values with project leads and reporting entities, and submitting supporting documentation for all data that is reported.
- Conduct a Data Quality Review of monitoring data reported by MCA-Lesotho II as well as likely sources of future monitoring data (i.e., data sources identified in the M&E Plan) and implement a plan to address any identified weaknesses.
- Design and implement field assessments of progress towards the achievement of outputs and intermediate outcomes, especially in situations where concerns have been raised regarding data quality or validity.
- Disseminate information from the approved ITT to relevant stakeholders in Lesotho and to MCC.
- Support the design and implementation of the evaluation component of the Lesotho Compact M&E Plan to promote accountability and learning, including:
- Gather evidence in support of evaluation questions for each evaluation, as appropriate.
- Provide data and documentation required to inform the design and implementation of evaluations to MCC and independent evaluators.
- Monitor adherence to the project design and implementation plans and report any deviations to the independent evaluator.
- Review evaluation reports, survey instruments, and other materials produced by each of the evaluators hired by MCC to conduct independent evaluations.
- Manage local stakeholder reviews of evaluation reports and materials.
- Contract survey firms to undertake baseline and interim data collection for independent evaluations and supervise work in coordination with the independent evaluator.
- Organize meetings/events for the dissemination of evaluation findings for each evaluation report.
- Work with the Contract Management Specialist to develop structure and processes for efficient and effective contract management.
- Serve as an effective contract manager for data collection contracts and provide oversight of contract management processes, including tracking work plans, deliverables, expiration of contract, budget, identifying working effectively to resolve risks on issues, responding to contract questions, providing technical feedback where relevant, facilitating coordination with other contractors or MCA-Lesotho II staff, and providing reports to senior management as required.
- Maintain close collaboration and integration between the M&E and project teams to ensure that M&E’s data and analysis is accurate, up-to-date, and supports evidence-based project design and management.
- Maintain regular communication with MCA-Lesotho II leadership, MCC M&E, and Economic Analysis staff to provide updates on the status of M&E activities and to communicate risks related to the progress of implementation or the achievement of results.
- Manage the M&E Unit staff (comprised of 2-3 M&E Specialists) and supervise their activities.
- Manage the Compact M&E budget and provide updates to MCC on commitments and disbursements on a quarterly basis.
- Manage the procurements and contracts funded by the M&E budget and report progress to MCC on a quarterly basis.
Requirements
- Advanced degree (Master’s degree or bachelor’s plus 5 years minimum experience) in Economics, Statistics, or a related subject.
- Ten (10) or more years’ experience, five (5) of which is in managing teams that conducted quantitative and qualitative analyses of programs, including a minimum of three (3) years of experience in Monitoring & Evaluation.
- Five (5) years of successful technical contract or grant management experience, as evidenced by at least two examples of how the candidate managed a contract or grant to successfully produce the deliverables or outcomes within a specified time period.
- Demonstrated ability to balance a variety of tasks and demands and to meet deadlines in a responsible and flexible manner.
- Demonstrated experience designing and implementing monitoring systems, including collecting, analyzing, and reporting performance data.
- Demonstrated experience implementing quantitative surveys involving households or businesses.
- Previous supervisory experience managing at least 2 subordinate staff.
- Strong and demonstrable skills in contract management.
- Strong analytical and report writing skills.
- Good written and oral communication skills.
- Demonstrated experience in one or more of the following statistical analysis software and databases, such as Excel, STATA, SPSS, SAS, R, CSPRO, or Access and strong proficiency with MS Word and PowerPoint.
- Excellent organizational skills related to data and document management.
- Willingness to undertake regular field visits and interact with the different stakeholders. Occasional international travel may also be required.
- Fluency in English (written and verbal) is required. Proficiency in Sesotho (written and verbal) is preferred.
Preferred Experience
- Work experience in Lesotho over the past ten (10) years to be familiar with the realities of the country is highly desired.
- Experience working in any of the following sectors preferred: irrigation/large scale infrastructure projects, agriculture, business development/technical assistance, and health systems.
- Experience working with international donor organizations preferred.
How to apply
Applications must be submitted on-line, on or before the application deadline Sep 22nd 2023.
Complete applications must comprise of the following documents:
1. Curriculum vitae containing detailed work experience;
2. Cover letter confirming interest and availability;
3. Soft copies of higher education and professional certificates (if available);
4. A completed online application form (can be accessed from https://lesotho-jobs.tenderwell.app – CV Template MCA Lesotho II)
Only applications that are submitted on or before the deadline will be considered. We thank all applicants. However, note that only shortlisted candidates will be contacted. Submit your application online via: https://lesotho-jobs.tenderwell.app . Hard copy applications will not be considered.