Monitoring Evaluation and Learning (MEL) Officer, Kigoma

PG Program Development · Kasulu, Kigoma

This position is located in Kasulu, Kigoma, Tanzania. We are accepting applications through Sept 05, 2023.

Who is Water Mission?

Water Mission is a nonprofit Christian engineering organization that designs, builds, and implements safe water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) solutions for people in developing countries and disaster areas. Guided by love, excellence, and integrity, we are driven to share clean, safe water and God’s love with all. To date, we have served more than 7 million people in 57 countries. Working at Water Mission is as much a calling as it is a career, and we are searching for people with the courage, passion, and drive to help us change the world. Read more about our Statement of Faith and Christian Mission.

What is the opportunity?

Reporting directly to Water Mission’s Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning (MEL) Manager in Tanzania, the Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning (MEL) Officer will be responsible for managing and implementing Water Mission’s MEL program in Tanzania. S/He will manage activities to ensure that Water Mission Tanzania achieves intended program results through strong oversight and management of performance and impact measurement and learning activities. This is a full-time position based in Kasulu, Kigoma – Tanzania.

A successful MEL Officer is responsible for:

General Responsibilities

Maintaining a strong Christian witness and model servant leadership to colleagues, partners, the communities we serve, and the public.

Program Monitoring & Evaluation System Design: Specifically, the MEL Officer will:

Establishing performance measures, collecting performance information, planning, and managing evaluation programs assigned by the MEL Manager.
Developing and implementing a performance monitoring and impact management system for Water Mission’s projects in Tanzania.
Providing input into the design, implementation, and dissemination of evaluations, special studies, and assessments.
Reviewing and allocating financial resources for monitoring, evaluation, research, and learning activities at the Country Program and global levels.

Data Collection, Compliance, and Quality Assurance:

Managing implementation of data flow activities for Water Mission’s projects in Tanzania.
Supervising data collection activities. Working closely with Water Mission’s Community Development Officers, Project Managers, and Engineering team to ensure timely and continuous collection of data using Water Missions data collection tools, including performance-based funding programs, Household, Restore Surveys Etc.
Managing data flow improvements for Water Mission program in Tanzania.
Working with Water Mission team to identify areas where data flow can be improved.
Developing and implementing plans to improve data flow.
Ensuring that data is collected and reported in a timely and accurate manner.
Supporting the scalability of Water Mission’s programs by ensuring that data flow can keep up with growth.
Data quality.
Following data verification procedures to ensure that data is accurate and complete.
Conducting routine data quality audits to identify and resolve discrepancies.
Working with various teams to improve data collection and storage processes.
Developing and implementing training on data collection, storage, quality assurance, and retrieval.
Developing training materials on data collection, storage, quality assurance, and retrieval.
Delivering training to Water Mission staff and partners.
Providing support to staff and partners as they implement the training.

Data Analysis & Visualization:

Support activities to transform quantitative and qualitative data sets into compelling reports and visuals for different types of audience.

Developing and implementing plans for data analysis.
Developing plans for data analysis that are aligned with Water Mission’s goals and objectives.
Identifying the data that needs to be analyzed.
Selecting the appropriate methods and tools for data analysis.
Implementing the plans for data analysis.
Data analysis.
Analyzing data using qualitative and quantitative methods.
Interpreting the results of data analysis.
Communicating the results of data analysis to stakeholders.
Monitoring and responding to relevant data points from the MAP – Water Mission’s innovative Monitoring and Alerting Platform
Managing analytical reports to provide direct and real-time insights to inform the project design and implementation in Tanzania.
Developing standard protocols, templates, infographics, and procedures to ensure data analysis and visualization needs are met.
Analytical reports.
Creating and managing analytical reports that provide insights into Water Mission’s projects in Tanzania.
Ensuring that reports are timely, accurate, and easy to understand.
Using reports to inform the design and implementation of Water Mission’s projects.
Developing standard protocols, templates, infographics, and procedures.
Developing standard protocols, templates, infographics, and procedures for data analysis and visualization.
Ensuring that these tools are user-friendly and easy to follow.
Providing training to staff on how to use these tools.

Research & Learning Practices:

Contributing to Implementing strategies and approaches to improve Water Mission and the broader WASH sector ability to use findings to maximize learning and provide evidence for past, current programming decisions and drive future program design, implementation, and decision-making.

Regularly develop performance reports and share program outcomes and learning with Water Mission’s International Programs team and all key stakeholders in Tanzania (UNICEF, charity: water, USAID, UN-Habitat, etc.), including reports, trainings, briefs, commentary, and visuals.
Contributing to the development and implementation of strategies to improve the use of data for learning and decision-making.
Supporting the collection and analysis of data to identify lessons learned and best practices.
Disseminating findings to Water Mission staff, partners, and donors (USAID, charity: water, UNICEF, UN-Habitat, Uptime Global, etc.) to promote the use of data for learning and decision-making.
Assisting in the regular preparation of performance reports and dissemination of program outcomes and learning to Water Mission’s International Programs team and key stakeholders in Tanzania (UNICEF, charity: water, USAID, UN-Habitat, etc.) through various mediums such as reports, trainings, briefs, commentary, and visual aids.
Facilitating reflection, learning, and adapting meetings regularly in Tanzania country program.
Working closely with the communications team to help promote Water Mission’s content, including reports, briefs, success stories, commentary, and visual data.
Cultivating and maintaining relationships with partners to promote and represent Water Mission’s M&E, data analysis, and visualization activities in public and professional circles through meetings, conferences, and presentations.
Other duties as assigned.

What is required?

Alignment with Water Mission’s Statement of Faith and core values of Love, Excellence, and Integrity.
Bachelor’s degree in, Monitoring & Evaluation, Project management, Statistics, Data Science, Computer science with statistics or other related Social Sciences fields with at least 3 years of experience in WASH or related program Monitoring and Evaluation assignments.
Experience: At least 3 years experience designing, managing, and implementing WASH program or related program monitoring and evaluation activities, including:
Theory of change and M&E framework
Community needs, baseline, end line, and data quality assessments.
Quantitative, qualitative, and mixed methods research & evaluation studies.
Surveys, focus group discussions, and observational data collection tools.
Learning and adapting processes and mechanisms.
Technical Skills:
Comprehensive understanding of MEL global standards, practices, and principles.
Expertise in data science, statistical analysis, and data visualization.
Working knowledge of one or more data collection, analysis, and visualization software libraries and packages, including mWater, SurveyCTO, Kobo Toolbox/ODK Collect, R programming, STATA, SPSS, MS Access, SQL, Python, JavaScript, SPSS, Stata, MS Access, PowerBI, Tableau.
Experience with cloud-based data storage and analysis tools.
Knowledge of open-source data science tools and frameworks.
Soft Skills:
Excellent analytical skills and the ability to summarize disparate information in a clear and concise manner.
Strong written and verbal communication skills.
Ability to build consensus and work collaboratively with others.
Cultural sensitivity and the ability to work effectively in a cross-cultural environment.
Ability to travel and work in remote areas.
Language skills: Fluency in spoken and written Kiswahili is required. Proficiency in spoken and written English is required.
Additional Skills:
Experience in project management.
Experience in database development and systems
Knowledge of the WASH sector.
Problem-solving: Ability to identify and solve complex data science problems.
Creativity: Ability to think outside the box and come up with innovative solutions to MEL and programming problems in general.
Collaboration: Ability to collaborate effectively with others, both within and outside of Water Mission.
Leadership: Ability to lead and motivate others, and to build a strong team.
Familiarity with Water Mission’s programs and operations.
Legal authorization to work in Tanzania without sponsorship.