Background: The International Institute of
Tropical Agriculture (IITA) invites applications for the position of Monitoring
and Evaluation Specialist (M&E), N2Africa.
IITA is an international non-profit agricultural
research-for-development (R4D) organization established in 1967, governed by a
Board of Trustees, and a member of the CGIAR Consortium. Our R4D approach is
anchored on the development needs of tropical nations. We work with partners to
enhance crop quality and productivity, reduce producer and consumer risks, and
generate wealth from agriculture. We have more than 100 internationally
recruited scientists from about 35 countries and 900 nationally recruited staff
based in various stations across Africa. Please visit http://www.iita.org/ for more information
on IITA.
The Putting Nitrogen Fixation to Work for Smallholder
Farmers in Africa (http://www.n2africa.org)
Project is led by Wageningen University, the Netherlands. The project will
deploy state-of-the-art legume and rhizobial inoculant technologies to African
smallholder farmers to enhance inputs of free atmospheric nitrogen by
biological nitrogen fixation, thereby improving legume productivity, human
nutrition and farm income, while enhancing soil health. In its second phase,
the project will put a major emphasis on (i) institutionalizing N2Africa
technologies, approaches, and expertise and (ii) fostering sustainability of
the various components addressed by N2Africa, including seed, inoculant, and
fertilizer supply chains, access to profitable legume markets, and knowledge
transfer. The project will primarily work in Ghana, Nigeria, Tanzania, Uganda,
and Ethiopia (with a limited range of activities in DR Congo, Rwanda, Kenya,
Zimbabwe, Malawi, and Mozambique).
IITA seeks a qualified Monitoring and Evaluation Specialist
to lead the M&E activities. Monitoring and evaluation in the first phase of
the N2Africa project has evolved into a responsive system that increasingly enables
learning within the project in terms of effectiveness of D&D approaches in
generating impact. We want to further develop M&E as a learning and
research tool. The M&E specialist will be responsible for the overall
coordination of monitoring and evaluation activities of N2Africa project in
close collaboration with country teams, as well as other members of the
technical support team (particularly those responsible for data analyses).
The successful candidate will report to the R4D Director on
Natural Resource Management and the R4D Director for East Africa.
More specifically the M&E specialist will:
- Develop
a pragmatic M&E framework in a participatory manner, including the
design of quantitative and qualitative monitoring tools/methods in
conjunction with the project workplan.
- Provide
timely feedback to project management and country teams on progress in
project implementation allowing for adaptive approach in dissemination and
delivery
- Streamline
M&E data collection, analyses and reporting to allow for timely
reporting on progress to the donor.
- Provide
technical backstopping to country teams to facilitate the implementation
of M&E data collection in a timely and correct manner.
- Facilitate
further/effective operationalization of the learning cycles from D&D
through M&E to research and enable effectual feedback from research to
dissemination. (Liaising with ALINe to institutionalize learning from
M&E).
- Initiate
pilot use of ICT in data collection and data/information sharing/exchange
together with Coordinator Research and Data.
- Initiate
and/or participate in research within the development realm of the
N2Africa project increasing knowledge of dissemination, adoption and
adaptation process of farmers (etc.) and thereby contribute to a wider
shared knowledge-base of these issues.
- Generate
and/or contribute to publications in the form of reports to donors and
other stakeholders, abstracts, papers, journal articles, posters,
brochures, presentations to be made at national/international fora, etc.
in relation to N2Africa.
- Participate
in and/or organize technical meetings, conference calls and consultations
of experts from stakeholder and partner organizations as required in
liaison with the Project Coordinator as required.
- Collaborate
in setting up system for effective data management and data sharing.
- (Co)-supervision
of MSc and PhD projects.
Educational Qualifications
The applicant will have a PhD in social sciences, economics
or a related field and have demonstrated expertise (at least 10 years) in
assessing the on-going (outcome mapping) and final impacts (baseline and impact
studies) of natural resources management (NRM) research and interventions.
Core Competencies:
- Proven
experience in project monitoring and evaluation.
- Ability
to manage own workload without close supervision and works independently,
making decisions and solving problems on routine and complex problems.
- Ability
to work effectively in a dynamic team environment, in a flexible office
environment with periods of high pressure activity.
- Team
player with personality traits that enable him/her to motivate and
communicate with all levels of the professional and support staff.
- Reputation
of integrity, high intelligence, creativity and the ability to exercise
good judgment.
- Strong
interpersonal skills and an ability to establish rapport and credibility
with people at all organizational levels, forming strong relationships,
both internally and externally.
- Committed
to transparency and continuous improvement in a cooperative atmosphere of
constructive evaluation and learning.
- Willingness
to travel extensively.
- Excellent
spoken and written English (with French being an added advantage).
Duty station: Nairobi, Kenya, but will involve
extensive travel to the various project countries.
General information: Initial appointment is for
two years. IITA offers a competitive remuneration package paid in US dollars.
Applications: Applications which must include
covering letter, curriculum vitae, names and addresses of three referees should
be addressed to the Head, Human Resources Service. Please complete our online
application form using this link:http://www.iita.org/irs-online-application
Closing Date: 31 December 2013
Please note that only shortlisted candidates will be
contacted.
