Purpose of the Position

The purpose for this position is to offer leadership for addressing ASSESS’ responsibilities in providing high quality monitoring and evaluation support to USAID West Africa/REGO’s Regional Agriculture Office (RAO) as it implements its programs under the Feed the Future (FTF) Presidential Initiative. USAID/West Africa supported programs are implemented throughout the ECOWAS and UEMOA countries. The Agriculture Office’s leading program partnership includes ECOWAS, West African Economic and Monetary Union (UEMOA), Permanent Inter-State Committee for the Control of Drought in the Sahel (CILSS), West and Central African Council for Agricultural Research and Development (CORAF) and Hub Rural.

The RAO, with a technical team of specialists, is responsible for directing approximately $22 million USD of technical assistance to meet the regional challenges of food security. The specialists deliver direct support to regional institutions, but also target critical gaps in the agriculture sector such as a lack of quality seeds and fertilizer, the inability to trade efficiently across borders, the lack of market and trade related information for all those involved in the industry, and other barriers. The M&E Expert will be part of that team.

Duties and Responsibilities

Reporting directly to the ASSESS Chief of Party (COP), the incumbent will provide M&E support to the RAO and its implementing partners. Specific areas include: program evaluations, monitoring, reporting and data quality assessments. Specifically, s/he will perform the following duties:

•   Provide leadership for developing and maintaining a comprehensive monitoring plan and a system to manage data for all RAO’s Feed the Future supported activities. The incumbent will work with implementing partners and the West Africa staff to ensure that data collected is timely, of the highest quality possible, and generated using appropriate state of the art methodologies, instruments and techniques.

•   Establish annual Data Quality Assessment (DQA) schedule and up to date database that facilitates continuous review throughout the year. The DQA protocols must adhere to USAID Automated Directive System (ADS) standards and follow USAID FTF Monitoring System (FTFMS) standards and recommended procedures.

•   S/he will provide leadership in working with the Mission to monitor, on an ongoing basis, selected variables related to agriculture and private sector development; assess and analyzes all data collected and/or reported by implementing partners; and , prepare qualitative reports which can be used as background information for portfolio reviews and required annual reports.

•   Provide leadership for the verification of data reported from the field by implementing partners through scheduled field visits and the review of reports.

•   Provide guidance (or training as necessary) to implementing partners in the following: (a) preparation and updating of monitoring and evaluation plans, description and quantification of partner activities, formulation of performance indicators, collecting baseline data and setting targets; and, (b) results reporting; tracking and documenting programmatic achievements.

•   Work with USAID staff to finalize statements of work for the evaluation of program activities; ensuring that stakeholder interests are adequately covered. S/he must be able to collaborate with USAID officials to review evaluation designs and draft reports and provide feedback to the evaluation team and USAID as appropriate.

Travel and Biling French / English Required

•   Extensive travel throughout the West Africa region will be required with this position. The applicant selected must be fluent in writing and speaking French and English.

Qualification Required & Experience

The following qualifications and experiences are required of the successful applicant:

•   Advance university degree in agricultural economics, monitoring and evaluation, international development or a relevant related field.
•   At least seven to ten years of relevant work experience in project/program monitoring responsibilities in Government, multilateral or bilateral development agencies, using computer-based data management tools.
•   Experience or familiarity with USAID Automated Directives System’s requirements for program monitoring and evaluation. Knowledge and/ or experience with the USAID/FTFMS desired.
•   A minimum of five years practical experience in project/program evaluation and with excellent skills in survey methods.
•   Excellent team playing skills and an ability to work independently while being responsive to the team’s needs.
•   Excellent communication and report writing skills in English and French is essential.
•   Experience in agribusiness, agricultural financing or related private sector exposure is an advantage.
•   Excellent leadership skills, team work and ability to work in a multi-cultural and interdisciplinary environment
•   Ability to travel to the field on short notice.

Location: Accra

How To Apply For The Job

Interested candidates please send a Curriculum Vitae or Resume in English along with a Covering Letter, of no more than 2 A4 pages, describing how your skills and experience match the requirements of this post, to the following e-mail address:-

recruitftfms@assess-wa.org

Closing Date: 15 July, 2015

Make sure to include [APPLICATION USAID WEST AFRICA RAO FtF Monitoring & Evaluation Expert] in the subject line of your application. Incomplete applications will not be taken into consideration.