Education Sub Saharan Africa (ESSA)’s vision is high-quality education that equips millions of young people in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) with the skills they need for work, enables them to achieve their ambitions, and strengthens society.
Therefore, we bring together a network of young people, educators, funders, and policymakers and provide them with data and evidence to make good decisions and to change the system.
This is an exciting opportunity to join a small but passionate and driven team based in Africa and Europe, to play a key role in advancing our work, impact, and partnerships in sub-Saharan Africa and beyond.
ESSA’s values are at the heart of everything we do, and they are:
- Evidence-driven: We are driven by data and evidence to find what works best, building an evidence alliance for education in sub-Saharan Africa.
- Solutions-focused: We seek the highest impact for young people and educators in sub-Saharan Africa with the cost-effective funds we invest.
- Strengthening Trust: We strive to create supportive environments, building trust with the communities we work with.
- Always learning: Everyone’s opinion is valuable; we develop solutions through teamwork.
To find out more about ESSA, visit essa-africa.org.
ESSA requires an MEL Manager to lead the development and implementation of a Monitoring and Evaluation Framework for a pilot programme that is focused on transforming career service development systems within higher education institutions in SSA.
This programme is part of ESSA’s employability work strand. The programme is being delivered by multiple partners and engaged higher education institutions within Ghana, Burkina Faso, and Rwanda.
The successful candidate will collaborate and consult with MEL personnel across ESSA and within partner organisation to develop MEL frameworks, collect data, analyse data, and produce reports for the programme.
Main Responsibilities
- Conduct a baseline assessment and formative evaluation to identify and assess baseline indicators for the programme.
- Develop MEL Framework for the overall. The framework will include the development of a theory of Change, programme indicators and metrics, data collection tools and templates, data storage procedures, learning framework, and MEL data analysis plan.
- Conduct training for higher education institutions in collecting MEL data.
- Undertake monitoring visits to higher education institutions (project specific countries) subject to travel restrictions
- Conduct lessons learned and reflections events
- Conduct mid-term and end of programme assessment.
- Produce MEL reports for the programme.
- Collate and translate the findings from the evaluation, lessons learned, and beneficiary feedback into a high-quality, user-friendly report.
- Collaborate and consult with MEL personnel across ESSA and within partner organisations
- Support with other MEL activities at ESSA as directed by the line manager
Deliverables
- MEL framework for the overall programme
- MEL training manuals
- Final synthesised MEL report for the programme including lessons learned recommendations from all institutions that took part in the programme
Person Specification
Essential
- Trained to Masters-level in a relevant subject e.g., international development, economics, education, or other social science.
- At least 3 to 5 years’ experience in designing and implementing MEL frameworks and activities.
- Significant experience of developing and testing theories of change.
- Proven experience designing and conducting outcome evaluations related to education, labour market systems, and career services development.
- Extensive experience developing indicators and supporting teams to monitor and document outcomes.
- Strong analytical and research skills, including the ability to process large amounts of information, extract critical analysis and distribute it appropriately.
- Ability to proactively engage in information gathering, synthesis, critical thinking, and reflection.
- Excellent written and verbal communication skills. Confidence engaging at all levels within an organisation.
- A team player who is culturally aware/sensitive, with the ability to work collaboratively and creatively with stakeholders from diverse backgrounds.
- Very good planning and organisation skills.
- Passionate about the role of education in unlocking the potential of young people in sub-Saharan Africa, and the link between universities and colleges (incl. TVET), employers and work.
Desirable
- Practical experience in the field of international development.
- Ability to speak French
- Normally resident in sub-Saharan Africa
- Knowledge of career services development structures and systems.
- Knowledge and understanding of the Tertiary Education ecosystem in sub-Saharan Africa and the key players.
Equality & Diversity
The importance of equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) underpins our mission and values at ESSA. We prioritise inclusion and celebrate the breadth of knowledge and experience working across different cultures brings to the organisation.
EDI at ESSA is embodied in the current composition of our Board of Trustees and our workforce, which strongly reflects the communities we work in, and we actively encourage applications from people of all backgrounds and cultures.
Application Process
Click here to read more and apply
The closing date for applications is the 6th September 2021 at 18:00hr GMT.
Note: Please ensure that your CV and cover letter are saved using your given name and surname. For example, Samuel.Nyarko_C.V