Z24132, Monitoring, Evaluation & Learning Officer.

CIMMYT is a cutting edge, non-profit, international organization dedicated to solving tomorrow's problems today. It is entrusted with fostering improved quantity, quality, and dependability of production systems and basic cereals such as maize, wheat, triticale, sorghum, millets, and associated crops through applied agricultural science, particularly in the Global South, through building strong partnerships. This combination enhances the livelihood trajectories and resilience of millions of resource-poor farmers, while working towards a more productive, inclusive, and resilient agrifood system within planetary boundaries.

We are seeking a highly skilled and motivated candidate for the position of Monitoring, Evaluation & Learning Officer to be based in Harare, Zimbabwe.

This is a nationally recruited position and is open to all Zimbabweans with excellent academic records and relevant experience. The position will lead the reporting, monitoring, evaluation, and learning work with the overall responsibility of providing strategic direction and technical backstopping to the project teams who are responsible for reporting monitoring progress in line with monitoring plan and target and achieving the goal and expected outcomes of the “Feed the Future Zimbabwe Mechanization and Extension Activity”. The incumbent will ensure efficient and effective management of the M, E & L aspects of the activity at the level levels in line with the activity policies and procedures.

Duties and Responsibilities:

• Monitor data collection process of on-farm agronomic trials and demonstrations ensuring that data is timely recorded, entered and submitted in the right format. Basic knowledge of field trial designs and agronomic practices of cereals would be a plus.
• Integrate datasets (of many locations and several years), appropriate curation and organize them in a way to make it readily usable. Should be very comfortable in handling MS Excel spreadsheets with large datasets.
• Prepare reports and keep databases as per standards formats and as per need.
• Facilitate and support the hub/field teams for preparing annual work plan (Detail Implementation Plan -DIP) and reporting of progress on activities as planned in the DIP in close coordination with other concerned project staff.
• Develop and update monitoring tools based on the reporting needs provided by the donor and the project leads.
• Follow the M, E&L reporting and documentation requirements and donor guidelines.
• Facilitate to develop the capacity of project staff on data collection and reporting.
• Technical backstopping to project staff on effective and timely reporting of project activities
• Provide feedback to the hub teams for quality reports and achieve project targets in time.
• Support to develop action plans and strategies.
• Closely work with all concerned officials and concerned personnel to consolidate reports.
• Participate in M, E&L related activities and other relevant activities at different levels.
• Follow up and monitor the field level project activities frequently so that reporting would reflect reality.
• Prepare and deliver hub-wise and activity progress reports monthly, quarterly, half-yearly, and annually as per need of the M, E&L reporting system.
• Ensure that the reporting made by the staff accurately meets the reporting deadlines and quality standards.
• Oversee and make sure that the information required for M&E and project implementation are properly collected, processed, and documented at hub and activity levels.
• Provide support and maintenance to existing Management Information Systems and maintain documentation to allow smooth operation and easy system maintenance.
• Systematically store and manage project datasets of the assigned geographical domain.
• Perform any other tasks assigned by the project lead related to monitoring, evaluation, and learning.

• Bachelor's/ master’s degree in Agri-economics/ Science/ Statistics/ Geography/ Development Studies.
• Thorough knowledge of Microsoft Office Package, ODK, SPPS/R/Python and GIS.
• At least 2 years in USAID funded projects focusing MEL activity.
• Basic knowledge of MEL system Survey designing analysis and interpretation and USAID FtF indicators.
• Good interpersonal skills and the ability to work effectively with a range of institutions.
• Clean Class 4 driver’s license is a must. Defensive Driving Certificate will be an added advantage.
• The selected candidate must exhibit the following competencies: Organization, Critical thinking, Teamwork, Client Orientation, Problem Solving. and ability to work in a multi-cultural, multi-disciplinary, multi-institutional, and multicultural environment.

Kindly fill and submit your application no later than Wednesday 17th April 2024.

Please note that only shortlisted candidates will be contacted.

CIMMYT is an equal opportunity employer. It fosters a multicultural work environment that values gender equality. Women candidates are encouraged to apply.