Expertise France is looking for a Monitoring & Evaluation (M&E) Officer as part of its Technical Assistance to support the implementaiton of the iDRIP program in Moldova.

The Monitoring & Evaluation Officer will support ANIF in the implementation, monitoring, evaluation and reporting of the Integrated Development of Agriculture and Irrigation Program (iDRIP).

The expert will contribute to establishing and operationalizing the Monitoring and Evaluation framework of the Program, ensuring effective monitoring of project activities, outputs, outcomes and indicators, in line with the requirements of ANIF, AFD, the European Union and Expertise France. The officer will provide hands-on support to ANIF in monitoring project progress, measuring results and facilitating evidence-based decision-making.

The M&E Officer also will guarantee the overall structuring of the Technical Assistance’s M&E process and will ensure efficient data collection, validation, analysis and reporting in line with Expertise France’s MEAL requirements. 

1.    Developing, implementing and updating iDRIP M&E plan (30%)

The M&E officer will work closely with the Data management expert.

Development of the iDRIP M&E plan:

•    Review iDRIP logframe indicators and diagnose the quality, availability and reliability of existing data sources to support project monitoring, reporting and decision-making by ANIF, MAIA and other development partners;
•    Launch iDRIP’s baseline assessment tender and ensure follow-up of the mission;
•    Interact with stakeholders to take part in various assessments at different capacities e.g. data collection, data entry, analysis, translation, reporting;
•    Review data collection tools, improve where necessary and support the design of other necessary tools for collecting both quantitative and qualitative data;
•    Provide details on the definitions, methods of calculation, disaggregation sources of verification and measurement methodologies of indicators and contribute to drafting indicator reference sheets;
•    Contribute to describing the data flows, data collection, processing and analysis mechanisms, storage options, software and hardware to be used, data quality control and reporting mechanisms serving the operational and management needs of ANIF, implementing partners and donors;
•    Contribute to the development of data collection, analysis and visualisation system, and the corresponding data collection and reporting tools (e.g. online questionnaires (Google forms, KoboToolbox, ODK), PowerBI dashboards, GIS-based monitoring tools and other digital solutions), ensuring their usability by ANIF, and other project stakeholders;
•    Develop and maintain a comprehensive monitoring database and update it on the agreed frequency, ensuring the availability of reliable, timely and accurate information for project management, performance monitoring, reporting and decision-making.

2.    Capacity building and advisory support on iDRIP overall M&E system (60%)

The M&E Officer will ensure efficient and relevant capacity building of ANIF staff (especially in the hydro-amelioration department in charge of M&E) on the tools and processes specifically developed for the project’s M&E system.

Then, the daily tasks to implement the capacity-building plan and achieve the expected results will be the following:
•    Design and deliver training sessions (workshops, on-the-job coaching, daily peer-to-peer support) on overall MEAL Management, and specific tools and processes developed for iDRIP M&E;
•    Develop and adapt together with ANIF staff guidelines, templates and tools tailored to ANIF needs, such as collection and monitoring tools, dashboards and performance indicators; 
•    Support ANIF in strengthening internal MEAL procedures, controls and reporting mechanisms;
•    Provide guidance to ANIF staff on the application of international standards and good practices for reporting;

Depending on the candidate’s experience and ability in the training field, other innovative work and training methods will be appreciated.

Regarding the advisory support, he/she will provide continuous hands-on support and technical advice to ANIF staff on MEAL management of the iDRIP program:

Collection, analysis and use of data:
•    Provide guidance to ANIF project staff, implementing partner(s) and beneficiaries on M&E and the mechanisms/tools developed to facilitate their involvement in the implementation and use of the M&E system;
•    Assist project stakeholders in establishing baseline values, targets and performance measurement systems for project indicators;
•    Prior to data analysis and reporting, help ANIF review incoming data for cleanness, completeness, consistency and assure the overall data quality as per the scheduled data gathering processes from the implementing partners as well as from the final beneficiary institutions; 
•    Support the development and maintenance of project databases, monitoring tools, dashboards and data visualization products;
•    Support data analysis and contribute to strengthening data management and analysis capacities of project stakeholders involved in the implementation of iDRIP;
•    Provide recommendations to support evidence-based decision-making and adaptive project management;
•    Help ANIF ensure consistency, reliability and traceability of data collected across all project components and implementing entities.

Reporting:
•    Proactively engage respective project staff from implementing partners and beneficiaries to compile data and information as well as supporting documents concerning activities and outputs to be inserted in donors reports;
•    Consolidation of annual or half-yearly donor reports by support ANIF and ADMA staff drafting MEAL chapters and indicator tables;
•    Draft reports within the framework of MEAL missions;
•    Help prepare presentations and other relevant documents for management meetings, Technical Steering Comity meetings and other Donors meetings;
•    Support the development and follow-up of action plans resulting from evaluations, monitoring findings and donor recommendations;
Provide technical support to ANIF and other relevant project stakeholders in promoting a results-based management approach, including through the systematic use of monitoring and evaluation data and findings

Learning: 
•    Support the establishment of knowledge management, learning and feedback mechanisms across the iDRIP Program;
•    Collaborate with project management to integrate monitoring and evaluation findings into programme’s planning and implementation;
•    Facilitate the dissemination of monitoring and evaluation findings, lessons learned and best practices among project stakeholders;
•    Contribute to documenting project achievements, success stories and innovative practices for communication and capitalization purposes.

3.    Developing and implementing the Technical Assistance M&E plan (10%)

On this specific task, the M&E officer will work closely with the HQ Project Officer and the MEAL coordinator based in Paris, and the relevant ANIF project management staff to ensure coherence between the Technical Assistance M&E system and the overall iDRIP monitoring framework.

•    Review the TA logframe indicators and diagnose the quality of available data;
•    Provide details on the definitions, methods of calculation, disaggregation, etc. of indicators and contribute to drafting indicator reference sheets;
•    Identify the data flows, data collection, processing and analysis mechanisms, storage options, software and hardware to be used, data quality control and reporting mechanisms;
•    Develop the data collection, analysis and visualisation system, and the corresponding data collection and reporting tools (e.g. online questionnaires (Google forms, KoboToolbox, ODK), PowerBI dashboards etc.);
•    Develop and maintain a comprehensive monitoring database and update it on the agreed frequency;
•    Conduct and/or accompany monitoring visits under the supervision of the TA Team Leader to observe the implementation of activities and report back via relevant reporting templates;
•    Ensure that monitoring information generated through the Technical Assistance is shared, where relevant, with ANIF project management to support project implementation, performance monitoring and decision-making.

Contribution to Expertise France internal reporting:
•    Data collection for yearly MEAL exercises;
•    Consolidation and updating of annual or half-yearly internal indicator tables for internal planning exercises;