As the Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability and Learning (MEAL) Officer for the project “Inclusive Capital Markets for Youth and Women Entrepreneurs in Ethiopia,” you will contribute to increasing the impact of the project by ensuring the establishment of an effective MEAL framework that complies with Expertise France’s and donors’ MEAL policy commitments and integrates gender considerations.

You will coordinate the planning and operational implementation of the project’s MEAL strategy in close collaboration with project team members and stakeholders in Ethiopia, in order to achieve the contractual objectives agreed with the donors (European Union and French Agency of Development). You will also be responsible for providing training and capacity building to project team members and stakeholders on MEAL-related topics. In addition, you will ensure and validate the quality, consistency, and timely submission of MEAL reports to Expertise France headquarters and the programme’s governing bodies. You will develop a knowledge management system to capture and manage lessons learned from project implementation, enabling Expertise France to improve its practices and inform the design of future projects and contribute to capitalising on the experience. This position will report to the project Team Leader. He/she will work in close collaboration with the Project team (composed of a Team Leader, three Key Experts, a Junior Project Officer, an Outreach Officer and an Administrative and Grant Officer) and the EF Country Support Office in Ethiopia.

Key Responsibilities include:

Implementation of a harmonised MEAL framework of the project in Ethiopia:

·       Update the Theory of Change and Logical Framework of the project in consultation with the project team, the MEAL coordinator at the headquarters and relevant external stakeholders;

·       Refine project indicators based on the Theory of Change, the initial diagnostic study and consultations with key stakeholders, 

·       Provide methodological support for the development of a comprehensive MEAL plan ensuring quality, coherence and alignment with Expertise France’s MEAL policy (including harmonised tools, processes, procedures, and methodologies);

·       Design, adapt, and operationalise tools for quantitative and qualitative data collection and management (including baseline/endline), such as survey questionnaires, sampling strategies, data entry methods, data extraction and analysis methodologies and contribute to the data collection among all project phases - baseline, activities and results monitoring- (interviews, Focus group, desk review, deployment of questionnaires…);

·       Establish reporting mechanisms and advise the project team on the design and implementation of contractual accountability mechanisms with project partners

·       Support learning, monitoring and evaluation activities;

·       In close collaboration with the Team Leader, identify and address MEAL capacity development needs within the project team and stakeholders involved in the MEAL processes and organise MEAL capacity building activities, particularly in the areas of data collection and analysis (methods, formats, software), indicator measurement, and effective use of MEAL tools;

·       Develop, coordinate and monitor the effective implementation of the reporting activities in close liaison with the Team Leader and potentially with the MEAL coordinator at the headquarters;

·       Ensure that all MEAL processes, methodologies and tools are gender-sensitive, in line with the project OECD DAC 2 rating (Gender Equality – Significant).

 Leading the Project’s MEAL activities:

•         Contribute to the drafting terms of reference for evaluations and studies, organise and coordinate these evaluations/studies and support the follow-up on recommendations (internal and external) ; Participate in recruiting external MEAL consultants/experts when required to meet project needs;

•         Ensure the quality and relevance of MEAL activities implemented within the project, as well as the quality of the data collected, in compliance with GDPR standards; ensure that MEAL tools are properly used by the project teams and the stakeholders involved, enabling effective monitoring of indicators and the level of achievement of results as defined in the technical proposals, and the usefulness of the data collected for informed project management;

•         Establish and maintain a centralised system for the classification and archiving of digital and paper data (reports, questionnaires, etc.);

•         Participate in project planning exercises, reviews and learning processes;

•         Ensure compliance with reporting deadlines and the production of high quality donor reports, in line with Expertise France standards and donor requirements. Provides hands-on support to the project teams in the preparation of narrative reports (backward planning, provision of templates, identification of required data, development of arguments, etc.), and coordinate the compilation, proofreading and validation of all project reports.

Supporting the Project team and partners:

·       Raise awareness and mobilisation among project team and stakeholders on MEAL principles and procedures;

·       Organise and deliver MEAL capacity-strengthening and training activities as needed;

·       Advise the Team Leaderto ensure that collected data is effectively used for operational decisions, compliance withdonors contractual commitments, and internal accountability requirements.

Knowledge Management:

·       Support the development of relevant accountability initiatives and contribute to documenting the impact of EF project activities in Ethiopia; organise regular learning and practice exchange sessions;

·       Initiate and contribute to the capitalisation and continuous improvement of project methods and practices by facilitating learning and experience-sharing sessions;

·       Contribute to the strengthening of Expertise France's MEAL expertise by capitalising on and sharing with headquarters the tools and methodologies used at the EF Ethiopia office. Participate in technical MEAL coordination meetings organised by the MEAL coordinator at EF headquarters.

·       The MEAL Officer will contribute to supporting the Ethiopia Country Office management, in close coordination with the Ethiopia Country Director, to ensure that project monitoring and evaluation data as well as stakeholder feedback are effectively used in country-level accountability, communication and learning exercises.

The following list is not exhaustive; the activities listed and may evolve and be adapted as needed throughout the project.