Job Description

Director, Monitoring, Evaluation, and Economic Analysis (MEE)

About MCA

The Government of Malawi signed a five-year agreement (“Compact”) with the Millennium Challenge Corporation (“MCC”) to fund specific programs targeted at reducing poverty and stimulating economic growth. MCC is a U.S. government agency focused on assisting countries dedicated to good governance, economic freedom, and investing in people. An Accountable Entity called the Millennium Challenge Account-Malawi II (“MCA-Malawi II”) has been created and designated by the Government of Malawi to implement the Compact.

Malawi compact

The Compact consists of three projects, namely;

1. The Accelerated Growth Corridors Project (AGC) will focus on reducing transport costs in targeted rural areas. Under the AGC Project, the Road Corridor Improvement (RCI) Activity will target investment in physical upgrades and improvements across different classes of roads within four selected Accelerated Growth Corridors (AGCs) to improve rural access by addressing road conditions and reducing transport costs. The Policy and Institutional Reform and Capacity Building (PIR) Activity will focus on assisting the Government to address policy, legislative, institutional, and funding issues to ensure that road transport in AGC areas is well-maintained and managed.
2. The Increased Land Productivity Project will focus on improving land services, strengthening conditions for increased investment in land and better-functioning land markets through two main activities: the Land Administration Resourcing and Institutions Activity – which will support development, adoption, and implementation of reforms to expand national land-based revenues and address institutional change – and the City Council Land-Based Revenue Modernization Activity, which will expand coverage and collection of land-based revenues, to increase resources for key services and increase investment in land and finally.
3. The American Catalyst Facility for Development Project will focus on facilitating U.S. International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) investment in Malawi to catalyze increased private investment consistent with Compact objectives and increase the scale and impact of the Compact.

Director, Monitoring, Evaluation, and Economic Analysis (MEE)

Position Objective

The Director, Monitoring, Evaluation, and Economic Analysis (MEE) leads the combined Monitoring & Evaluation (M&E) and Economic Analysis (EA) team under the supervision of the CEO. The goal of the MEE unit is to produce timely, relevant, and reliable data and assessments related to the progress and quality of project implementation and the achievement of targeted results by the Malawi Transport and Land Compact. The MEE Director is responsible for leading the monitoring and reporting of progress toward compact targets, supporting the independent evaluations of the compact program, assisting the economic analysis and other related activities of the compact, and managing the Compact M&E budget and MEE staff. The MCC counterparts to this position with whom the MEE Director will liaise are the M&E Lead(s), Results Reporting Analysts, and Economist(s).

Primary Responsibilities

• Building on the Compact M&E Framework in the program agreement, lead the development and periodic updates of the Malawi II M&E Plan, in accordance with MCC policies and guidelines and in coordination with MCC and relevant stakeholders
• Lead the implementation of the monitoring component of the Malawi II M&E Plan to provide timely and relevant input to project management and external reporting, including:
• Define the performance indicators to be monitored along with their baselines and targets in collaboration with project teams; ensure that monitoring indicators are relevant to project management needs and that risks and assumptions included in the M&E Plan are appropriately tracked
• Identify critical data gaps or data quality issues related to the M&E Plan indicators and design and implement a plan to resolve these issues and build capacity with the party that produces the data (e.g., government entities or project implementers).
• Work with implementers and Implementing Entities to ensure M&E requirements are appropriately incorporated in their contracts and Implementing Entity Agreements, respectively, and that there is a shared understanding of relevant indicators and other requirements.
• Produce the Indicator Tracking Table (ITT). This should include reviewing all of the ITT data on a quarterly basis, checking inconsistent values with project leads and reporting entities, and submitting supporting documentation for all data that is reported.
• Conduct a Data Quality Review of monitoring data reported by MCA-Malawi II as well as likely sources of future monitoring data (i.e., data sources identified in the M&E Plan) and implement a plan to address any identified weaknesses.
• Design and implement field assessments of progress towards the achievement of outputs and intermediate outcomes, especially in situations where concerns have been raised regarding data quality or validity.
• Disseminate information from the approved ITT to relevant stakeholders in Malawi and to MCC.
• Support the design and implementation of the evaluation component of the Malawi II M&E Plan to promote accountability and learning, including:
• Provide data and documentation required to inform the design and implementation of evaluations to MCC and independent evaluators.
• Monitor adherence to the project design and implementation plans and report any deviations to MCC and the independent evaluator.
• Review evaluation reports, survey instruments, and other materials produced by each of the evaluators hired by MCC to conduct independent evaluations.
• Manage local stakeholder reviews of evaluation reports and materials.
• Contract survey firms to undertake baseline and interim data collection for independent evaluations and supervise their work in coordination with the independent evaluator.
• Organize meetings/events for the dissemination of evaluation findings for each evaluation report.
• Collaborate with the MCC Economist to ensure that the Cost-Benefit Analyses and Beneficiary Analyses, including estimates of the Economic Rate of Return (ERR), are modified and updated in accordance with MCC Guidelines as improved information becomes available (updating key parameters and variables upon the receipt of new or higher quality data).
• Maintain close collaboration and integration between MEE and project teams to ensure that MEE’s data and analysis is accurate, up-to-date, and supports evidence-based project design and management.
• Maintain regular communication with MCA-Malawi II leadership, MCC M&E and Economic Analysis staff to provide updates on the status of MEE activities and to communicate risks related to the progress of implementation or the achievement of results.
• Manage the MEE staff and supervise their activities.
• Manage the program M&E budget and provide updates to MCC on commitments and disbursements on a quarterly basis.
• Manage the procurements and contracts funded by the program M&E budget and report progress to MCC on a quarterly basis.
• Help foster a relationship with the post-program counterpart designated to support the completion and dissemination of independent evaluations of the Malawi II compact

Required Competencies

• Masters degree in Economics, Statistics, or a related subject.
• Ten (10) or more years’ experience, seven (7) of which is in managing teams that conducted quantitative and qualitative analyses of programs, including a minimum of five (5) years of experience in Monitoring & Evaluation.
• Previous managerial experience with demonstrated ability to balance a variety of tasks and demands and to meet deadlines in a responsible and flexible manner. Must demonstrate history of delivering high quality projects on time and within budget.
• Previous supervisory experience managing at least 2 subordinate staff.
• Experience applying economic concepts to real-world problems, using data and analysis to reach conclusions and provide recommendations. Experience conducting this type of work in Malawi is desired but not required. Demonstrated competency in cost-benefit analysis of projects is desired but not required.
• Demonstrated experience designing and implementing monitoring systems, including collecting, analyzing, and reporting performance data
• Demonstrated experience designing and implementing program evaluations; experience implementing rigorous, quantitative evaluations involving household or business surveys preferred
• Strong and demonstrable skills in contract management
• Willingness to undertake regular field visits and interact with the different stakeholders. Occasional international travel may also be required.
• Strong analytical and report writing skills
• Proven ability to work with national government counterparts
• Experience working with international donor organizations preferred
• Good written and oral communication skills, ability to work with wide range of stakeholders
• Demonstrated experience in one or more of the following statistical analysis software and databases, such as STATA, SPSS, SAS, CSPRO, Access, Excel and strong proficiency with MS Word and PowerPoint.
• Excellent organizational skills related to data and document management.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills in English.
• Experience working in Transport and Land preferred.

How to apply

To access positions’ profile requirements and submit applications, please visit https://malawi-jobs.tenderwell.app/. Applications should be accompanied by the following documents:

1. Curriculum vitae containing detailed work experience;
2. Cover letter confirming interest and availability; 
3. Soft copies of higher education and professional certificates (if available).

If you meet challenges in applying online, please contact 098 923 5904 for assistance. The closing date for receiving applications is 2 October 2023. Please note that only applications received through the online (Tenderwell) portal will be considered. Any applications received through other channels will not be considered. Only shortlisted applicants will be contacted for interviews.