The Access to Safe Drinking Water in Liberia Activity is a five year, USAID-funded project implemented by Winrock International and their partners, WaterAid Liberia and FEI Consulting. The Activity began on November 1, 2022, and will end on October 31, 2027.
The Activity’s goal is to improve access to, use of, and sustainability of basic drinking water services in target counties (Montserrado and Margibi). This will be achieved by ensuring that:
Local Government Institutions Effectively Plan, Budget, and Oversee Water Service Delivery
Equitable and Inclusive Water Service Delivery Improved and Expanded
Uptake and Maintenance of Key Water Use Behaviors among Households Increased
The Activity will move all Liberians in Montserrado and Margibi counties to a basic level of water services by strengthening water sector governance and creating scalable models for water service delivery that will provide access to trustworthy, reliable, clean, and convenient water services that increase willingness to pay for drinking water. The activity will work in partnership with local governments, the private sector, and civil society to address challenges preventing Liberia from achieving its goal of providing sustainable water for all.
The Activity seeks a highly motivated and technically strong MEL Director to oversee all monitoring, evaluation, and learning (MEL) activities for the project and directly manage a full time MEL Officer and short-term enumerators and consultants.
ESSENTIAL RESPONSIBILITIES:
MEL System Management/Oversight -
Provide overall leadership, training, mentoring, and coaching to the MEL team (consisting of the MEL Data Officer and any future short term or long-term staff).
Leads the implementation of the Activity Monitoring, Evaluation & Learning Plan (AMELP); serves as the key responsible staff member for its regular updates, implementation, and continuous improvement.
In collaboration with the COP, Technical Director, and HO MEL support unit (AGILE), manage the project’s MEL plan and systems, ensuring compliance with USAID requirements and Winrock’s MEL Policy; developing and maintaining systems to collect and analyze data on inputs, outputs, outcomes, and impacts; and reporting accurate results to USAID in a timely manner.
In coordination with the COP, liaise with Winrock’s HO MEL support unit to ensure donor requirements are met, and guide sub-contracted evaluation and survey firms to ensure evaluations and annual survey efforts meet USAID standards and deadlines.
Design and manage monitoring and evaluation tools and processes, including ongoing (routine) monitoring and (annual) survey instruments.
Supervise timely and accurate reporting of quantitative and qualitative data by Activity partners and grantees and in cooperation with program staff to ensure timely data analysis and reporting.
Develop the capacity of partners and grantees to collect relevant indicator data within their respective organization in accordance with the AMELP and Activity targets.
Trains sub-grantees and Activity partners on data collection, analysis, and evidence-based adaptations and ensures data is collected promptly;
Participates in Activity monitoring through site visits, review of Activity reports, and analysis of performance monitoring and other data;
Leads data quality controls and verification procedures; ensures collection of data related to gender and social inclusions;
Contributes to the design of external Activity evaluation strategies;
Manages the MEL budget efficiently.
Management Information System (MIS) -
Provide MEL Data Officer with technical guidance and oversight of the project’s in-house Management Information System (i.e., Winrock MIS) including uploading data and tracking of progress and trends to generate donor reports and dashboards.
Oversee data quality checks including field visits and spot checks to ensure consistency with the project’s MIS.
Ensure all indicator data and associated disaggregates are populated in the MIS, accurately reflect indicator tracking tables and are available for timely reporting to USAID.
Validate MIS data from partners and staff through field monitoring visits.
Collaborating, Learning & Adapting –
Fosters a results-oriented and learning culture through the Activity to ensure that the Activity team uses MEL data and learning to improve performance;
Oversees the Activity’s Learning Agenda and Collaborating, Learning, and Adapting (CLA) activities including the project’s Learning Agenda.
Work with the Communications Team, COP, and AGILE to develop learning briefs, success stories, and other tools to evaluate project impact, trends, and highlight key learnings.
Provide comprehensive analysis of learning outcomes to inform project interventions.
Support the technical team to ensure planned interventions deliver far-reaching results and impact in line with donor expectations and the Activity’s performance indicator targets.
Develop decision-support tools and performance feedback mechanisms for project managers, partners, and beneficiaries.
QUALIFICATIONS AND REQUIREMENTS:
Education: Bachelor’s Degree in statistics, international development, agribusiness, or related field. Masters degree preferred.
Experience:
Minimum 8-10 years of experience managing and implementing complex MEL systems for international development projects, preferably with USAID.
Proven record of designing and implementing data collection tools including surveys using mobile data collection tools (e.g., KoboToolbox, Survey123, etc.) and providing technical input into the design of Management Information Systems (MIS) for data management and visualization.
Experience managing large MEL databases, conducting timely data analysis, and developing high-quality reports.
Proven record of managing MEL staff, consultants, and sub-contracted MEL evaluation and survey firms.
Excellent staff management, motivational, and organizational skills are required.
Strong computer skills (word-processing, spreadsheets, and databases) are required.
Proven data analysis (e.g., Excel, Stata, SPSS, etc.), data management, and data visualization (e.g., Power BI, etc.) skills are required.
Strong communication skills, both oral and written, with fluency in English.
Experience in water infrastructure or water promotion projects preferred.
Familiarity with emerging trends in MERL for Water Supply or Agriculture especially in the context of Liberia
