Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) Expert - Ethiopian Agricultural Transformation Agency (ATA)

Position Announcement
Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) Expert
Ethiopian Agricultural Transformation Agency

The Agricultural Transformation Agency of the Government of Ethiopia is seeking qualified candidates to serve as Monitoring and Evaluation Experts with the Ministry of Agriculture.

BACKGROUND:
The Ethiopian Agricultural Transformation Agency (ATA) is an initiative of the Government of Ethiopia. ATA's primary aim is to promote agricultural sector transformation by enhancing and supporting existing structures of government, private-sector and other non-governmental partners. In particular, the ATA partners very closely with the Ethiopian Ministry of Agriculture (MoA) across a range of topics and programs, to support the MoA's mission of creating a modern and highly productive agriculture system. As part of our work together, ATA's Monitoring, Learning and Evaluation Team is currently supporting the MoA's Planning and Programming Directorate (MoA-PPD) to identify several national M&E consultants to support the Directorate for a period of 12 months.

POSITION DESCRIPTION:
The M&E Expert will spend a majority of his/her time at the MoA-PPD office, reporting to the Director of the PPD. He/she will be responsible for enhancement of the Directorate's M&E framework, taking a leading role in enhancing the monitoring and evaluation of ongoing activities and agricultural projects managed across the Ministry. The M&E Expert is therefore expected to split his/her time evenly between contributing to enhancement of core activities within PPD as well as broader capacity-building efforts at the Directorate.

• Specific PPD activities which the M&E Expert will be responsible to enhance may include:
• Preparation of Annual Plans and regular reporting (monthly, quarterly, annually and other status reports as required)
• Review and analysis of targets set by the Growth and Transformation Plan (GTP) for the Agricultural Sector, and preparation of specific plans (SPM, Operational Plan, etc.)
• Reporting to senior stakeholders in the MoA and government including the agricultural outlook and trend analysis report
• Agricultural sector indicator definition and revision, and data collection, analysis and reporting based on these indicators
• Planning, M&E, data collection, storage and reporting to other MoA Directorates and institutions/organizations accountable to the Ministry
• Preparation of bilateral cooperation agreements and memorandums of understanding (MoU), project proposals and appraisals
• Other areas of focus prescribed by the Director of the PPD and respective Case Team

The M&E Expert will also play a significant role in sector-wide capacity-building and transformation through participating in the National M&E Taskforce chaired by the MoA-PPD, and working with members of this Taskforce including the ATA on various priority initiatives. Specific responsibilities may include:

• Driving broad reform of the MoA's reporting framework including report design and quality, format, and supporting systems
• Providing expert input to the FAO-TCP project to establish a sector-wide web-based data collection and M&E platform, including planning, design, testing and rollout
• Supporting development of Planning and Project Management manuals for MoA's objectives and anticipated deliverables, and establishing systems to measure progress
• Leading effective on-the-job training to PPD staff on planning and use of M&E system with respect to data collection, management and reporting
• Leading capacity-building of PPD staff by identifying specialized training needs, identifying or developing training/guidance material, coordinating and/or running training sessions
• Specific responsibilities, deliverables and timelines will be agreed with each M&E Expert and detailed in the employment contract.

Job Requirements

REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS AND SKILLS

• MA/MS degree in Development Economics, Agricultural Economics, Agriculture/Rural Development, Statistics or closely related field; PhD preferred
• 10+ years of experience in planning and implementing agriculture and rural development projects/programs, with 5+ years in M&E focused roles
• Agricultural Development and M&E experience in Ethiopia strongly desired
• Experience in team management, training and capacity-building preferred
• Strong knowledge of reporting procedures, best practices, guidelines and tools for monitoring and evaluation
• Sound working knowledge of Information Technology, expertise in MS Office Software and Amharic software
• Excellent analytical and problem-solving skills
• Excellent oral and written communication skills
• Able to manage high volume of work with minimal supervision
• Able to build relationships with all kinds of people, highly collaborative working style
• Strong set of personal values including integrity, honesty and desire to be of service
• Fluency in English and Amharic, written and spoken, is essential.

APPLICATION INSTRUCTIONS
We invite all candidates meeting the required qualifications to send applications including a detailed CV through www.ethiojobs.net or Recruitment@ata.gov.et by clearly indicating the position title.
Women are highly encouraged to apply
NB. Only short listed candidates will be contacted.
Application Deadline:  January 8, 2014