Palladium recruits a Director, Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning – Africa Trade and Investment Program (ATIP)

 

Company Overview:

Palladium is a global leader in the design, development and delivery of Positive Impact – the intentional creation of enduring social and economic value. We work with foundations, investors, governments, corporations, communities and civil society to formulate strategies and implement solutions that generate lasting social, environmental and financial benefits. 

For the past 50 years, we have been making Positive Impact possible. With a team of more than 2,500 employees operating in 90 plus countries and a global network of more than 35,000 technical experts, Palladium has improved – and is committed to continuing to improve – economies, societies and most importantly, people’s lives. 

Palladium is a child-safe organisation, and screens applicants for suitability to work with children. We also provide equal employment to all participants and employees without regard to race, color, religion, gender, age, disability, sexual orientation, veteran or marital status. 

Context  

Palladium is seeking a MEL Director to support a new flagship USAID-funded project: Africa Trade and Investment Program (ATIP).  The overall ATIP program, currently valued by USAID at $400-750 Million and expected to be based in Washington, DC, with field offices in West, East, North, and Southern Africa, will be the principal vehicle for implementing the whole-of-government Prosper Africa Initiative. The purpose of ATIP is to mobilize enterprise-driven solutions that will help unlock Africa’s growing markets, expand U.S.-Africa trade and investment relationships, and achieve development outcomes across all sectors, in line with USAID’s Private Sector Engagement Policy and the USG Prosper Africa Initiative.

The five objectives of ATIP are:

  1. Increased trade;
  2. Increased investment;
  3. Improved business environment;
  4. Leveraging strategic African, U.S., and international partners and resources; and 
  5. Institutional support to USAID to assist in tracking, managing, implementing and publicizing the Prosper Africa Initiative

The anticipated proposal release date is September 2020.  The program would start in 2021. Specific program activities, upon award, may include both cross-cutting “core” activities as well as “buy-ins” from regions or countries in Africa, which may identify sectors of interest as well as specific programmatic objectives and target outcomes.

Candidate Profile  

The ideal candidate would be an individual with extensive experience overseeing the Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning functions of large, complex, multi-country donor-funded programs related to trade and investment. This role will enable an individual who wants to build upon that experience to not only manage project-level data and reporting for the ATIP program, but also proactively and creatively engage with the client to develop customized tools and data dashboards to track the impacts of trade, investment, and BEE-related activities supported through by the project.

Purpose of Position 

The MEL Director will lead the development and implementation of all monitoring, evaluation, and learning activities required to provide accurate and timely data on ATIP’s impacts on trade and investment levels, and to generate lessons learned to inform subsequent design and implementation decisions.

Duration:             5 years
Location:       Washington, DC

Roles and Responsibilities
The candidate’s responsibilities will likely include:

  • Develop and implement a comprehensive and coherent ATIP MEL strategy.
  • Lead development of the ATIP MEL plan based on the ATIP project strategy
  • Lead development of ATIP MEL performance indicators, data standards, tracking tools, policies, and structure for managing MEL across ATIP core funding and buy-ins
  • Participate in ATIP senior management team, ensuring that MEL plays a critical role in all project planning and execution
  • Lead development and management of MIS systems to aggregate and visualize program data, including dashboards and GIS, to facilitate data use including analysis for learning and adaptive program management
  • Collaborate with the Strategic Communications Manager to support cross project collaboration and learning with other stakeholders
  • Collaborate with the Strategic Communications Manager to develop and address learning agendas
  • Other duties as assigned.

Position Requirements:

  • Advanced degree in economics, statistics, public policy, international development, or related field
  • Demonstrated leadership in MEL
  • Proven experience designing and implementing MEL systems for economic growth programs focusing on trade, investment, and/or business environment
  • Demonstrated experience designing and managing MEL systems for USAID-funded projects
  • Demonstrated experience engaging both international development and private sector communities
  • Strong leadership, communication and interpersonal skills, including ability to develop and communicate a common vision and foster collaboration across an interdisciplinary team
  • Demonstrated ability to think strategically, creatively, and to find innovative ways to respond to emerging organizational, and project information needs
  • Detail-oriented and deadline-driven with strong analytical and organizational skills, and ability to work in a dynamic and agile environment with changing requirements and priorities
  • Excellent verbal, written, and presentation skills
  • Highly self-motivated and able to work independently as well as in team settings
  • Knowledge and understanding of utilizing geographic information system applications (e.g., QGIS, ArcGIS) to facilitate data analysis and interpretation
  • Demonstrated competencies in mixed-methods design
  • Demonstrated competencies designing surveys and using survey tools
  • Experience in sub-Saharan Africa and/or North Africa strongly preferred 
  • Fluency in English required; familiarity with one or more other languages widely spoken on the African continent (French, Arabic, or Portuguese) would be desirable.

Note: Applicants must be US Citizens OR authorized to work in the US. 

Apply here