Measurement, Learning, and Evaluation (MLE) Manager

Country: Kenya

Organization: Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Closing date: 30 Jun 2023

Summary of the Role

Teaching at the Right Level (TaRL) Africa seeks an MLE Manager to manage all program measurement, monitoring, and review (MMR) activities, studies of innovations, and nimble learning activities for TaRL Africa.

Assessments and review of data for continuous course correction are critical components of a TaRL program, and therefore the MLE manager will play a crucial role in strengthening TaRL programs in Africa by providing oversight on the MMR strategy across countries.

The MLE Manager will supervise a team of Associates to plan, design and execute a range of data collection, analysis and dissemination activities for all government and partner programs. S/he will be responsible for tracking the implementation and outcomes of TaRL Africa programs, and delivery against TaRL Africa’s overall strategy and work plan. S/he will also liaise with the MLE Director and Deputy Director to develop the overall long-term MMR strategy, and help create an organizational culture of using data to take action.

This role provides an excellent opportunity for individuals who are motivated to leverage data to improve the learning outcomes of children in Africa.

Duties and Responsibilities

1. 
   Manage measurement, monitoring and review (MMR) across core countries of operation and in partner NGO-led programs (25%) Measurement, monitoring and review at TaRL Africa means generating data about the programs through the government system, and empowering them to review and use the data to better support the programs.
   
   1. Ensure that program MMR activities (including assessments, quality assurance, monitoring, building government capacity, etc.) are completed and on time.
   
   
   2. Find avenues to continually strengthen MMR by introducing new activities, increasing internal and government engagement with data, simplifying and/or automating existing activities, integrating TaRL data into government systems, etc.
   
   
   3. Streamline MMR tools, systems, analysis methods to bring uniformity across programs
   
   
   4. As needed, support the country teams / partners in designing MMR systems while ensuring that different stakeholder needs are met.
   
   
   5. Keep abreast of government policies, recent initiatives / programs in the countries supported.
   
   


2. 
   Lead and coordinate nimble learning studies across programs to learn about program quality and implementation (25%) TaRL Africa believes in adaptive learning and course-correction of programs in the pursuit of making the TaRL programs more effective and owned by governments. In addition to rigorous research and evaluations to build on the already strong evidence for TaRL, we regularly conduct nimble learning studies (quickly executed, typically within a month) to better unpack program challenges and identify ways to strengthen.
   
   1. Find opportunities across programs to conduct low-cost nimble learning activities that align with the priorities in the organizational learning agenda as well as local needs.
   
   
   2. When leading nimble learning studies,
   
   

• supervise budgeting, field planning, and questionnaire design (qualitative + quantitative) ahead of data collection, balancing nimbleness with usefulness.


• ensure fast analysis and dissemination of findings/recommendations to government, partners, and internal teams in a way that facilitates concrete decision-making.

1. 
   

   Periodically, synthesize findings from multiple nimble learning studies within countries / the continent and share with internal teams to feed into the organizational Learning Agenda and prepare for external publications.

   
   


2. 
   

   Supervise MLE activities to study innovations in TaRL programs (15%) TaRL Africa actively seeks to try innovations that can help TaRL programs better fit into and cater to the needs of different contexts. We incubate new innovations and ideas in Learning Labs, groups of up to 20 schools in different countries, to understand how they unfold in practice and their potential for impact.

   
   


3. 
   

   Oversee the design of the learning plan, including the learning questions, overall activity plan, timelines, etc.

   
   


4. 
   

   Supervise budgets, manage finances, find and select vendors as necessary for all learning-related activities.

   
   


5. 
   

   Review tools and processes set up by MLE Associates to ensure they are appropriate, simple and yield reliable and valid data.

   
   


6. 
   

   Manage internal stakeholders, ensuring that the learning plan answers questions of interest to the Content & Training and Programs teams.

   
   


7. 
   

   From time to time, put together findings and facilitate cross-country sharing about challenges and successful innovations.

   
   


8. 
   

   Manage tracking, review, and reporting of data of TaRL programs, and delivery against TaRL Africa’s overall strategy and work plan (10%) TaRL Africa works with many organizations and governments across Africa. The MLE team is responsible for coordinating with partners and internal teams to track reporting indicators across different programs and respond to data queries as needed.

   
   
   1. Coordinate with partners and country teams to consolidate implementation, outcomes, and cost data on a central data system.
   
   
   2. Ensure that country and central dashboards are up to date.
   
   
   3. Create systems (automated as far as possible) to store and analyze multi-year global data for all TaRL Africa and partner programs so that they are readily available for reporting and review.
   
   
   4. Ensure that donors, partners, and senior management team (SMT) data queries are addressed in a timely and accurate manner.
   
   
   5. Support the Programs and Partnership team in planning and conducting annual/ bi-annual program reviews.
   
   
   6. Support the SMT in tracking and reviewing delivery against TaRL Africa’s overall strategy and work plan.
   
   


9. 
   

   Manage a team of 4-6 central MMR Associates (15%)

   
   
   1. Allocate tasks, create work plans and provide feedback to central MMR Associates to help deliver high-quality outputs.
   
   


10. 
    

    Plan for their professional development; regularly assess their technical capacity and find opportunities (such as workshops, courses, projects, etc.) for their growth.

    
    

    Other (10%)

    
    


11. 
    

    Support rigorous research studies and evaluations by providing contextual knowledge for questionnaire design and analysis, and synthesizing learning into summaries.

    
    


12. 
    

    Creatively and regularly communicate program lessons and results with the TaRL community and more broadly (e.g., through blogs, articles, podcasts, newsletters).

    
    


13. 
    

    Represent TaRL Africa in public forums or events as needed.

    
    


14. 
    

    Coordinate with the Research manager/ coordinator to support overall MLE knowledge management.

    
    


15. 
    

    Support the Director and Deputy Director in grant/ proposal writing.

    
    


16. 
    

    Support other tasks as assigned by the line manager.

    
    

Required Skills and Competencies

• Minimum qualification: A Bachelor degree and 6-7 years of relevant full-time work experience in measurement, learning and evaluation.


• Experience working with software for data collection, warehousing, analysis & visualization platforms (Required: Excel, SurveyCTO/ODK/KoboCollect; Strongly preferred: Tableau/Power BI, Stata).


• Demonstrated history of helping program stakeholders, both internal and external, take better decisions using data and storytelling.


• Strong interpersonal skills and experience managing cross cultural teams.


• Ability to think analytically and critically, keeping the big picture in mind and remaining curious.


• Ability to manage multiple projects simultaneously.


• Excellent communication skills in English, including writing, conversing, and presenting.


• Willingness to travel frequently and flexibly within and outside Africa.

Preferred

• Experience working in the development and/or the education sector in Africa.


• Experience working with governments.


• A Master’s degree in Social Sciences, Development Studies, Economics, Statistics, Management, or a related field.


• Familiarity with econometric and program evaluation techniques.


• Familiarity with national and regional learning assessments.


• Familiarity with French.


• Strong preference for Kenyan nationals.

TaRL Africa Values

1. We put children’s learning first.


2. We are always learning, improving, and innovating.


3. We are locally rooted for high-quality delivery and sustainable impact.


4. We are kind, respectful and collaborative.


5. We are proactive, committed to integrity and doing our best each day.

How to apply

Please fill in APPLICATION. Only applications submitted through the form will be accepted. Please note that, due to the large volume of applications, we will only be able to respond to short-listed applicants.

TaRL Africa is an equal opportunity employer and committed to having a diverse workforce.