Monitoring Evaluation and Learning (MEL) Advisor

POSITION SUMMARY

The MEL Advisor provides strategic leadership on monitoring, evaluation, and learning for the programme across Kenya, focused on creating dignified employment for young people and particularly young women through the professionalization of community-based health work.

The role exists to ensure that evidence informs decisions, learning drives adaptation, and results are credible to donors, governments, and partners. The MEL Advisor translates programme strategy into clear results frameworks, robust data systems, and meaningful learning processes that support delivery, scale, and systems change for the programme.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

Strategic MEL Leadership

• Lead the design, monitoring and roll-out of county-wide MEL frameworks aligned to agreed outcomes for youth employment, gender equity, and health systems strengthening;
• Safeguard consistency, comparability, and credibility of results across projects and time.

Evidence, Learning and Decision Support

• Ensure evidence is available and accessible to inform programme-level decisions, including scale, adaptation, and resource allocation
• Facilitate structured learning processes that enable teams to reflect on performance and improve delivery; and
• Maintain a balance between accountability, learning and impact, ensuring cohesion.

Accountability, Reporting and External Credibility

• Oversee programme-level results reporting to donors and partners, ensuring accuracy, integrity, and insight;
• Ensure MEL systems and data are audit- and evaluation-ready throughout the programme lifecycle;
• Protect the credibility of programme results through sound methodology and ethical data practices.

MEL Systems and Capability Building

• Strengthen programme country-level MEL capacity to ensure consistent application of standards
• Build judgment and confidence in programme MEL staff, reducing reliance on individual leaders for direction;
• Ensure learning flows across the country programme, not only vertically through management lines.

Cross-Functional Collaboration

• Work collaboratively with Programme, Finance, Grants, and Communications functions to ensure alignment between delivery, evidence, and narrative and provide MEL insight as a programme resource, not as a managerial control mechanism.

Stakeholder Engagement and Influence

• Engage donors, government counterparts, and partners to align learning priorities and manage expectations and strengthen the use of evidence for decision making;
• Facilitate cross-country and cross-partner learning communities to promote knowledge exchange and shared problem-solving; and
• Promote co-creation of learning with implementing partners and communities, ensuring that learning processes are inclusive and contextually grounded.

KEY PERFORMANCE INDICATORS (SUCCESS MEASURES) – Building the right platform and creating lasting impact

1. Results and Indicator design: Designs and applies results frameworks, theories of change, aligned to programme objectives; ensures indicators are gender-responsive and sensitive to youth employment and health systems outcomes; and aligns programme indicators with donor requirements and organisational standards;
2. Data collection systems and tools: Establishes and manages data collection systems; selects and applies appropriate quantitative and qualitative data collection tools; ensures consistency of tools and methodologies across programme while accommodating local context; and oversees digital and manual data systems where relevant.
3. Data Quality Assurance & Management: Implements data quality assurance (DQA) processes, including verification, validation, and routine checks; manages data storage, documentation, and version control in line with organisational standards; ensures data integrity, completeness, timeliness, and reliability; and addresses data quality issues proactively and systematically.
4. Learning and Adaptive Management: Designs and facilitates structured learning processes, including reflection sessions and after-action reviews; designs and facilitates structured learning processes, including reflection sessions and after-action reviews; supports leadership and teams to make evidence-informed decisions; and maintains a balance between accountability and learning.
5. Reporting accountability: Manages evaluation timelines, budgets, and stakeholder engagement; ensures consistency between MEL data, global and country-level programme narratives, and financial reporting; Supports audit and review processes from a results and evidence perspective; supports audit and review processes from a results and evidence perspective; maintains reporting schedules and quality standards.
6. Knowledge Management & Evidence Use: Organises programme knowledge, lessons learned, and evidence for accessibility and reuse; supports documentation of good practices, challenges, and learning; and enables programme knowledge sharing.
7. MEL Capacity Building: Strengthens MEL capability at project level through guidance, training, and coaching; supports MEL staff to exercise sound judgment, not just follow templates; and reduces dependency on central oversight through capability transfer.
8. Ethical & Responsible Data Practice: Applies ethical standards in data collection, analysis, and reporting in accordance with country data privacy acts; ensures informed consent, confidentiality, and data protection; uses data responsibly, avoiding misuse or misrepresentation, and upholds organisational and donor ethical requirements.