Monitoring Evaluation & Learning Officer – Fairtrade Africa- West Africa Network

Job Description

ABOUT THE JOB

To lead the design, implementation, and continuous improvement of Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning (MEL) systems across the West Africa Cocoa Programme (WACP), ensuring effective performance measurement, evidence-based decision-making, and accountability to donors, partners, and stakeholders. The role also provides strategic support to the Fundraising Manager in donor reporting, grant compliance, knowledge management, and the development of learning products, contributing to high-quality programme delivery and Fairtrade Africa’s resource mobilization efforts in the region.

• LOCATION: Cote d’Ivoire or Ghana
• Post-holder reports to: Operation Manager
• Staff reporting to this post: None
• SCALE LEVEL: Officer 2
• BUDGET RESPONSIBILITY: None

DUTIES & RESPONSIBILITIES

Key Performance Areas

A. Monitoring, Evaluation & Learning (~80% of role) MEL Systems & Planning

• Develop, implement, and regularly update the West Africa Cocoa Programme (WACP)
• Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning (MEL) Plan, ensuring alignment with programme objectives, donor requirements, Logframes, and Fairtrade International’s Theory of Change.
• Manage and strengthen the WACP regional MEL database, ensuring high standards of data quality, integrity, accessibility, and timely reporting to support programme management and stakeholder information needs.
• Coordinate the development, tracking, and reporting of programme-level indicators in collaboration with country teams and the Regional Programme Manager, ensuring consistent measurement of progress, results, and impact across the programme.

Data Collection, Analysis & Reporting

• Lead the planning, coordination, and implementation of data collection activities across the West Africa Cocoa Programme (WACP) countries, including Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana, ensuring the timely capture of high-quality producer-level and programme data.
• Oversee data cleaning, validation, analysis, and interpretation processes, generating accurate and actionable insights to support programme monitoring, performance assessment, and evidence-based decision-making.
• Compile, analyses, and contribute to regional quarterly, annual, and donor reports, ensuring that programme results are accurately documented and aligned with approved results frameworks, MEL plans, and donor reporting requirements.
• Conduct regular analysis of programme performance trends, outcomes, and impact data, identifying lessons learned, emerging issues, and opportunities for adaptive management and continuous programme improvement.
• Facilitate the dissemination and utilization of data and learning findings among programme teams, partners, and stakeholders to strengthen accountability, programme effectiveness, and strategic decision-making.

Evaluation & Quality Assurance

• Support the development of Terms of Reference (ToRs) for baseline studies, mid-term reviews, and final evaluations, ensuring clarity of purpose, methodology, and evaluation questions aligned to programme results and quality standards.
• Lead and/or support the quality assurance of evaluation processes and outputs, including review of evaluation designs, data collection tools, analysis approaches, and reports to ensure methodological rigor, validity, and actionable, evidence-based findings.
• Identify and recommend appropriate tools, frameworks, and methodologies to strengthen outcome monitoring, learning, and performance tracking, including integration of EUDR-related traceability indicators and other compliance or sustainability metrics.

Capacity Building & Learning

• Provide ongoing technical backstopping and capacity building to programme and cooperative teams on MEL systems, including the use of standardized tools, data collection methodologies, data quality assurance, and results-based reporting.
• Facilitate structured regional learning, reflection, and review sessions to systematically capture lessons learned, identify implementation challenges, and translate insights into adaptive management actions across countries and programme areas.
• Lead and coordinate the documentation and dissemination of best practices, success stories, and case studies, ensuring they are evidence-based, well-packaged, and tailored for both internal learning and external communication and accountability purposes.

Grants Management & Donor Reporting (~20% of role) Donor Reporting

• Support the Fundraising Manager in preparing high-quality donor reports (narrative and financial),
• ensuring compliance with grant agreements and reporting calendars.
• Consolidate programme data and evidence to feed into donor reporting products, including progress reports, annual reviews and impact summaries.
• Ensure consistency between MEL data and donor-facing narratives, verifying accuracy of results claims.

Grant Compliance & Knowledge Management

• Maintain a grants compliance tracker covering reporting deadlines, indicator milestones and deliverables across all active WACP grants.
• Contribute to the development of knowledge products and learning briefs that support donor engagement and resource mobilisation (e.g. impact case studies, evidence summaries).
• Support the Fundraising Manager in responding to donor information requests and due diligence processes where MEL evidence is required.

Essential Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in social science, statistics, international development, economics or a related field
• Minimum 3 years’ experience in a dedicated MEL role within international development programmes

Experience & Knowledge

• Demonstrated experience contributing to donor reporting and grant compliance in a multi-donor environment
• Familiarity with donor frameworks, Logframes and results-based management (RBM) approaches
• Strong understanding of both qualitative and quantitative research methodologies, including experience contributing to evaluations and baseline/endline studies
• Experience managing or maintaining MEL databases and ensuring data quality standards
• (Addition) Experience working with field-level data collection teams or community-based organisations

Skills

• Excellent analytical, data management and interpretation skills
• Strong written and verbal communication skills; proven ability to produce clear donor reports and knowledge products
• Advanced MS Excel skills
• Fluent in English and French (both required given the bilingual programme geography across Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana)
• Ability to work effectively across cultures, countries and time zones
• (Addition) Strong attention to detail and ability to manage multiple reporting deadlines simultaneously

Desirable Qualifications

• Post-graduate training or certification in Monitoring & Evaluation or a related discipline

Experience & Knowledge

• Experience working on agricultural, cocoa-sector or supply chain sustainability programmes
• Knowledge of Fairtrade systems, certification standards or cooperative development models in West Africa
• (Addition) Familiarity with EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR) requirements and traceability frameworks relevant to cocoa supply chains
• (Addition) Prior experience supporting resource mobilisation or contributing to funding proposals

Skills

• Proficiency in digital data collection and visualisation tools such as Kobo Toolbox, Power BI, SPSS or equivalent
• (Addition) Experience facilitating learning workshops or after-action reviews with diverse stakeholder groups
• (Addition) Familiarity with Fairtrade International’s Theory of Change or similar impact frameworks

HOW TO APPLY

APPLICATION DEADLINE is 27th July 2026

An application form (CVs will not be accepted) can be found on the jobs and volunteering page of our website:

https://fairtradeafrica.net/vacancies-and-tenders

If you have any queries, please e-mail recruitmentwestafrica@fairtradeafrica.net

or call +254 202721771 or +254 704180169 and ask to speak to a member of the HR team. Qualified applicants will be subjected to background checks as a pre-condition of employment. Completed applications should be saved in the applicant’s name and the position (MEL Officer – WACP) and be e-mailed to recruitmentwestafrica@fairtradeafrica.net

“Fairtrade Africa is an equal opportunity employer, and female candidates are encouraged to apply”

All applicants should state how they meet essential requirements of the post and include their email address, telephone contacts and three referees with contact details on the application form.

ONLY SHORTLISTED CANDIDATES WILL BE CONTACTED.