The MERL Coordinator will provide overall leadership of the M&E across AKF’s growing education portfolio in the West Nile region of Uganda. This will include leading the successful inception, design, implementation, and management of all M&E frameworks. for all new and existing projects. Some of these projects are delivered in partnership with Aga Khan Development Network sister agencies or other development partners. AKF’s education programmes focus on dismantling the barriers to education and learning for all children. As part of this, there is an explicit focus on enhancing the ability of vulnerable primary aged and adolescent girls living in refugee and host communities to have the abilities and opportunities to learn and actively participate in and contribute to a pluralistic society.

Key responsibilities
Monitoring, Evaluation, Research and Learning
• Establish and implement a gender responsive Performance Management Framework (PMF) for the education programme portfolio in West Nile. Establish and operationalise all gender responsive education project PMF under the West Nile education programme PMF.
• Ensure M&E data needs are integrated into programme quality tools and do not exist as separate M&E or data collection tools and processes.
• Design programme data quality assessment system including data auditing protocols and process, and conduct data verification, validation and quality assurance.
• Lead the M&E team to effectively establishing a high-quality, cross programme, end-to-end M&E data management system integrating ICT where appropriate. Ensure all data management systems adhere to AKF’s safeguarding and data protection policies.
• Lead in mainstreaming adoption of online technologies in M&E including being focal persons for the Awards Information Management System (AIMS), Global Reach System (GRS), PROMISE3 among others
• Ensure high quality data analytics and visualisations that cross analyse data sets to provide deeper learning about AKF’s education programme performance.
• Ensure all data, analysis, and evaluations are made available to project managers to enable them to submit timely internal and donor reports with high quality, robust, and reliable data to substantiate the narrative.
• Lead on developing Terms of Reference for external consultants or researchers
• In collaboration with internal education and research colleagues and external consultants, contribute to the design and delivery of all studies and research, including impact evaluation processes, under the education portfolio in West Nile.
• Perform other relevant duties as and when assigned, by or via the Country Manager, Programme Manager and senior management team.
• Ensure data management system has feedback loops to enable all project staff to access and understand project progress and challenges and promote participatory project planning and reviews
• Support in the implementation of the education programme risks management framework by ensuring the project risks, assumptions and issues are regularly reviewed, updated, documented and progressively consolidated in the risks management register for each project
• Collaborate with AKF East Africa (EA) senior leadership and technical advisors to establish and manage a gender responsive programme quality system to assess programme quality and project interventions, and ensure that proposed changes are informed by reliable data and evidence
• Foster participatory planning and monitoring by involving project stakeholders and staff in the M&E of activities.
• Design and deliver M&E courses for internal and external partners as required
• Ensure all staff reporting to you have access to and understand internal policies and procedures
• Committed to acting ethically and upholding safeguarding standards towards all staff, volunteers, and beneficiaries of the organisation

The requirements
Required Skills & Experience:
• Bachelor’s degree in Development studies, statistics, economics or related field. Post Graduate qualifications in M&E is an added advantage
• Relevant M&E experience of at least 5 years, experience in education programming is desired
• Strong computer and analytics skills, along with experience managing complex data sets, using different analysis tools is required
• Strong report writing skills
• Ability to communicate clearly and effectively with diverse audiences in English.
• Evidence of understanding of and commitment to child protection and safeguarding as well as other vulnerable populations