Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning (MEL) Manager

Position: Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning (MEL) Manager  

Enterprise: Acceso El Salvador  

Supervisor: Programs Director, with functional reporting to HQ Impact and Data Team  

Location: El Salvador  

Contract:              Fixed term (1 year) with possible renewal   

Travel:              10 – 15%   

About Acceso  

Acceso (www.acceso.org) is a social enterprise that is revolutionizing food systems in Latin America and the Caribbean to put smallholder farmers first. Acceso’s mission is to create fundamental and lasting positive economic change in the lives of rural smallholder farming families. Our entrepreneurial model provides smallholder farmers with a sustainable way to participate in formalized markets, enabling them to work themselves out of poverty with dignity and to prosper. Acceso currently operates a portfolio of three social businesses in Colombia, Haiti and El Salvador and an agtech tool (Extensio) founded in Mexico. Across our agribusinesses, we have impacted more than 26,000 smallholder farmers and farm workers, generating more than $60m in farmer income to date.  

Acceso El Salvador is a social enterprise that has been working to strengthen local food systems since 2013. The enterprise is in an exciting growth phase to impact many more smallholder farmers and fishers across Central America. Acceso’s goal is to become the world’s most impactful and sustainable model to alleviate poverty at scale.  

About this role:  

The MEL Manager is a strategic position in Acceso’s country operations and will form an important part of the organization’s growing central-level Impact and Data team. To support continuous quality improvement in El Salvador, the MEL Manager will lead performance and outcome measurement processes and support program and technical teams to effectively use data for ongoing program adaptation and decision-making. The MEL Manager will ensure data quality from the point of data collection through to final analysis, guided by a solid and tested understanding of best practice and in alignment with both Acceso and donor standards. The MEL Manager will report directly to a local Program Director in El Salvador and have functional reporting lines to an HQ-level Impact and Data Team. The MEL Manager will oversee a small team of MEL specialists and analysts and coordinate closely with program, operations and technical teams in El Salvador and across Central America, Mexico and the Caribbean. The MEL Manager will also will work closely with sub-grantees or other funded partners to ensure alignment between their MEL processes and Acceso’s established standards.  

Key responsibilities:  

• Apply, develop and/or update MEL plans, guidelines, procedures and data collection tools in alignment with Acceso global standards and donor or funder requirements, with a specific focus on USAID. 
• Oversee all ongoing performance monitoring processes, including team training and quality control at every step of the data management process- from tool development through to data collection, processing, cleaning, analysis and presentation/reporting.  
• Plan and oversee targeted internal data collection processes, assessments and special studies, as required, in coordination with local program and technical teams. 
• Develop TORs, identify, and supervise consultants/consultant firms for external evaluation or assessment processes, as needed, and in close coordination with the HQ-level Impact and Data team. Participate in or lead components of data collection in evaluation and assessment processes as needed and appropriate. 
• Train and supervise local staff and field teams on MEL policy, procedures, data collection tools, and data management practices. 
• Lead or participate in internal learning events, using data to drive ongoing improvement and adaptation of Acceso’s technical assistance model, including pause-and-reflect sessions. Share key findings derived from MEL processes and facilitate participatory interpretation, discussion and identification of recommendations for program adaptation and adjustment. 
• Participate in relevant local and international forums and platforms related to MEL practice in the areas of agricultural growth, market development, livelihoods to stay up-to-date on current trends and best practice. 
• Develop reports or sections of reports related to output/outcome performance monitoring in compliance with Acceso and donor requirements. 
• Liaise with funder or donor teams as required to facilitate their understanding of Acceso MEL processes and standards. 
• Other strategic MEL functions, as requested and in coordination with local leadership and / or the HQ-based Impact and Data Team. 

Other Skills and Attributes  

1. Hard Skills  

• B.A. in economics, statistics, sociology, international development, or B.S. in systems, industrial, agronomy, agrobusiness or agroindustry. 
• Desirable: master’s degree in statistics, social development, or economic development. 
• Eight (8) or more years of experience in programs or in monitoring, evaluation, and learning of programs or projects, leading the development of guidelines, policies or plans of monitoring, evaluation, and learning. 
• Experiences leading the monitoring, evaluation, and learning area in large-scale programs reporting directly to USAID, IDB or other multilateral or bilateral donors. 
• Proven ability to manage complex projects or processes involving rural communities, non-government organizations (NGOs) and public sector and private sector actors. 
• Previous experience of working in Latin America, in projects related to agriculture, sustainable fishing, livelihoods, agtech, and/or rural development  
• Proven experience designing and using quantitative and qualitative methodologies, information/data systems, data quality control processes. 
• Proven experience writing reports and presenting results. Prior experience leading evaluations or studies using mixed methods will be an asset. 
• Previous experience facilitating data utilization and program adaptation/decision-making. Preference for previous experience applying USAID’s Collaboration, Learning and Adaptation (CLA) framework and tools. 
• Prior experience generating evidence-based recommendations for policy, program or project adaptation. 
• Management of MS office platform. 
• Knowledge in statistics. 
• Strong data analysis and interpretation skills.  
• Data visualization experience 
• Proven expertise in quantitative and qualitative methods and methodologies 
• Experience using information and data analysis tools/systems such as Excel, PowerBI, Access, Stata, SPSS, Tableau or others 
• Experience with electronic data collection platforms and tools such as CommCare, Farmforce, Kobo Toolbox or others. 
• Project management. 
• Writing, reporting and results presentation. 

2. Soft Skills  

• Effective communication skills. 
• Oriented towards achieving results and decision making. 
• Leadership and teamwork with a multidisciplinary team. 
• Innovative, organized and focused on finding solutions; change management experience 
• Motivated by the Mission of changing the lives of smallholder farmers. 

3. Language Skills 

• Oral and written fluency in Spanish and oral and written proficiency in English. 

Application Instructions  

To apply, please attach your Resume, Cover Letter with the subject “MEL Manager – Your Name” not later than September 10, 2023.  

For more information about Acceso and careers with us, please visit Acceso.org/careers.  

Acceso is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate on the basis of gender, race, color, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, HIV/AIDS status, protected veteran status, disability and all other protected classes.