Sr. Monitoring, Evaluation & Learning Manager
Accra, Ghana
Full Time
AgFinance
Manager/Supervisor
The Senior Monitoring, Evaluation & Learning (MEL) Manager will provide technical support and directions to the FIRST+II program in line with the prime contractor’s expectations. The role will advise the Technical Component Lead and senior management team on real-time learning to inform an adaptive management approach for FIRST+II. This role is essential to the program's success and emphasizes stakeholder engagement, guiding teams in identifying and sharing lessons learned while fostering effective communication across all levels. The role will ensure robust data systems for effective program monitoring and reporting, ultimately enhancing the program’s impact in Ghana. They will support the project manager and coordinators in planning, executing, and delivering results on the FIRST+II project. This person will report to the Technical Component Lead and have secondary reporting to the Senior Operations Director (US).
The ideal candidate will have significant experience in MEL and in Collaborating, Learning, and Adapting (CLA), whether in agricultural or private-sector development, strong management skills, and the ability to build relationships with diverse partners, including government agencies and NGOs.
RESPONSIBILITIES include the following. Other duties may be assigned.
Opportunity International Ghana (OIG) is a consortium member of the FIRST+II program focused on stimulating demand for capital in agriculture and ag-adjacent value chains among young people, especially women and people living with disabilities. The goal is to build the capacity of young people (smallholder farmer groups and ag-adjacent MSMEs) by deploying a network of Business Support Agents (BSAs) to increase incomes and jobs among youth in Ghana.
ABOUT OPPORTUNITY INTERNATIONAL
Opportunity International is a global nonprofit that has been equipping people to build sustainable livelihoods and educate their children for 55 years. Opportunity provides nearly 17 million people with innovative financial resources, training, and support to grow their small businesses and send their children to school. In 2025, Opportunity International and its partners released over $1.9 billion in capital, helping fund more than 17,000 schools that reached 5 million children and supporting 887,810 farming households. Committed to human-centered solutions for the most underserved, Opportunity's Digital Innovation Group develops solutions that leverage cutting-edge tools like AI to expand access to financial services, agricultural support, and educational opportunity. Discover more at opportunity.org or join the conversation on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Instagram.
CHILD PROTECTION COMMITMENT
Opportunity believes that all children have a right to protection from any form of abuse regardless of gender, culture, ethnicity, age, religion, sexual orientation, or ability. Opportunity operates in line with international best practices for child protection and recognizes its responsibility to ensure that all employees. This policy applies to anyone acting on behalf of Opportunity or is involved in its programs in any capacity. All employees are subject to background checks, which include criminal checks and sex offender list checks, as allowed by local law.
The ideal candidate will have significant experience in MEL and in Collaborating, Learning, and Adapting (CLA), whether in agricultural or private-sector development, strong management skills, and the ability to build relationships with diverse partners, including government agencies and NGOs.
RESPONSIBILITIES include the following. Other duties may be assigned.
- Review and revise OIG’s Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning Plan annually.
- Lead the implementation of the MEL framework to ensure that all collected data is utilized efficiently and contributes to ongoing learning.
- Ensure data collection tools fully comply with OI AgFinance and the Mastercard Foundation’s standard indicator definitions and data disaggregation requirements.
- Ensure that data validation functions are integrated into data collection tools to minimize human and transcription errors.
- Establish a robust in-house data quality system to ensure real-time monitoring.
- Plan and supervise the implementation of annual baseline and endline surveys in line with AgFinance’s MEL agenda.
- Analyze the collected data and compare results to document changes over time.
- Plan and supervise the semi-annual implementation of internal data quality assessments.
- Identify major data weaknesses and develop corrective measures to ensure that the data reported to the prime meets data quality standards.
- Identify needs and provide periodic training to the MEL and project team to ensure ongoing capacity building and compliance with the Mastercard Foundation and the prime contractor’s MEL requirements.
- Produce analytical reports and lessons learned based on factual findings for the Senior Management Team to inform programmatic changes.
- Contribute to FIRST+II deliverables, including annual work plans, milestone deliverables, quarterly, and annual reporting.
- Lead the regular annual review and updating of the CLA framework and plan for the project, in close collaboration with the Project Coordinators and Project Manager.
- MEL Associate
- Bachelor's degree in a related discipline and a minimum of six years of related work experience. Master’s degree or higher in international development, economics, statistics, or related discipline preferred.
- At least 6 years of experience designing MEL systems and managing MEL tasks for donor-funded projects in a related field, such as agricultural development or private sector development.
- Profound knowledge of probabilistic sampling techniques and managing large-scale surveys for private sector or agriculture development projects.
- Demonstrated ability to articulate technical information clearly and effectively and adjust indicator selection and targets as part of adaptive programming.
- Management/supervisory experience is required.
- Demonstrated strong knowledge of the Mastercard Foundation’s requirements related to data quality and data management is preferred.
- Proven ability to communicate a common vision among diverse partners and the ability to lead multidisciplinary teams is desired.
- Evidence of effective communication skills, both oral and written, to meet the agreement's diverse technical and managerial requirements is desired.
- An understanding of and a commitment to advancing the mission and values of Opportunity International.
- Written and verbal fluency in English and one Ghanaian language is required.
- Must be able to attend & fully participate in meetings conducted in English.
- Fixed term until June 2028.
- 50% Travel within Ghana to work with the Project Officers and Project Coordinators
Opportunity International Ghana (OIG) is a consortium member of the FIRST+II program focused on stimulating demand for capital in agriculture and ag-adjacent value chains among young people, especially women and people living with disabilities. The goal is to build the capacity of young people (smallholder farmer groups and ag-adjacent MSMEs) by deploying a network of Business Support Agents (BSAs) to increase incomes and jobs among youth in Ghana.
ABOUT OPPORTUNITY INTERNATIONAL
Opportunity International is a global nonprofit that has been equipping people to build sustainable livelihoods and educate their children for 55 years. Opportunity provides nearly 17 million people with innovative financial resources, training, and support to grow their small businesses and send their children to school. In 2025, Opportunity International and its partners released over $1.9 billion in capital, helping fund more than 17,000 schools that reached 5 million children and supporting 887,810 farming households. Committed to human-centered solutions for the most underserved, Opportunity's Digital Innovation Group develops solutions that leverage cutting-edge tools like AI to expand access to financial services, agricultural support, and educational opportunity. Discover more at opportunity.org or join the conversation on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Instagram.
CHILD PROTECTION COMMITMENT
Opportunity believes that all children have a right to protection from any form of abuse regardless of gender, culture, ethnicity, age, religion, sexual orientation, or ability. Opportunity operates in line with international best practices for child protection and recognizes its responsibility to ensure that all employees. This policy applies to anyone acting on behalf of Opportunity or is involved in its programs in any capacity. All employees are subject to background checks, which include criminal checks and sex offender list checks, as allowed by local law.
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