Kenya: AME Manager

Organization: Agency for Technical Cooperation and Development

Country: Kenya

Closing date: 31 Mar 2016

Department: AME (Accountability, Monitoring and Evaluation)

Direct Hierarchy: Country AME Manager

Contract duration: One Year

Location: Nairobi- Kenya (with frequent travel to Somalia)

Starting Date: April 2016

Application Deadline: 31^st March 2016

ACTED (Agency for Technical Cooperation and Development) is a non-political and non-confessional International NGO founded in 1993 with its headquarters in Paris, France. The organization’s vocation is to save lives, assist vulnerable populations and bring hope to those in need for better future. ACTED is looking for professionally confident, self motivated, experienced and committed team player to fill the below position in Nairobi-Kenya.

AME Manager

AMEU Role:

AMEU is an independent unit dedicated to improving the relevance, quality and accountability of ACTED’s programmes by facilitating Project Cycle Management and conducting research and assessments to inform and influence policy and practice. By actively promoting research, learning and the implementation of best practices, AMEU aims to promote commitment to quality within ACTED.

Specifically AMEU supports the effective design and implementation of ACTED’s interventions by:

· conducting research and project-related assessments;

· developing and promoting the use of information and data management systems;

· facilitating information-sharing and the translation of lessons learned into improved practice;

· Ensuring that research is effectively linked to good programme design and implementation in order to bring about changes in policy and practice.

Main Objective

The AME Manager’s main role is to directly manage all AME officers in the Kenya/Somalia mission in order to ensure effective implementation of all AME functions at the field level and assist Country AME Coordinator in order to oversee design and implementation of all appraisal, monitoring and evaluation (AME) funtions for the programs.

II. Responsibilities:

Oversee the AMEU Department in Somalia

• In collaboration with the Country AME Coordinator, ensure the independence, neutrality and quality of work of the AMEU department activities in the mission, including advising on strategy, problem solving and reporting issues.


• Direct management of all field based AMEU teams (Officers or AMEU field focal points) and indirect line management of AMEU assistants.


• Management of workplans, daily follow ups, AMEU Team outputs and inputs to as needed to proposal ad project development with the PDD team.


• Collaboration with the finance, human resource and logistics teams for AMEU department needs and monthly planning of activities.

Development of AME project monitoring and evaluation plans, data collection tools and methodologies

• Assist in the design of AME methodologies, terms of reference (TORs) and data collection tools to monitoring progress and outcomes of ACTEDs projects (including for verification of beneficiaries, baseline surveys, needs assessments, monitoring and project evaluations);


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  Ensure that monitoring and evaluation activities are in-line with expected project goals, objectives and measure the defined indicators;

  
  


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  Collaborate with Field Coordination, Programme Development Department and Implementing Partners to design logical frameworks and indicator collection plans;

  
  


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  Work closely with the GIS Department, Programme Development Department and Implementing Partners in order to provide useful information for mapping and project reporting, as necessary;

  
  


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  Liaise with partner/collaborating organizations for AME activities, as required.

  
  

Facilitate the collection of accurate, reliable and useful data for project implementation and development**

• Plan and conduct field-level data collection, at different stages of the project to support project cycle management;


• Ensure that monitoring activities are based on project indicators to ensure that the project meets its goals and objectives;


• Conduct pre-testing and provide critical feedback and modifications of the design and provide translation of these tools and methodologies into Somalia, where necessary.


• Develop and conduct training for AMEU staff and enumerators to implement activities effectively, including training on objectives, methods and tools required for AMEU activities;


• Provide field supervision and plan logistical arrangements for conducting AMEU activities;


• Communicate regularly to the Nairobi AME Officer on the implementation progress of field missions;


• Ensure accurate/reliable information is collected by checking questionnaires and ensuring all team members are clear on the TOR and methods used;


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  Conduct data collection using qualitative and quantitative methods and secondary data (reports, government statistics etc);

  
  


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  Supervision of data entry and conduct data checking/cleaning for quantitative and qualitative data when necessary;

  
  


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  Support the Nairobi AME Officer to ensure that AMEU information is stored and managed effectively and confidentiality is maintained in accordance with ACTED procedures.

  
  

Coordinate with the ACTED Data Analyst on quantitative and qualitative analysis and write timely and useful reports for programme development, management and implementation

• With the Nairobi based Data Analyst coordinate the analysis of quantitative data, including preparing cross-tabulations, graphs and statistical analysis when required;


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  Conduct qualitative analysis including writing up field-notes and use different methods to improve programme implementation, such as SWOT analysis, Problem-Solution tree, etc.

  
  


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  Facilitate field team debriefing sessions;

  
  


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  Write AME reports and memos on AME activities in English;

  
  


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  Facilitate quick and accurate reporting of monitoring result to ensure that ACTED, donors and other organizations can build upon successes and lessons learnt during the programme when requested by the AME Officer in Nairobi.

  
  

Management of AME team in Somalia and external relationships under his/her responsibility

• Frequently communicate with Capital AMEU Officer on most matters, keeping the Nairobi AMEU informed;


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  Daily supervision of AME staff in the Kenya/Somalia mission, including development of work plans;

  
  


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  Manage the AME activities for the mission;

  
  


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  Support the training of the AME staff;

  
  


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  Communicate weekly with capital AME Officer to coordinate monitoring schedules – requiring approval for all technical matters;

  
  


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  Communicate daily with the relevant focal points – requiring approval for all administrative, financial and logistical matters;

  
  


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  Complete a monthly AME Report for Somalia to be sent to Country AME Coordinator and the Somalia Project coordination team

  
  


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  Work with management and support staff to comply with ACTED rules and procedures;

  
  


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  Completing any other additional duties and tasks, in accordance with the functions and duties of the AMEU as requested by the line manager

  
  

Beneficiary Accountability and Management of Complaints Response Mechanism

• Responsible for overseeing recording, sharing, following up and consolidating complaints / feedback about ACTED’s interventions, and ensuring community feedback is fed back into the project cycle management.


• Develop guidelines and provide technical support to the programme team and partners to design, implement, and monitor accountability strategy and mechanisms in accordance with Oxfam minimum standards of accountability.


• Working closely with field program teams, area coordination and AMEU area referent.


• Providing useful and constructive information to target communities about ACTED’s programmes.


• Conduct brainstormings, trainings and workshops with program teams on a regular basis, including an orientation at the beginning of each new project, to ensure that they are aware of the processes and procedures of accountability mechanisms.


• Providing monthly analytical reports and recommendations to programme teams / coordination on the basis of complaints and feedback received from target communities.


• Ensuring that urgent and sensitive complaints are addressed in a timely and appropriate manner.


• Ensure the confidentiality of complaints data is respected, and this information is not shared with any irrelevant staff members or external person / organization.

Learning

• Support the relevant staff in conducting learning reviews as per standards.


• Support the project team and partners in extracting lessons learnt and good practices, and documenting case studies which demonstrate qualitative and quantitative changes over the period.


• Organize events in order to share relevant learnings and findings with country team, project teams, partners and stakeholders in appropriate format to ensure the whole programme benefits from and applies the learning.

· Any other duty that may be assigned by the direct manager or the Country Director.

Qualifications/Skills/Profile Required

· Bachelor’s Degree in Sociology, Community Development, WASH, Rural Livelihoods or related field.

· Extensive experience of social research methods to conduct monitoring and evaluation for humanitarian and development initiatives/interventions. Knowledge and experience of participatory rural appraisal methods an asset.

· Excellent analytical skills in order to interpret qualitative and quantitative data and discern useful recommendations for programme implementation and development.

· Statistical analysis and IT skills, including use of SPSS and Excel for data analysis;

· At least 3 years of work experience in a similar field; former experience with humanitarian organizations is an asset.

· Good English communications skills (both oral and written) and ability to travel to Kenya and other Somalia bases where ACTED is operational.

· Strong team player of high integrity, pleasant personality, ability to work under least supervision and meet strict deadlines.

· Computer literate and with excellent IT Knowledge.

· Strong people management and leadership skills.

How to apply:

Application Procedure:

Qualified persons with the required skills are invited to submit their detailed curriculum vitae and cover letter clearly indicating the position they are applying for to kenya.jobs@acted.org and received on or before 31^st March 2016.

Please note that due to the urgency of the position, shortlisting will be done on an ongoing basis.

ACTED is an Equal Opportunity Employer. Please note that only the shortlisted candidates will be contacted.