Project Specialist at One Acre Fund

One Acre, founded in 2006, supplies smallholder farmers with the agricultural services they need to make their farms more productive. We provide quality farm supplies on credit, delivered within walking distance of farmers’ homes, and agricultural trainings to improve harvests. We measure our success by our ability to make farmers more prosperous: On average, farmers harvest 50 percent more food after working with One Acre Fund. We serve more than 800,000 farm families in Eastern and Southern Africa, with more than 7,500 full-time staff, and we aim to serve 1 million farm families by 2020.

• Job Position: Nigeria M & E Project Specialist
• Job Location: Niger
• Preferred Start Date: ASAP

Job Description

• As a growing organization, we are constantly improving our internal operational processes. The Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) Project Specialist (PS) will help build monitoring and evaluation initiatives, programs and projects in the core program. Throughout the year, the M&E department executes 3-4 large-scale survey projects, and usually 4 or more smaller (ad-hoc) studies. All projects fall within three larger buckets:
  • Annual One Acre Fund Impact Assessment
  • Core Program Strategic Queries
  • Support projects for the Program Design team and other departments

Job Responsibilities

• The M&E PS will monitor key performance indicators to report and record physical progress for specific projects within all programs. They will also create, run, and analyze data collection projects for the core program departments. You will participate in a leadership development program as you will, with excellent performance, take on the role of M&E Lead. The section below provides a few examples of the projects that the M&E PS will be involved in:

Manage the M & E Team:

• You will manage both the M&E Field and Data Coordinator to ensure accurate completion of M&E goals while maintaining data quality and excellent research standards. More specifically, you will:
• Lead the development of talent within the M&E team.
• Create training, and organize meetings and review sessions.
• Update and roll-out quality control tools and assignments.
• Ensure the M&E team has all the necessary materials for their assignment.
• Visit the field to ensure correct execution of and respectful interaction with clients
• Report the weekly and monthly assessment of performance management data from the field upwards to leadership, laterally and downward to field staff.

Research Design:

• You will work with different team members, both from in-country departments and global OAF teams, to identify research goals and draft survey tools to collect information for our annual impact analysis and other strategic queries. More specifically, you will:
• Design research tools such as surveys and write analysis plans.
• Oversee data collection though qualitative and quantitative methods.
• Calculate sample sizes that are representative of the population while taking into account the needs of the program and capacity of the team. This task will be completed with hands-on support from their manager.

Analysis:

• You will conduct analysis of the collected data using the Statistical Software package Stata. You will produce and present findings of simple statistical analysis. More specifically, you will:
  • Follow the set-out analysis plan to determine outcomes of research questions.
  • Use statistics to present meaningful findings to involved team members.

Reporting:

• You will report to the Impact Lead with dotted line to the Global MEL Manager. You will report on your work in a clear and professional fashion. More specifically, you will :
• Report to your manager to provide updates on work assignments, report on required goals, discuss performance, and discuss other general work issues.
• Contribute to content development of all aspects of M&E Field Team operations including training development, survey design and results presentations.

System Development:

• You will lead M & E system and process development, create a framework, and draft procedures for M&E project activities.

Budget:

• You will monitor expenses to prevent overspending and draft project budgets and an annual budget that allows the department to accomplish its project goals and departmental responsibilities

Career Growth and Development:

• We have a strong culture of constant learning and we invest in developing our people. You’ll have weekly check-ins with your manager, access to mentorship and training programs, and regular feedback on your performance. We hold career reviews every six months, and set aside time to discuss your aspirations and career goals. You’ll have the opportunity to shape a growing organization and build a rewarding long-term career.

Job Requirements
Across all roles, these are the general qualifications we look for. For this role specifically, you will have:

• Minimum of a Bachelor’s Degree with Educational background in Statistics, Economics, Population studies, Development studies, Monitoring & Evaluation, Project management or any other relevant field of study with an understanding of quantitative and qualitative research.
• Strong work experiences. Examples include a demanding professional work experience, or successful entrepreneurial experience.
• Two years minimum practical experience working on data collection in a rural setting.
• Understanding of best practices in experimental design concepts, such as control group selection and randomization.
• Demonstrated leadership experience at work, or outside of work, enthusiasm for learning.
• Role specific skills:
  • Fluency in Microsoft excel (can maintain complex spreadsheets), specifically:
    • Design basic data-entry spreadsheets (can perform complex functions) in “database format” (observations horizontally across, 1 variable per column) with useful data validation.
    • Extract summary statistics using Pivot Tables and Excel Formulae.
    • Conduct analysis using statistics, logic, and validation formulae.
• Experience with creating surveys tools for field data collection and managing a field-based research team.
• Knowledge of electronic data collection platforms (e.g. ODK, SurveyCTO, CommCare).
• Preferably experience with statistical software packages such as SPSS, Stata, or R.
• Experience mentoring others to support their professional development.
• Build teams and work with colleagues from diverse backgrounds.
• Languages: English (required), Hausa an added advantage.

Perks & Benefits

• Health insurance, paid time off
• Professional development opportunities including one-on-one coaching and online trainings/programs
• Opportunity to build a diverse portfolio, working across innovation projects and specialist teams
• Connect and work with engaging colleagues from diverse backgrounds
• Social and team-building activities that keep colleagues engaged and connected.

Closing Date
8th June, 2021.

How to Apply

Interested and qualified candidates should:
Click here to apply online

Note

• This role is only open to citizens or permanent residents of Nigeria.
• One Acre Fund never asks candidates to pay any money or pay for tests at any stage of the interview process. Official One Acre Fund emails will always arrive from an @oneacrefund.org address. Please report any suspicious communication here (globalhotline@oneacrefund.org), but do not send applications or application materials to this email address.
• Diversity, Equity, Inclusion (DEI), and anti-racism are deeply connected to our organization’s mission and purpose. One Acre Fund aspires to build a culture where all staff feel consistently valued, represented, and connected – so that our team can thrive as professionals, and achieve exceptional impact for the farmers we serve.
• We are committed to equal employment opportunity regardless of race, color, ancestry, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, age, marital status, disability, gender, gender identity or expression. We are proud to be an equal opportunity workplace.