Global MEL Senior Associate

About the Role

We are looking for a strong analyst to provide technical guidance, analytical support, and quality assurance across a portfolio of 2–3 country programs within One Acre Fund’s growth country portfolio. Countries of operation currently include Tanzania, DRC, Ethiopia, Nigeria, Uganda, Zambia, and Burundi.

Country MEL Leads are responsible for day-to-day MEL operations in their respective programs. The Global MEL Senior Associate complements this by bringing dedicated technical depth and cross-country perspective reviewing and strengthening analytical approaches, advising on evaluation methodology, building tools and frameworks that leads can adopt, and surfacing learnings across the portfolio. Over time, this role is expected to meaningfully build MEL capacity in the countries it supports.

Beyond country support, the role contributes to selected Global MEL initiatives such as the design and rollout of team trainings, development of shared tools and templates, and cross-program methodology work. Depending on candidate's profile, the portfolio may also include analytical support for One Acre Fund’s Agroforestry program, a large and technically complex area with significant opportunity for rigorous measurement work.

The Global MEL Senior Associate will report to a Senior Manager on the Global MEL Team.

Responsibilities

• Country Portfolio Support: Serve as the primary technical resource for country MEL Leads in your assigned portfolio. Review and strengthen survey instruments and data collection approaches. Assess and improve data quality backcheck processes. Review and advise on country-level data analysis. Quality-control MEL deliverables. Help country MEL Leads translate data and evaluation findings into clear, decision-relevant insights. Actively identify and share learnings across your portfolio.

• Evaluation Design & Methodology: Advise on evaluation design and review methodology across assigned programs. Proactively identify methodological gaps or risks in ongoing evaluations. Contribute to the development and documentation of global MEL standards, evaluation frameworks, and shared analytical tools for use across country programs.

• Global MEL Initiatives: Contribute to the design and rollout of MEL trainings and capacity-building programs. Support the development of shared tools, templates, and guidance documents. Contribute to cross-program methodology projects and special initiatives. Depending on candidate profile, provide dedicated analytical support to One Acre Fund’s Agroforestry portfolio. Peer review cross-country workstreams.

Qualifications

• Analytical Excellence: Advanced quantitative skills; proficiency in Stata is required. R is a strong plus. Demonstrated experience with impact evaluation design and methods (PSM, DiD, RCTs). Strong attention to detail and commitment to analytical rigor and reproducibility.

• Survey & Data Systems: Experience designing and programming surveys for mobile data collection; CommCare experience is preferred. Demonstrated ability to design and improve data quality assurance processes.

• Experience & Education: Minimum 3 years of professional experience in monitoring, evaluation, and/or applied research, preferably in international development. Master’s degree in economics, applied statistics, agricultural economics, or a closely related field. Experience working in Sub-Saharan Africa and with smallholder agricultural programs strongly preferred.

• Domain Knowledge: Background in agriculture required; familiarity with common agricultural MEL frameworks and indicators is a plus. Experience with agroforestry, tree planting programs, or forest ecosystem measurement is strongly preferred.

• Communication & Collaboration: Professional fluency in English required; strong written and verbal communication skills. Professional fluency in French is a significant asset. Collaborative working style with a service orientation. Willingness to travel within the region (approximately 10–25% of time).

Contract Duration: 2 Years

Eligibility: One Acre Fund can support a work permit for this role. However, nationals of (or those with an extensive professional background and work history in) our countries of operation are preferred.