Monitoring & Evaluation Assistant at North East Regional Initiative (NERI)

(Kafanchan)

Position Summary:

 The Monitoring & Evaluation Assistant (M&E Assistant) contributes to telling the story of the NLCB program through daily, short-term and long-term coverage of activities. The Monitoring & Evaluation  Assistant supports the M&E Team in gathering, analyzing and processing complex data related to all aspects of program activity implementation and impact to produce compelling investigative stories. Through qualitative and quantitative data collection techniques including interviews with beneficiaries, local officials and other stakeholders, the Monitoring & Evaluation Assistant, as part of the Monitoring & Evaluation Team, helps signify how program activities contribute to the overall program goal. This position is based in Kafanchan with frequent travel within the program LGAs and to Abuja.

Reporting & Supervision: 

The Monitoring & Evaluation Assistant reports to Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning Manager. The M&E Assistant will maintain strong and consistent communications with other members of the Monitoring & Evaluation Team in and outside of Abuja.   

PRIMARY RESPONSIBILITIES AND DELIVERABLES 

Primary responsibilities include but are not limited to the following:

• Coordinate daily with M&E Officer to determine priority tasks.
• Conduct site visits during the project implementation phase for each grant in assigned areas.
• Collect in a timely manner information on persons or communities impacted by the program’s activities or on the latest political or security development in target area.
• Support drafting concise, high-quality reports, articles or summaries on a daily or ad-hoc basis on activity progress or outcome.
• Under the guidance of the M&E Officer, support development and maintenance of a strong network of contacts in target communities.
• Support the M&E Officer to develop Monitoring and Evaluation plans for field-level projects.
• Under the guidance of the M&E Officer, produce monitoring reports according to an approved template for each site visit prior to the indicator verification visit.
• Accurately interpret Bills of Quantities (BoQ) and grant database files shared by head office to determine indicators.
• Contribute to drafting Final Evaluation Reports for each activity based on prescribed format after visiting a grant site for verification of indicators.
• Identify lessons learned, constraints, and project impacts based on determined theme and/or sector for inclusion in FERs.
• Share observations from monitoring visits with M&E Officer when findings demonstrate questionable actions.
• Perform other tasks, as assigned. 

Required Skills & Qualifications 

• BA/BSc in international development, journalism, English, communications, social science, economics, or related field is required.
• One (1) year of relevant experience in field monitoring, journalism, evaluation design, and/or information management is required.
• Strong editing skills, including both line and copy editing, as well as being able to discern broader subject-matter problems.
• Proven writing and editing skills in English with an ability to convey complex ideas in a clear, direct and lively style is required.
• Attention to detail and ability to follow up on tasks to completion is required.
• Excellent reporting and research skills and experience writing for the Web preferred;
• Strong analytical skills are required.
• Knowledge of social media and multimedia technologies desired.
• Prior experience with USAID or US Government-funded projects is highly desirable.
• Experience of working in a conflict environment is a plus.
• Fluency in oral and written English is required.
• Fluency in one or more of the languages spoken in North West and North Central Nigeria is preferable