Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning (MEL) Officer

• Location: Bujumbura, Burundi
• Start date: March 2025
• Type of contract: National employment contract, full-time (100%)
• Grade: Entry- to mid-level technical staff (D1)
• Deadline: 24 January 2025 at 09:00 (Burundi time)

Organisation

Impunity Watch (IW) is an international NGO contributing to processes for dealing with the past in countries emerging from violent conflict. We promote integrated and participatory approaches, working with affected communities and local organisations to establish community-based initiatives and increase their influence over policymaking. We work to transform gender inequalities and promote youth and women’s participation. Our holistic MHPSS approach links individual and group trauma support with community-focused social action.

Context

IW has recently secured funding for a new project (Menya Ukire) promoting constructive dealing with the past and holistic MHPSS in Burundi. The project promotes social cohesion by supporting communities to constructively address multigenerational traumas, encouraging inclusive memory transmission, and increasing civil society capacities to promote holistic MHPSS. In parallel, we have been implementing a separate project since 2022 (Barundi, Tuyage !) supporting youth participation in peace consolidation and social cohesion. Both projects are coordinated by IW and implemented with partners across the country.

To be based in our Bujumbura office, we are seeking a MEL Officer to join our team.

The position is open to Burundian nationals only. Female candidates are strongly encouraged to apply. We favour talent and personality more than experience. The position is targeted towards entry- to mid-level professionals with a passion for qualitative MEL and the work of IW.

Job description

Under the overall guidance of IW’s Country Director, the MEL Officer will support the new project start-up, in particular co-designing MEL tools and setting up the project’s MEL system to effectively monitor progress and impact. We work with classic quantitative indicators to monitor, evaluate, and learn, and we favour qualitative indicators and measures, reflecting the nature of our work and the social change we seek to encourage. The MEL Officer will also work with the MEL framework of our ongoing project, overseeing data collection to evaluate project impact as it enters its final phase. The successful candidate will be expected to support partners with all aspects of MEL, including providing bespoke trainings and coaching.

At the global level, IW is in the early stages of designing its organisational MEL framework. We are seeking an enthusiastic colleague to actively contribute to this process.

Our ideal new colleague will combine a passion for MEL with a strong interest and experience in social cohesion, peacebuilding, and TJ. They will bring creativity and positivity, and will possess keen self-awareness and emotional intelligence. To be successful in this role, we seek someone who delivers excellent quality work and who can effortlessly move between working independently and collaborating with teams and partners.

Responsibilities – Menya Ukire (45%)

• • Co-design and set up an innovative MEL system for the project.
• • Co-develop MEL creative tools to assess and capture project impact, including training staff and partners.
• • Support processes for developing partner operational plans, providing MEL expertise.
• • Oversee external evaluation processes, including the project baseline, MTE, and final evaluation.
• • Organise periodic coaching and data collection actions, assisting partners and gathering data to evaluate impact, test project assumptions, and promote organisational learning.
• • Consolidate MEL data for donor reports and for online monitoring systems.
• • Contribute to day-to-day project implementation and activities.

Responsibilities – Barundi, Tuyage ! (45%)

• • Collect quantitative and qualitative data to evaluate project impact.
• • Support project partners to gather stories of change data and evaluate lessons learnt.
• • Oversee the project external final evaluation.
• • Consolidate MEL data for donor reports and for IATI.
• • Support the writing and production of the project final report.
• • Contribute to day-to-day project implementation, activities, and project closure including sustainability.

Responsibilities – General (10%)

• • Provide communications colleagues with regular qualitative case studies and stories of change.
• • Contribute to the design of a bespoke global MEL framework.
• • Support IW Burundi’s other ongoing projects through MEL expertise.
• • Contribute to the overall implementation of IW’s mission in Burundi, providing MEL expertise in fundraising, strategic planning, and in the implementation of organisational approaches to gender transformation, youth participation, and MHPSS.

About You

Talents, skills & personality

• • Passionate about the role of MEL in understanding and improving impact in development work.
• • Creative and innovative.
• • Rigorous, detail-orientated, and highly organised.
• • Excellent verbal and written communication skills in English, French, and Kirundi.
• • Proactive, independent, and a team player.
• • Highly self-aware, emotionally intelligent, and with strong interpersonal skills.

Experience & knowledge

• • A university degree.
• • Minimum of 1-2 years working on MEL in a similar role.
• • Demonstrable knowledge of qualitative MEL.
• • Demonstrable experience and/or knowledge in a field relevant to IW’s work (e.g. peacebuilding, social cohesion, TJ, MHPSS).
• • Experience working on gender transformation, youth empowerment, and/or holistic MHPSS.

The following would be considered a plus:

• • A flair for design and communications.
• • Experience working with NGOs.

How to apply

If your talents, skills, personality, and experience match with what we’re looking for, please send us the following documents in English:

• 1. CV
  • • Maximum 2 pages.
  • • Contact details for three named references.
• 2. Motivation letter
  • • Maximum 2 pages.
  • • Please focus primarily on your talents, skills, and personality.

Applications should be sent to iw-burundi@impunitywatch.org with Burundi MEL Officer in the description. The deadline for applications is Friday 24 January 2025 at 09:00 Burundi time.

Incomplete applications or those sent after the deadline will not be considered. Please note that we are only able to contact shortlisted candidates. IW is dedicated to ensuring an inclusive work environment and is committed to transparency in all recruitment processes.