Senior Project Officer - MEAL (Livelihoods, Agriculture & Market Systems)

About the role

Catholic Relief Services Uganda is seeking a Senior Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability and Learning (MEAL) Officer for its livelihoods, agriculture and market systems programme. The role leads the design, implementation and management of MEAL systems across livelihoods, private sector engagement, market systems development, economic inclusion, agricultural value chains and resilience programming, ensuring robust results measurement, evidence generation, accountability, learning and adaptive management. It reports to the Program Manager - MEAL and is based in Kampala.

Key responsibilities

• Lead the development and implementation of the programme MEAL system, including monitoring systems that measure outputs, outcomes, impact, sustainability and systemic change
• Develop data collection tools, databases, dashboards and reporting systems, and coordinate baseline, midline and end-line surveys, market assessments and evaluations
• Monitor private sector partners, producer groups, MSMEs, cooperatives and financial institutions, including business growth, income, jobs, productivity, investment leverage and market access
• Conduct market actor analyses and value chain performance assessments, and generate evidence on business and market system outcomes
• Facilitate reflection meetings, learning events and MEAL communities of practice, and produce learning briefs, case studies and analytical reports
• Lead Data Quality Assessments, the feedback, complaints and response mechanism, and ensure data protection, ethics and confidentiality
• Supervise MEAL processes at programme sites, review budgets and track resource use with partners
• Coordinate with private sector, dioceses and other stakeholders, and mentor and train their MEAL personnel and field teams

Required profile

• Bachelor's degree in Monitoring and Evaluation, Statistics, Economics, Agricultural Economics, Development Studies, Business Administration, Social Sciences or a related field; a master's degree is an added advantage
• At least five years of professional experience in MEAL within livelihoods, agriculture, private sector development, market systems, economic inclusion, resilience or value chain programmes
• Strong written and spoken English; willingness to travel up to 30% to project locations and field offices outside Kampala
• Preferred: experience with participatory action planning, community engagement, staff supervision, project monitoring and data collection

Required skills

• Proven experience using the DCED Standard for Results Measurement and Market Systems Development (MSD) monitoring approaches
• Use of MS Office (Excel, Word, PowerPoint) and data analysis software such as Power BI, SPSS, STATA, R or similar
• Analytical, problem-solving and communication skills, attention to detail and accuracy