Back Monitoring, Evaluation (M&E) and Reporting Specialist

Organizational Setting

The main aim of FAO Country Offices, headed by an FAO Representative, is to assist governments to develop policies, programmes, and projects to achieve food security and to reduce hunger and malnutrition, to help develop the agricultural, fisheries and forestry sectors, and to use their environmental and natural resources in a sustainable manner. FAO Lao PDR assists the Government in the development and implementation of field projects in the sectors of food security, agriculture, and rural development. This requires the integration within the broader framework of sustainable food and agriculture that aims at increasing production and productivity, addressing climate change, and managing natural resources; and enhance rural livelihoods.
The Emergency Centre for Transboundary Animal Diseases (ECTAD) unit in FAO Lao PDR is dedicated to working with the Government in preventing and controlling emerging infectious and zoonotic diseases, by working closely with national stakeholders in the animal production and health sector.
Reporting Lines
The National Monitoring, Evaluation and Reporting Officer, under the overall supervision and guidance of FAO Representative in Lao PDR direct supervision of the FAO ECTAD Country Team leader, technical guidance of the ECTAD Regional Manager in the FAO Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific (RAP), and in close coordination with FAO RAP animal health and production module team members at the regional level

Technical Focus

The incumbent will develop and implement comprehensive and practical monitoring, evaluation, and reporting plans and strategies to ensure effective tracking of project progress and impact.

Tasks and responsibilities

•    Take lead in the development and fine-tuning of the Country M&E strategy, including the theory of change for the ECTAD Country portfolio.
•    Coordinate the ECTAD country M&E activities with a programmatic approach, ensuring synergies and harmonization across the assessment analysis of all ECTAD country projects.
•    Coordinate and liaise with the Regional ECTAD M&E team on reporting requirements for all the projects under the ECTAD Country portfolio, ensuring harmonization and timely reporting in accordance with donor requirements.
•    Support the preparation of reports on the projects’ activities and indicators for donors.
•    Lead the analysis of the data gathered across the various ECTAD projects at the country level and provide recommendations to the ECTAD Country team on gaps and areas for improvement based on the outcome of analysis.
•    Ensure data accuracy and contribute to drafting/ reviewing relevant components of country-level progress and achievement reports, including situation analyses, donor reports, annual and mid-term reviews, etc. as appropriate.
•    Ensure that data captured are well reflected in various reporting outputs (e.g., progress reports, final reports, ad-hoc project activity reports, etc.) 
•    Liaise with regional office and headquarters M&E knowledge networks to stay updated on the latest developments in planning and M&E.
•    Document and share national experiences with regional office and headquarters M&E knowledge networks to capture successful and unsuccessful practices, innovations and lessons learnt.
•    Collect, compile, analyze and report on routine data collected and studies implemented in accordance with the projects’ logical frameworks. 
•    Work closely with the ECTAD Regional M&E team in the annual revisions of logical framework indicators, targets, and achievements. 
•    Seek technical assistance with ECTAD Regional M&E team on evaluation designs as well as aligning implemented program data with country logical framework indicator achievements.
•    Work closely with the ECTAD Regional M&E team to build the capacity among ECTAD country office program staff in triangulating M&E data and utilizing animal health impact metrics as strategic decision-making tools..
•    Represent ECTAD-Country Office at the meetings with donors relevant to reporting and M&E related activities.
•    Provide M&E data and project achievements to support RAP animal health and production module regular program deliverables, including inputs on sustainable livestock sector transformation or technology/innovations contributing to livestock sector transformation, as needed.
•    Perform other related duties as required.

CANDIDATES WILL BE ASSESSED AGAINST THE FOLLOWING

Minimum Requirements    

•    Advanced university degree in agricultural economics, economics, social sciences or related field
•    Five years of relevant experience in/or project planning/formulation/ implementation, including monitoring and evaluation
•    Working knowledge of Englis
•    Nationals of Lao

FAO Core Competencies

•    Results Focus
•    Teamwork
•    Communication
•    Building Effective Relationships
•    Knowledge Sharing and Continuous Improvement

Technical/Functional Skills

•    Work experience in more than one location or area of work, particularly in field positions related to agriculture, animal health, or rural development, is desirable
•    Extent and relevance of experience in monitoring, evaluation, accountability and learning (MEAL) within agriculture, animal health, or natural resource management programmes..
•    Demonstrated knowledge and proficiency in using statistical tools (such as STATA, SPSS, R or similar) for data analysis and reporting in M&E activities. Demonstrated ability to effectively communicate Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) findings to inform programming and decision-making processes in agriculture and animal health sectors..
•    Demonstrated experience in managing MEAL teams and processes in agriculture, animal health, or rural development programmes.
•    Understanding of FAO policies and programmes is considered a strong asset.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION