The MEL Manager leads KELIN’s institutional performance, monitoring, evaluation, and learning function. The role ensures that organisational and programme performance is measurable, evidence-driven, and informs strategic decision-making, resource allocation, accountability, and external influence. The role provides technical leadership across the Programme Leads, Research, and Communications functions to ensure that programme implementation is data-driven, lessons are systematically captured, and performance information informs strategy, visibility, and continuous improvement.

MEL Strategy and System Development**

• Lead the development, implementation, and continuous improvement of KELIN’s monitoring, evaluation, and integrated learning framework in line with the strategic plan.

• Design and maintain organisation-wide MEL systems, tools, templates, indicators, and reporting processes.

• Ensure that programme and institutional performance frameworks are clear, measurable, and aligned to strategic objectives, donor requirements, and accountability commitments.

• Provide technical guidance on theories of change, results frameworks, logframes, indicator reference sheets, and performance measurement plans.

• Set and enforce organisation-wide MEL standards, tools, and reporting requirements.

• Manage performance data and updates across all programme areas.

• Review results frameworks, indicators, and performance reports.

• Escalate persistent performance or data quality gaps to senior management.

• Lead tracking and reporting on the implementation of KELIN’s Strategic Plan (2026–2030).

Monitoring and Performance Tracking****

• Oversee the routine collection, validation, analysis, and use of programme performance data across all thematic areas.

• Ensure timely tracking of outputs, outcomes, milestones, deliverables, and performance indicators.

• Guide and hold programme teams accountable for setting realistic targets, monitoring progress, and addressing performance gaps.

• Develop dashboards, summaries, and other tracking tools to support decision-making by management and programme teams.

Evaluation and Assessment****

• Lead or coordinate evaluations, reviews, baseline studies, end-line assessments, outcome harvesting, learning reviews, and other performance assessments.

• Develop or review evaluation designs, methodologies, tools, terms of reference, and analysis plans.

• Manage consultants and external evaluators, ensuring the quality and usefulness of outputs.

• Ensure evaluation findings are synthesised and fed back into programme improvement, strategy refinement, and donor reporting.

Data Quality Assurance****

• Establish and maintain systems for data quality assurance, including data verification, cleaning, consistency checks, and documentation standards.

• Conduct routine data quality assessments and support programme teams to address weaknesses in collection and reporting.

• Ensure that performance information is credible, complete, timely, and fit for internal and external use.

• Promote strong data governance practices, including secure storage, confidentiality, traceability, and responsible use of data.

• Enforce compliance with organisation-wide data quality standards and reporting protocols.

Strategic Decision Support****

• Provide regular performance insights to senior management and the Board.

• Analyse trends, risks, and opportunities emerging from programme data.

• Support evidence-based planning, prioritisation, and adaptive management.

Learning and Adaptive Management****

• Promote a culture of reflection, learning, and evidence-informed adaptation across the organisation.

• Facilitate periodic learning forums, review meetings, after-action reflections, and performance review sessions.

• Lead structured reflection processes and guide teams to identify lessons, good practices, bottlenecks, and opportunities for course correction.

• Document and share learnings to improve programme quality, institutional effectiveness, and organisational memory.

Reporting and Accountability****

• Lead the preparation and quality assurance of MEL inputs into donor reports, management reports, board reporting, and institutional performance updates.

• Support programme teams to prepare accurate and evidence-based narrative reports.

• Ensure compliance with donor MEL and reporting requirements.

• Strengthen accountability to communities and stakeholders by promoting feedback mechanisms, transparency, and appropriate use of programme evidence.

• Ensure that performance reporting supports both donor compliance and internal strategic decision-making.

Programme and Cross-Functional Support****

• Work closely with Programmes team to embed MEL throughout the programme cycle.

• Collaborate with the Research to ensure complementarity between research, evaluation, and routine performance monitoring.

• Work with the Communications to package results, learning, and evidence for external visibility and strategic communication.

• Support business development processes by contributing MEL sections, results frameworks, and measurement approaches in proposals and concept notes.

• Ensure alignment between programme delivery, research outputs, and communications by translating performance data into strategic insights, evidence products, and narrative content.

Capacity Strengthening****

• Build and institutionalise the capacity of staff and partners in monitoring, reporting, indicator use, data quality, learning, and adaptive management.

• Develop simple guidance, tools, and training materials to improve MEL practice across KELIN.

• Coach programme teams on results-based management and evidence use.

• Support partners and sub-grantees, to meet KELIN’s expected standards for performance monitoring and reporting.

Planning, Coordination, and Administration****

• Prepare annual and periodic MEL work plans, budgets, and performance reports.

• Coordinate internal reporting calendars and ensure timely submission of MEL deliverables.

• Maintain organised records of frameworks, datasets, assessments, reports, and supporting documentation. **