Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning (MEL) Manager

The African Wildlife Foundation (AWF) is a leading international conservation organization focused on wildlife and wild lands in Africa. It works to ensure the long-term viability of Africa's wildlife and wild lands through various programs and initiatives.

The MEL Manager is a senior technical role responsible for ensuring that AWF’s monitoring, evaluation, and learning systems produce credible, high-quality, decision-relevant evidence that informs strategy, adaptive management, and governance. The role holder will operationalize AWF’s mission-level Theory of Change and impact framework, steward institutional indicators and data standards, and ensure that MEL systems function as an enterprise-wide decision-support architecture. The MEL Manager will combine advanced data analytics, rigorous data quality assurance, and strong program design expertise to translate field-level evidence into leadership- and Board-ready insights.

1. Operationalize and steward AWF’s mission-level Theory of Change and Impact Framework, ensuring consistency across portfolios, landscapes, and countries.
2. Manage the Mission Indicator Compendium and enforce indicator governance processes.
3. Lead data quality assurance (DQA) processes, including routine data verification, spot checks, audits, and methodological reviews.
4. Establish and enforce MEL minimum standards and mandatory design gates for all new projects and programs.
5. Ensure compliance with institutional data governance, data protection, and ethical evidence-use protocols.
6. Lead the management and continuous improvement of AWF’s data management platform.
7. Ensure seamless integration of field data collection tools with institutional databases.
8. Work closely with the GIS and spatial analytics team to align spatial data products with institutional MEL frameworks and mission-level impact reporting.
9. Maintain institutional dashboards and visualization products designed for reuse and adaptation across internal management, governance, and external reporting needs.
10. Ensure interoperability between project-level MEL systems and institutional aggregation frameworks.
11. Support the implementation of structured learning and reflection cycles across the organization, ensuring evidence is synthesized and applied to adaptive management and decision-making.
12. Produce clear, decision-oriented learning products, including briefs, syntheses, and analytical summaries that support evidence-informed management and strategic decision-making.
13. Maintain the Mission Knowledge Repository as a structured, accessible system for curating institutional evidence, evaluations, and learning outputs.
14. Coordinate high-quality internal and external evaluations and oversee management response processes to ensure accountability and closure of learning loops.
15. Provide technical leadership and advisory support to Landscape MEL Leads and Country Office MEL staff through a matrix management model.
16. Lead MEL capacity strengthening initiatives for project teams, partners, and senior leadership, including training on analytics, adaptive management, and evidence use.
17. Review and provide technical input into project MEL plans, logframes, and results frameworks during programme design and proposal development.
18. Support teams in mapping project indicators to the Mission Results Framework and institutional indicators.
19. Convene and facilitate communities of practice for MEL practitioners across AWF.

1. Master’s degree (required) in Monitoring & Evaluation, Statistics, Data Science, Economics, Environmental Science, Conservation Science, Development Studies, or an applied social science discipline.
2. Advanced training in data analytics is a strong advantage.
3. Minimum 8–10 years of progressively responsible MEL experience, with at least 3–5 years in a senior or managerial role within conservation, natural resource management, or international development organizations.
4. Demonstrated experience designing and managing enterprise-level MEL systems, including institutional indicators and aggregation frameworks.
5. Strong track record in data analytics, including use of statistical software, dashboards, and data visualization for decision-making.
6. Proven expertise in data quality assurance, methodological integrity, and evaluation management.
7. Experience supporting programme and project design, including results frameworks, theories of change, and MEL plans.
8. Experience working in matrixed, multi-country organizations with decentralized implementation structures.
9. Advanced quantitative and qualitative analysis skills; ability to translate complex data into clear insights.
10. Strong understanding of impact evaluation approaches, contribution analysis, and adaptive management.
11. Proficiency with data platforms, MEL databases and visualization software (e.g., Power BI, Tableau, or equivalent).