MRM Manager - ÉLAN RDC

Job Description

ÉLAN RDC

Adam Smith International is seeking an exceptional candidate to play a leading role in the delivery of ÉLAN 1.2, a complex, two-year £8 million market systems development programme in the DRC, with a 40+ strong project team based in 2 field offices delivering interventions with various companies in multiple provinces across the country.

We aim to build a more efficient and inclusive economy for the DRC. We provide international expertise and market insight to businesses, financial institutions and industry associations, supporting them to innovate and grow.

We follow a “market systems development” approach (also known as the “Making Markets Work for the Poor” (M4P) approach), which seeks to develop and promote sustainable and scalable solutions to systemic constraints in markets that prevent poor producers and consumers from benefiting from their participation in them.

Monitoring and results measurement in ÉLAN RDC

Monitoring and results measurement is a core internal function of ÉLAN RDC, with the purpose of providing robust and credible information about the programme’s results on a timely basis for use in internal decision-making and external reporting. The programme follows the standards in measuring private sector programmes set by the Donor Committee for Enterprise Development (DCED), and the MRM activities of the project are expected to comply with these standards. The MRM team is made up of five MRM analysts based in provincial offices, led by the Senior MRM Manager. The team works closely with the rest of the project’s technical team – Intervention Leads are expected to take ownership over the results of their interventions while the MRM team’s role is to support Intervention Leads to ensure that the information about these results are credible and timely.

The MRM Manager will work across all sectors, and on all priority interventions.

• Support ÉLAN RDC and its partners to capture the breadth and depth of the programme, including the extent to which ÉLAN RDC has sustainably changed market systems in the DRC in the selected sectors of intervention. This will imply designing the most appropriate measurement methodologies and providing the most robust, credible and useful information.
• Ensure the dissemination of findings and lessons learned within ÉLAN RDC as well as its partners and stakeholders

The Senior MRM Manager is part of a large team (around 40 people) including international and Congolese staff spread throughout five regional offices in the DRC. He/she will be responsible for a team of five MRM analysts. The main responsibilities include:

1. Managing the ÉLAN RDC Monitoring & Results Measurement activities, including:

• Designing, planning and coordinating measurement activities: Developing, with the technical teams and MRM team, intervention logics in the form of results chains and pathways to scale, making realistic, evidence-based projections and planning and delivering results measurement with appropriate attribution strategies, including impact assessment, monitoring of new business models, and measurement of system change. Specific measurement of indirect beneficiaries and systemic changes will be conducted. Activities are expected to be informed by the guidance available in the DCED Standard.
• Ensuring quality and timely delivery of results information: Ensuring the quality and timeliness of the intervention logics and accompanying MRM activities, in particular holding MRM Analysts and technical teams accountable for tasks under their responsibilities. Managing and implementing ÉLAN Research plan to explore other research areas relevant to the understanding of programme’s impact.
• Promoting evidence-based strategic decision-making: Ensure, in conjunction with other members of the Senior Management Team, that MRM information and progress reports on results-to-date feed into strategic reviews, and informs and influences programme decision-making, including the design and implementation of sector strategies and interventions design and implementation and sector strategies
• Deploying appropriate methods: Designing, supervising and/or delivering a variety of measurement methodologies appropriate to the monitoring and information needs of the programme, including household level surveys, focus groups discussions, interviews, monitoring/observation missions and partner self-reporting;
• Knowledge Management and Documenting approaches: Ensuring the MRM workspace in Sharepoint is up to date. Producing technical notes on the programme’s MRM methodologies and projections, reports on results that have been achieved and lessons learned and recommended measures to implement for an increased impact of the portfolio interventions of the programme. Manage MRM knowledge so that is well organised and easily accessible by members of the project team through the internal Sharepoint online platform.
• Supporting ÉLAN RDC’s risk analysis and management, and value for money reporting
• Producing or contributing to project documents, work plans and other reports as necessary;

2. Managing the MRM Team, including:

• Resource allocation: Preparing the quarterly MRM budgets in close liaison with the MRM team and submitting it to the PM unit for approval;
• Personnel line management: Line managing MRM Analysts, including through collecting and reviewing their weekly reports and through conducting performance appraisals in conjunction with the Team Leader, or Project Manager;
• Support personal development: Supporting capacity building of the MRM Team by identifying learning and development needs and recommending relevant training;
• Identifying projected Short Term Technical Advisor (STTA) needs for MRM;

3. Responsibilities as a member of and MRM focal point for the ÉLAN RDC Senior Management Team (SMT), including:

• Participating in ÉLAN RDC SMT meetings and decision-making concerning programme strategy, intervention design and implementation, budget allocation, internal and external communications, recruitment and HR issues (resource allocation, needs identification, learning and development planning, disciplinary matters, etc.);
• Leading the organisation and preparation of quarterly results review meetings;
• Leading the relationship with the Decision Support Unit on all MRM-related issues, including the management of DSU’s results verification exercises
• Supporting the organisation and preparation of annual and end-of-programme reviews, senior technical meetings, all-staff meetings, annual and quarterly reports, annual business plans, and other programme documents;
• Providing information to the SMT on MRM questions, including the programme logframe, results chains, impact projections, achieved results, value for money (VFM) and return on investment;
• Representing ÉLAN RDC on MRM questions vis-à-vis DFID and other key partners, and in external media and events (e.g. conferences, radio programmes).

• Excellent proficiency in French (written/spoken);
• Excellent proficiency in English (written/spoken);
• A university degree (minimum undergraduate) in statistics, economics, international development or similar;
• A good understanding of private sector development issues and the Making Markets Work For The Poor (M4P) approach to development;
• Strong technical skills in quantitative and qualitative MRM methods (including impact assessment) applied to development programmes;
• Practical and professional experience in development activities related to gender and social inclusion issues, political economy and conflict mitigation and communications / project outreach and public relations;
• Sound understanding of logical framework approach, results-based measurement, project cycle management and other strategic planning approaches;
• Experience in developing practical guidance and tools for effective monitoring and reporting;
• A minimum of ten years’ experience in MRM, of which a minimum of five years designing MRM methodologies and strategies;
• A previous MRM experience in other countries of francophone Africa (desirable);
• A good understanding of the economy of DRC;
• Excellent team-working, stakeholder engagement, and writing and oral communication skills;
• Experience managing teams;
• Demonstrable experience of working in complex and time-pressured contexts;
• Results-driven work ethic.

The Senior MRM Manager will report to the Team Leader on technical issues; S/he will liaise with the Project Management Team on all contractual and financial matters and liaise with the Operations Team on all operational and security-related matters.

• The position is part-time, based in Kinshasa (with travel to field locations), from October 2019 to August 2021.
• There is a possibility of a one-year extension (until August 2022) pending DFID’s approval of the programme extension

Please send a CV and short cover email to ELAN.jobs@adamsmithinternational.com with a subject line of “MRM Manager – Name”. Applications will be reviewed periodically, therefore applicants are encouraged to apply as soon as possible. The deadline for applications is 12 September 2019. Only shortlisted applicants will be contacted.

About the Organization

About us

Adam Smith International is a strategic development company that helps people prosper by making economies stronger, societies safer, and governments more effective. Our clients are governments, international organisations, companies, and foundations. They come to us to develop strategies and to design, deliver and evaluate programmes that, in turn, stimulate growth, stability and good governance.

Our core team of managers and technical experts, in offices around the world, ensures the quality of delivery and high ethical standards that we and our clients require. We bring together a global network of specialist experts, who contribute their experience and know-how, where and when it is needed.

ASI is owned and operated by its employees, and we are all dedicated to making a meaningful difference in complex, challenging situations. We are committed to corporate integrity and a triple bottom line of social, environmental and financial performance.

More information