MEL Project Specialist job at One Acre Fund

About One Acre Fund

Founded in 2006, One Acre Fund equips 5.5 million smallholder farmers to make their farms more productive. Across nine countries that together are home to two-thirds of Africa's farmers, we provide high-quality farm supplies, tree seedlings, accessible credit, modern agronomic training, and a wide range of other agricultural services. On average, this model enables any farmer to increase their income and assets on supported land by more than 35 percent, while permanently improving their resilience. This is all made possible by our team of 9,000+ full-time staff, drawn from diverse backgrounds and professions. To learn more, please see our Why Work Here blog post.

Our Uganda program, founded in 2016, serves approximately 27,000 farmers. We offer bespoke training to coffee farmers to help them improve their yields, and distribute a range of different tree species through local nurseries situated close to farmers. Our team in Uganda is headquartered in Jinja, close to the districts we serve, and supported by a small presence in Kampala. To learn more about our work, look at our Uganda program blog

About the Role

As the MEL Project Specialist, you will report to the Global MEL Manager and collaboratively design and implement study designs. You will oversee data collection, cleaning, and analysis using tools such as CommCare, Google Sheets, STATA and R, ensuring accurate and actionable insights. Additionally, you will manage other department staff, track project progress, and oversee department expenditures. Your success is demonstrated through effective project execution, leadership in process improvements, and contributing to staff development within the MEL department.

Responsibilities

• Draft study designs, evaluation strategies, and implementation plans.
• Clean and analyze data using STATA or R, develop new and update existing analysis plans, and produce summary statistics and regressions with manager oversight.
• Select survey participants by calculating sample size and defining selection processes.
• Prepare survey respondent lists and revise questionnaires for field readiness, ensuring data collection quality.
• Manage project-specific dashboards, update dashboards, track task progress, and provide oversight to junior staff.
• Propose improvements, scope out solutions to complex challenges, and implement them.
• Produce survey reports, summarizing findings and proposing actionable recommendations.
• Represent the department within the Uganda program, participate in Global Impact discussions, and other relevant platforms.
• Manage direct reports (up to Job Level 7), create development and promotion plans, oversee performance evaluations, and facilitate ongoing training and capacity-building activities.

Career Growth and Development

We have a strong culture of constant learning and we invest in developing our people. You’ll have weekly check-ins with your manager, access to mentorship and training programs, and regular feedback on your performance. We hold career reviews every six months, and set aside time to discuss your aspirations and career goals. You’ll have the opportunity to shape a growing organization and build a rewarding long-term career.

Qualifications

Across all roles, these are the general qualifications we look for. For this role specifically, you will have:

• 3+ years of experience in Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning (MEL), data analysis, or program evaluation.
• Experience managing medium to high complexity projects with increasing independence.
• Experience managing small to medium teams and overseeing junior staff, with skills in performance evaluations and capacity building.
• Proficiency in statistical analysis using Stata or R and Excel (can perform complex functions) for data cleaning, regressions, and summary statistics.
• Competence in designing study plans, questionnaires, and implementing surveys, including calculating sample sizes and data analysis.
• The ability to produce high-quality reports and manage project dashboards.
• Experience in budget tracking, expenditure reporting, and asset management.
• Represent the department in meetings and contribute to discussions on relevant platforms.

• Draft study designs, evaluation strategies, and implementation plans.
• Clean and analyze data using STATA or R, develop new and update existing analysis plans, and produce summary statistics and regressions with manager oversight.
• Select survey participants by calculating sample size and defining selection processes.
• Prepare survey respondent lists and revise questionnaires for field readiness, ensuring data collection quality.
• Manage project-specific dashboards, update dashboards, track task progress, and provide oversight to junior staff.
• Propose improvements, scope out solutions to complex challenges, and implement them.
• Produce survey reports, summarizing findings and proposing actionable recommendations.
• Represent the department within the Uganda program, participate in Global Impact discussions, and other relevant platforms.
• Manage direct reports (up to Job Level 7), create development and promotion plans, oversee performance evaluations, and facilitate ongoing training and capacity-building activities.

• Proficiency in statistical analysis using Stata or R and Excel (can perform complex functions) for data cleaning, regressions, and summary statistics.
• Competence in designing study plans, questionnaires, and implementing surveys, including calculating sample sizes and data analysis.
• The ability to produce high-quality reports and manage project dashboards.
• Experience in budget tracking, expenditure reporting, and asset management.
• Represent the department in meetings and contribute to discussions on relevant platforms.

• 3+ years of experience in Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning (MEL), data analysis, or program evaluation.
• Experience managing medium to high complexity projects with increasing independence.
• Experience managing small to medium teams and overseeing junior staff, with skills in performance evaluations and capacity building.