Monitoring, Evaluation & Learning (MEL) Officer

Employer – WeForest Malawi

Job Title – Monitoring, Evaluation & Learning (MEL) Officer

Location – Mulanje & Phalombe districts

Reporting to – Country Director and Project Manager

Responsible for – project MEL processes

About WeForest

WeForest is a fast growing international non-profit association with headquarters in Belgium and legal entities in France, USA, Ethiopia, Zambia and Malawi. Our aim is to demonstrate, through the restoration of entire regions, that well planned tree planting and reforestation can be the solutions to today’s biggest challenge: climate change. The organization is promoting Forest Landscape Restoration (FLR) best practices, creating a movement, engaging the greatest brands and their millions of customers to act positively. Our activities are growing and the organization is looking for an experienced profile to further capacitate its Malawian team, and drive the Mulanje co-management project to the highest standards.

WeForest has been active around Mulanje cedar and miombo restoration in Malawi since 2018, starting in Mt Mulanje Forest Reserve, Mulanje/Phalombe district. Currently, the project is expanding with a time-horizon till 2034, focused on co-management of miombo woodlands within the Forest Reserve. We are still a small team and hence need a dynamic, critical-thinking and detail-oriented colleague with a can-do attitude who takes up ownership in the position of a Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning (MEL) officer to develop, implement and supervise WeForest’s monitoring and evaluation work in the districts, which includes providing support and training to the local community-based forest organizations on best community M&E practices.

ROLE AND RESPONSIBILITIES

Lead WeForest Mulanje MEL

1. Lead the M&E reporting for the Mulanje project, through measuring progress of the SMART KPIs within the project logframe and ensuring data quality

2. Ensure continuity/ improvement of best data management practices at project level which includes adopting of a naming convention, structuring the geo-database, improving data protocols/templates and organizing folder structure

3. Provide technical and operational support for project team to collect, analyse and report on socio-economic, law-enforcement, ecological and geographic data and any other types of data relevant for the project

4. In collaboration with Community managers, ensure lessons learnt are extracted and shared with relevant staff and advise project team based on lessons learnt to guide adaptive management where relevant

5. Provide regular feedback to Community managers to improve M&E operations/procedures /guidelines/templates

Others in support of WeForest

6. Support project document development (including translation to local languages) where and when needed

7. Support where possible, the field team in facilitating their work such as, but not limited to, data entry, data analysis and assist in field activities whenever necessary

8. Support project staff to design and implement visibility activities in project areas and during special commemoration days

9. Any other duties assigned by the different Community managers in consultation with the Country Director

Lead CBNRM M&E capacity building

10. Together with the Community managers, play an active role in building Community-based Natural Resource Management (CBNRM) organisations (including LFMBs, FBCs, VNRMCs) to understand the value and use of M&E procedures tailored to their needs and capacity

11. Guide and support CBNRM organisations to adopt good M&E practices with their activities which includes, but not limited to, socio-economic interventions, law-enforcement operations and ecological monitoring

12. Support CBNRM organisations to extract lessons and adjust relevant project components based on their M&E outcomes

Partnership support – in close cooperation with WeForest partners

13. Support efficient and effective communication between WeForest and current and potential partners

14. Advise partner organizations in project monitoring and evaluation and data analysis for joint FLR projects

15. Sharing learning and success stories with district stakeholders during District Monitoring and Evaluation Committee meetings

CANDIDATE PROFILE

1. Education:

• Essential: B.Sc. in Forestry/Agroforestry/wildlife management or equivalent.

• A certificate in Monitoring and Evaluation will be added advantage

2. Work experience and skills:

Essential:

1. • 3+ years relevant work experience, with demonstrated experience in leading the monitoring and evaluation of different project activities

   • Experience working in donor funded project will be desirable

   • Excellent communication and numerical skills

   • Good moderation, facilitation and training skills

   • Competent in GIS software, KoboToolbox/ODK, GIS Cloud or other equivalent phone monitoring applications

   • Competent with SPSS (or similar), Microsoft Office applications, email and other relevant computer skills

   • Willing to learn new monitoring tools and techniques

   • Clean and excellent track record and references

Desirable:

1. • Previous interaction with community-based organisations and experience with training and local capacity building

   • Exposure to and experience with the NGO sector

   • Miombo botany knowledge and forest management experience

   • Beekeeping and agroforestry knowledge and experience

   • Track record with gender-sensitive participatory, governance and inclusion approaches

3. Language: Fluent in English (both speaking and writing) and Chichewa (both speaking and writing)

4. Other requirements

   • Driving license

   • Be willing to live in Mulanje/Phalombe

   • Flexible in terms of travelling and working conditions

Terms & Conditions

Start date: Immediate

Duration of Contract: One year, renewable to a two-year contract based upon performance

Salary: Level 3a. Remuneration based on experience.

Location: Based at the WeForest office in Mulanje with frequent travel to other project sites. The position is mostly office based but has a strong field component (estimated at about 75% office / 25% field).

Hours of Work: Full-time, working a minimum of 8 hours per day (5 days/week). Hours will however vary depending on project needs and flexibility is essential.

Reporting line: The M&E officer will be supervised by the WeForest Malawi Country Director, and also report to the Project Manager. There will be regular contacts with the M&E Manager at Headquarters.

Equal Opportunity Statement

WeForest is an equal opportunity employer. We are committed to building a diverse and inclusive team. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment.

Women, who meet the above qualifications, are strongly encouraged to apply.

How to Apply

Interested applicants are invited to submit the following documents:

• A motivation letter
• A detailed CV with 3 traceable referees
• Copies of relevant certificates

Please send your full application to recruitment.malawi@weforest.org

Due to the anticipated high number of applicants, only shortlisted candidates will be contacted. We thank you in advance for your interest.

Deadline for applications: 14th of September 2025