Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability and Learning Advisor VVOB Zambia – Education for Development

VVOB is an international NGO with programmes and projects in 10 countries worldwide. Our head office is based in Brussels, Belgium.

When you join VVOB, you become a key player in VVOB’s mission to ensure quality education as a key enabler for achieving the sustainable development goals. We implement our programmes and projects with one shared passion: to ensure the improvement of quality education. Our teams of national and international experts achieve this by providing technical assistance to governmental and other education actors. In doing so, worldwide we ensure capacity building of governmental and other education actors.

Do you share our ambition to ensure that learners around the world can enjoy their fundamental human right to quality education, without exception? Are you also convinced that quality education guarantees equal opportunities for everyone and is the key to a better world?

We are looking for a MEAL Advisor who will operate from our office in Lusaka, Zambia. Do you want to take on this challenge? Then continue reading!

Hello! We’re excited to see you found your way to this job opening. That must mean you share our ambition to ensure learners around the world enjoy their fundamental human right to quality education, without exception. We’re looking forward to hearing from you.

But first things first. Allow us to introduce ourselves, drawing on the great mystery behind our name. Since our establishment in 1982, ‘VVOB’ has evolved from a complex (Dutch) acronym to a stand-alone concept meaning education for development:

• VVOB stands for ‘commitment’ – to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030.
• VVOB stands for ‘integrity’ and ‘mutual respect’ – in working with our partner organisations across 10 countries / 3 continents.
• VVOB stands for ‘quality’ and ‘innovation’ – of everything we do in our effort to improve education worldwide.

VVOB in Zambia

In Zambia, VVOB is working in partnership with the Ministry of Education (MoE). We are building capacity on Early Childhood Education (ECE), Digital school program (DSP) and Teaching at the Right Level (TaRL).

The evidence-based TaRL approach helps learners in Grades 3, 4 and 5 to develop basic reading and numeracy skills. TaRL (or Catch Up – as it is known in Zambia) now reaches more than 5500 primary schools and close to 300.000 learners spread over 9 provinces.

Our ambition is to support MoE in scaling the ‘Learning through Play’, ‘Emergent Literacy’ and ‘Teaching at the Right Level’ work. We are also working with government to support out of school adolescents through the digital school program.

Do you still feel like you’re in the right place? Great, because we’re hiring a MEAL Advisor to support our VVOB country team in Zambia

As MEAL Advisor, you report to the MEAL Manager and will be responsible for the following :

• You take the lead in monitoring and evaluating the Catch up! sustain and scale Project effectively and you ensure lessons are drawn, documented, and disseminated to inform on-going implementation and future programming.
• Provide clear guidance and quality assurance over M&E processes in Catch Up.
• Lead data analysis and dissemination. You will analyse Catch Up data and share key insights with MoE and the VVOB team on the successes, challenges, lessons learnt and highlight areas that require urgent attention
• Quality assure the assessment data content for provincial and district reflection meetings and troubleshoot as necessary.
• Work with MoE counterparts, Planning departments to continually refine monitoring tools, response mechanisms and reflection systems.
• Pilot new measurement ideas & conduct regular school visits to assess effectiveness.
• Facilitate M&E for learning within the Catch-Up implementation team and coordinate with team members on learning objectives and future research projects.
• Summarize findings from the data to report the achievements and areas of strengthening of the Catch-Up programme to donors and other stakeholders.
• You provide coordination, technical support, and advice to VVOB Program Coordinators, Advisors and MoE in planning of Catch Up! Sustain and Scale activities.
• You ensure capacity development on MEAL Processes and Procedures for VVOB and MoE staff at all levels (Provincial, District, Zone and school) according to the needs identified in the use and access Catch up data for targeted support and decision making.

Who are you?

This is a national position, open to Zambian Nationals

Your expertise and experience

• Master’s degree in a relevant subject (e.g. social sciences, statistics, demography, international development, research, policy) or equivalent field experience.
• 3 years demonstrable experience in a similar position in Monitoring, Evaluation Accountability and Learning; experience in projects strengthening government systems and structures or projects in the education sector is an asset.
• Demonstrable experience with the development of indicators, the use of M&E tools and implementation of M&E processes, including data collection techniques and methodologies, data collection and analysis.
• Knowledge and/or experience with monitoring learning outcomes at early childhood education level is an added advantage.
• Experience with data collection and quantitative analysis methods and tools, especially MS Excel and KoboCollect/SurveyCTO/ODK. Knowledge of Stata and PowerBI/Tableau is a plus.
• Ability and willingness to travel frequently.
• Experience with working in a multicultural team.
• Language skills: Fluent in English.

Matching competences

VVOB core competences:

• Results orientation
• Continuous improvement
• Cooperation

Function specific competencies:

• Creativity Development oriented 360° empathy
• Communication skills
• Problem analysis and judgement

What we’re offering:

• A full-time contract up to August 2025.
• 25% gratuity at year’s end
• In-patient and out-patient medical package for you and your legal.
• dependents (as proven by marriage certificate and birth certificate(s)
• Education allowance for your legal children.
• Transport allowance and housing allowance in line with the Zambian employment legislation.
• Supportive environment enabling continuous professional development.
• An opportunity to work in a very well liked, evidence-based project aimed at ensuring that learners across Zambia acquire foundational literacy and numeracy skills !

What’s next?