Strategic Monitoring, Evaluation & Learning (MEL) Lead

Who We Are! 

🌍 Africa has the world’s youngest and fastest-growing population. By 2035, the continent is poised to contribute more young people to the global workforce each year than the rest of the world combined. 

At Educate! we're obsessed with impact. We leverage iterative learning to build highly scalable youth employment solutions aimed at unlocking the potential of the world’s youngest continent. 

Educate! prepares youth in Africa to learn, earn and thrive in today’s economy by: 

1. Introducing an employment-focused school subject into secondary and 
2. Delivering livelihood boot camps for out-of-school youth, with a focus on marginalized rural girls and young women.

To date, more than 500,000 youth have been meaningfully impacted across Uganda, Rwanda, Kenya, and Tanzania, and along the way, Educate! has become the largest youth employment and skills provider in East Africa.

Educate! is a team of over 300 largely African staff and 300 volunteer youth mentors. We prioritize building an engaging, fulfilling and growth oriented work environment. 50% of our top 30 leaders have been with us for over 5 years, 10+ alumni have started their own organizations, and 6 current or former team members were Acumen Fund East Africa fellows. 

We have been backed by top foundations such as Imaginable Futures, Livelihood Impact Fund,  Jack Dorsey’s #startsmall, CIFF and Echidna Giving. Educate! won a 2018 Klaus J. Jacobs Prize and a 2015 WISE Award, and has been highlighted by the World Bank’s S4YE's Impact Portfolio, an Al Jazeera documentary, BBC, The Brookings Institution as one of 14 case studies on scaling education, and the Gates Foundation as a Goalkeepers Accelerator. In 2022, we received a catalytic investment from philanthropist Mackenzie Scott to scale our systems change work.

Educate!'s long-term vision is to design solutions that measurably impact millions of youth across Africa each year.

Good to note: To Our Awesome Applicants! 🚀💫

We know that incredible candidates sometimes hesitate to apply if they don’t meet every requirement. If this role excites you, we encourage you to apply! 

We’re looking for passionate individuals who believe in our mission and can bring unique perspectives to our team—not just those who check every box. We value diversity and strongly encourage women and individuals from all backgrounds to apply.

Position Overview 

Educate!, an award-winning non-profit social enterprise, is seeking a Strategic Monitoring, Evaluation & Learning (MEL) Lead who will serve as the primary implementor of the MEL coordination for the Leaders in Teaching (LIT) Coordination Platform in Tanzania, supporting four partner organizations to develop and communicate a shared impact story around Tanzania’s secondary education reform.

This role sits at the intersection of learning strategy, measurement, partnership management, and systems change. The MEL Lead will work across LIT organizations, in close collaboration with the Mastercard Foundation, to strengthen alignment on a shared Theory of Change, harmonize indicators and methodologies, coordinate reporting processes, and generate strategic insights that demonstrate collective effectiveness across the partnership.

The role requires an individual who can comfortably navigate complex multi-stakeholder environments, facilitate collaboration among organizations with varying MEL capacities, and translate diverse data sources into clear and compelling evidence for funders, government stakeholders, and partners.

In addition to supporting the LIT Coordination Platform, the consultant will provide flexible MEL advisory support to Educate! on funder-driven MEL priorities and requests as needed.

Works closely with Educate! Tanzania Program and MEL Teams, Leaders in Teaching partner MEL representatives, Mastercard Foundation teams, and external consultants and evaluators.

This is a part-time consultancy with an anticipated commitment of approximately 8–15 hours per week. Actual level of effort may vary depending on platform priorities, reporting cycles, evaluations, and funder requests.

The consultant should be available for occasional rapid-turnaround requests and virtual meetings during East Africa business hours.

What You’ll Do🌟 

MEL Strategy & Framework Development (35%)

• Lead refinement and ongoing development of the shared LIT TZ Theory of Change.
• Develop and strengthen a cross-partner MEL framework.
• Identify and refine shared indicators demonstrating collective system-level impact.
• Develop indicator definitions, methodologies, and reporting guidance.
• Ensure consistency of measurement approaches across partner organizations.
• Advise on MEL approaches that strengthen evidence generation and learning.

Partner Coordination & Stakeholder Management (30%)

• Lead quarterly MEL Working Group meetings across all LIT partners.
• Facilitate collaboration among organizations with varying MEL capacities.
• Coordinate responses to cross-partner MEL requests from Mastercard Foundation.
• Represent partner perspectives during discussions on shared MEL initiatives.
• Support joint learning activities and reflection processes.
• Build strong relationships that foster trust, alignment, and accountability.

Reporting, Learning & Strategic Insights (20%)

• Coordinate bi-annual shared reporting processes across the platform.
• Synthesize partner data into a cohesive collective impact narrative.
• Identify trends, insights, and learning opportunities.
• Develop presentations, learning products, and strategic reports.
• Ensure reporting reflects both partner contributions and system-level outcomes.

MEL Project Management & Special Initiatives (15%)

• Coordinate shared evaluations, baseline studies, and learning agendas.
• Manage timelines and partner engagement for MEL activities.
• Provide flexible MEL support to Educate! on funder requests and priorities.
• Support MEL plans, indicator development, target setting, and data quality assessments.
• Embed with Educate! MEL teams as needed to support high-priority requests.

Who You Are 🦸‍♀️🦸‍♂️

• 8+ years of experience in Monitoring, Evaluation, Learning, Research, or related fields. 
• Demonstrated experience designing MEL frameworks, theories of change, indicator systems, and learning agendas. 
• Experience facilitating collaboration across consortiums, partnerships, or donor-funded initiatives. 
• Experience working with large foundations, bilateral donors, or international development funders. 
• Strong facilitation and stakeholder management skills. 
• Ability to transform complex data into actionable insights. 
• Excellent written communication and reporting skills. 
• Experience in education systems, youth development, or workforce development preferred. 
• Experience engaging government stakeholders is highly desirable. 
• Comfortable operating in fast-paced environments with evolving priorities.
• Fits our Five Culture Tenets (see What is Educate! About? below); Learn more by looking at Educate!’s culture deck here 

What We Offer 

• A vibrant, mission-driven environment with a supportive and fun team. 
• Flexibility— Hybrid work environment with at least 3 days in our awesome Tanzania office (If working from the Tanzania office)! 
• Competitive salary based on experience. 
• Healthcare coverage for you and your dependents, work laptop, Internet & call stipend 
• Learning & growth opportunities

Terms 

• Location: Tanzania-based candidates are strongly preferred. Candidates based elsewhere in East Africa will be considered. Periodic travel to Tanzania will be required.
• Reports to: Global Director of Research, Measurement & Evaluation, Educate!
• This is a Fixed term contract with a possibility of extension based on performance
• Application Process: Rolling basis, interviews happening soon!

Our Culture & Tenets(Values) 🌱

We’re ambitious. Are you? Educate! is growing fast, so new opportunities are opening up and expanding all the time. We’re inspired by people with drive, and we love to help them reach their full potential. We expect everyone at Educate! to contribute above and beyond their job description, grow their skills, and advance their careers, and we are committed to supporting our staff members on that journey of their careers, and we are committed to supporting our staff members on that journey. 

1. We put Youth First, Impact-Obsessed - We are purpose-driven, focused on impact, and prioritize what truly matters. We listen to youth, design our efforts around their needs, and ensure every dollar creates transformative experiences they value.
2. We Exceed Expectations - We take pride in going above and beyond to achieve the best results—proactively identifying problems and seeking solutions without waiting or stopping at what's requested.
3. We Are Always Learning - We are committed to seeking and applying new knowledge and ideas. We stay open-minded and continuously try new things, experiment, grow, and improve. We invest in learning for ourselves and our teams.
4. We are One Team, Many Views - We value all individuals, believe diverse ideas and open dialogue drive excellence, foster a supportive and respectful environment where everyone can freely express themselves. We work as one team and prioritize the organization's mission over personal or team interests.
5. We have the Startup Mindset - We innovate relentlessly to grow our impact, we never think “we have arrived” or “we’re done.”We constantly challenge the status quo, embrace change, and move quickly toward our vision. Unafraid of failure, we question anything that hinders progress.

Every person at Educate! — from interns to the executive director — is evaluated by how they live up to these five cultural tenets. They are at the core of how we achieve our mission and why we work as well as we do.  Educate is committed to providing an inclusive and welcoming environment for all who interact in our community. In creating this environment, we encourage people from a variety of cultures, backgrounds and life experiences to join our diverse team. 

We’re committed to ensuring all candidates are screened for child and youth safety. As part of the process, you’ll need to provide a Certificate of Good Conduct. Educate! reserves the right to withdraw employment offers if any risks to youth are identified.