Senior Analyst Learning and Knowledge Management Full Time

Project Background

Policy LINK is designed to strengthen the capacity of local actors and institutions to lead and manage the agricultural & food policy systems process and contribute effectively and collectively to improved, broad-based food security policy outcomes.

Specifically, the program aims to strengthen food security policy systems by investing in and reinforcing productive human and social capital and developing strategic partnerships that help bring these innovations and capacity investments to scale to achieve a critical mass of local actors with the ability and opportunity to effect positive policy change through collective action.

Policy LINK’s general approach is grounded in facilitative leadership and collaborative governance, which emphasize engaging stakeholders from civil society and public and private sectors in consensus-oriented decision making, collaborative problem solving, and adaptive learning.

Policy LINK in Ethiopia

Champions for Food Security (C4FS) in Ethiopia is a five-year (2021–2026) Activity designed under the Feed the Future Initiative and implemented by USAID’s global Policy LINK program. The primary goal of the Activity is to strengthen the capacity of local actors and institutions to lead and manage Ethiopia’s agricultural transformation process and collectively contribute to improved, broad-based food security policy outcomes.

The purpose of the C4FS’ Policy System Strengthening (PSS) component is to strengthen the capacity for inclusive, participatory, evidence-informed food systems policy and resilience building processes in Ethiopia. It aims to facilitate the transition from a government-led and implemented policy development paradigm to one driven by multiple stakeholders. To this end, the private sector, civil society, research institutions, academia, think tanks, and communities will play a critical role in the policy formulation and implementation process.

In 2023, USAID Ethiopia expanded the scope of C4FS to support the development and strengthening of a collaborative system for coordinated development programming in selected lowland areas of Ethiopia. Through the Partnership for Lowlands Resilience Activity (PLRA) component, C4FS is providing facilitation and technical support to the Ministry of Irrigation and Lowlands, regional governments, implementing agencies, and multistakeholder lowland resilience coordination platforms at Federal, Regional & Woreda level in Afar, Oromia, Somali and South Ethiopia regions. This effort aims to improve communication, coordination, and collaboration among development actors involved in resilience projects at both federal and regional levels, as well as within the selected woredas.

Position Objectives

The Learning and Knowledge Management Senior Analyst is an integral part of C4FS’s Monitoring, Evaluation, Learning and Communication team, which provides technical services with the aim of enhancing learning and adaptation, analytics and high-quality visualization of quantitative and qualitative data, knowledge management and sharing. The role of this position aims to develop, improve, and promote learning frameworks, promote data driven and informed decision making, enhance the use and role of M &E data, promoting an internal culture of continuous learning, and ensuring that robust knowledge management and learning systems are in place.

The position will lead analytics to support the design and development of high-quality learning & knowledge products including visualize analytical findings, briefs, and power point presentations for internal and external audiences. S/he will coordinate the collaboration Learning and Adaptation (CLA) activities internally and externally with stakeholders. In close collaboration with the Communication Manager and other members of the MEL team, the position will ensure the dissemination of knowledge products.

The Learning and Knowledge Management Senior Analyst will also be responsible for special studies, pause and reflect sessions, after action reviews, partners learning meetings, organizational learning surveys, on-line engagements for advancing CLA objectives. He/she will contribute to the quality of project achievements by strengthening the learning and continuous improvement process in the field and at national level.

The Learning and Knowledge Management Senior Analyst is expected to continually reinforce Policy LINK’s agreed-upon core purpose and principles and approaches, and ensure all decision-making is rooted in the purpose and principles. S/he will contribute to a learning environment in which personal and team growth is supported, with a shared understanding that the “team” always comes before the “individual.”

Responsibilities

The Senior Analyst, Learning and Knowledge Management will be responsible for the following anticipated tasks:

Analytics

• Identify and structure learning needs, develop key hypothesis and innovative solutions, and apply suitable analytical frameworks and approaches to test these hypothesis and solutions, and generate critical insights for clients and C4FS staff.
• Provide insight into learning & knowledge management needs, initiatives, and end-user expectations to help ensure the learning & knowledge products remain relevant and aligned to Policy LINK /C4FS result framework.
• Support C4FS staff with stakeholder interviews and data gathering, modeling and analysis and distil insights from analyses for the design & development of leaning and knowledge products.
• Produce high quality visualization, infographics; and PowerPoint presentations for internal and external use.
• Generate leaning and knowledge products and identify opportunities for automation and process improvement using technological tools.
• Develop appropriate tools and dashboards to track implementation status and for reporting purpose.

Learning and Adaptation

• Collaborate with the Developmental Evaluation (DE) team and C4FS team to develop and implement a learning agenda.
• Based on CLA principles, synthesize learnings from field and studies and put in place knowledge management packages that are adaptable to scale
• Lead and coordinate with Communications Manager, MEL team, and program staff to identify and develop case stories and bright spots for learning and adaptation.
• Facilitate Pause & Reflect activities and After-Action Reviews (AARs).
• Lead/coordinate on CLA Case Study development, conducting information collection, knowledge capture activities and drafting knowledge products.
• Participate and represent C4FS in USAID CLA case study competitions.
• Advise project team and follow up on Monitoring and Evaluation findings to use and aim for learning and adaptive management.
• Participate in the analysis, data collection and finalization of DE deliverable.
• Develop adaptive management tracker for learning action points and monitor its implementation status.

Knowledge Management

• Develop and/or review and improve knowledge management and sharing strategy or approach to ensure monitoring and Developmental Evaluation (DE) findings, lessons learned, and best practices are documented, stored, and shared internally among policy LINK staff and as required externally for USAID IPs and other project stakeholders.
• Manage or improve the management of C4FS’s information management infrastructure to facilitate efficient and effective capture, storage, synthesis, and use of structured and unstructured data.
• Lead the development and presentation of relevant information for evidence-based learning and decision-making.
• Develop high quality data visualizations, power point presentations, interactive dashboards, infographics and other tools and processes to make data more engaging and useful for decision making and learning.
• Provide support to the program team in the development of high-quality reports, policy briefs and other technical reports.
• Support Communications Manager and others in developing one-pager briefs or other communication materials describing the project, key activities, approaches, outcomes, and impacts.
• Design and deliver training on knowledge management best practices to project staff.

Other Responsibilities

• Travel to field/project sites to support project team and coordinate learning and knowledge management and learning activities with project stakeholders and
• Other tasks as assigned by supervisor.

Performance Criteria

C4FS is a performance-based project, highly dependent on individual and team core competencies. Each staff member will participate in an annual evaluation and receive feedback.

Reporting

• The Learning and Knowledge Management Senior Analyst will report to the Monitoring, Evaluation, Learning, and Communication (MELC) Director.

Supervision

• The position holder will not have a direct supervisory role but will work closely with other M&E, Communications, and program staff at national and regional levels.

Location:   Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

• Award Name: USAID Ethiopia/Feed the Future Policy LINK Champions for Food Security (C4FS)
• Status:  Long Term Technical Assistance
• Supervision: Monitoring, Evaluation, Learning, and Communications (MELC) Director